by Trevor Dugan
MVP South Shore rallies for four runs in the bottom of the sixth, with the go ahead run scoring on this single by Michael Cassibba (Islip 2027)
They are now three outs away from a championship victory
MVP South Shore 9 – Hard 90 6
End sixth pic.twitter.com/5nHyQBynKG— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 16, 2025
MVP South Shore and Hard 90 faced off Saturday morning at PAL Stadium to decide the Boys of Summer 15u Central Division Championship. It was a back and forth game throughout, as the lead changed hands a total of five times.
Joey Byalick (Hicksvile 2028) got the start on the mound for MVP South Shore, while Matteo Occhino (Holy Cross 2027) took the ball for Hard 90. Both pitchers would toss scoreless first innings.
In the top of the second, Byalick continued to keep Hard 90 off the board, getting the first batter of the inning to ground out. He would hit the next batter to put a runner on first base, then struck out the next two hitters to get his offense back to work.
MVP South Shore was able to strike for the first run of the game in the bottom of the second. Michael Cassibba (Islip High School 2027) walked to lead off the inning, then advanced to second base on a groundout. Next, Brian Fleming came to the plate with one out and drove the runner home with an RBI single to give MVP South Shore their first run of the day, putting them up 1-0.
Their lead wouldn’t last long however, as Hard 90 jumped on Byalick for four runs to take the lead for themselves in the top of the third. After a lineout to start the inning, Kenny Loonan doubled to put himself in scoring position. The next batter walked, then Occhino came through with an RBI single to score Loonan and tie the game at one. Occhino’s hit was the first of three consecutive RBI singles, the next two coming from Chris Corbo and Brandon Trujillo. Hard 90 got their fourth run of the inning when Nate Nahm bunted and reached base on a throwing error by Byalick, allowing Corbo to score and giving Hard 90 a 4-1 lead.
Axcess spoke to Joey Byallck and Michael Cassibba of MVP South Shore Dragone following their championship win at PAL Stadium pic.twitter.com/JZ4SC7hyik
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 16, 2025
The newly acquired lead wouldn’t last long for Hard 90 as MVP South Shore went right back to scoring in the bottom of the third. Byalick got the inning started with a walk, then advanced to third on a single by Jacob Varghese. Brice Dorian (MacArthur 2028) brought Byalick home with a sacrifice fly to right field to trim the lead down to 4-2. Next, Michael Cassiba singled to score Varghese, cutting the lead to just one.
A pair of walks would load the bases for MVP South Shore, then another walk with the bases loaded tied the game up at 4-4. Occhino got the final out on a popout to third with the bases loaded, but the damage had been done and the game was all even heading into the fourth.
In the fourth, MVP South Shore opted to bring in Brian Fleming (Plainview Old Bethpage 2027) in relief of Byalick. He pitched an efficient shutdown inning, working around a double by Occhino to keep the score tied at four.
Hard 90 brought in a reliever of their own in the bottom of the fourth as Nate Halm (Holy Cross 2027) entered in relief of Occhino. Halm found himself in some trouble, surrendering back-to-back singles to start the inning. He would force the next batter into a flyout, then record the second out on a strikeout. This brought Tommy Romano (Clarke 2028) to the plate with two men on and two out. The MVP South Shore base runners would execute a double steal to put themselves in scoring position, then Romano came through with an RBI single to center field. One run came in to score, but the second runner was caught at the plate on an excellent throw by Hard 90 CF Brandon Trujillo (Molloy 2028). MVP South Shore took a 5-4 lead into the fifth inning.
Fleming continued his efficient relief work in the top of the fifth, pitching another quick, shutdown inning. This time around he retired the side in order, registering his second strikeout in as many innings.
Nahm settled down in the bottom of the fifth after a rocky first inning of work, answering Fleming with a 1-2-3 inning of his own to give Hard 90 another chance to take the lead back.
That’s exactly what they did in the top of the sixth. After an easygoing two innings, Fleming got himself into a jam. Following a strikeout to start the inning, Hard 90 put two men on with back-to-back singles, then a walk loaded the bases. Fleming’s relief appearance came to an end at this point, as MVP South Shore brought in Michael Cassibba to pitch with the bases loaded and just one out.
Cassibba got the first batter he faced to line out to first base on just one pitch. He would then grapple with some control issues in the next two at-bats, surrendering two bases loaded walks. He got the last batter of the inning on another lineout, but Hard 90 took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth.
The back and forth style of this game persisted throughout, and it came to a head in the bottom of the sixth, when MVP South Shore would rally for four runs and take the lead for the final time in this championship matchup.
Cody Friia led the inning off with a single, followed by an error and a walk to load the bases for Brice Dorian. Looking for his second RBI of the day, Dorian drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game at 6-6. Next up was Cassibba. Surely hoping to redeem himself after surrendering the lead in the top of the frame, he came through with an RBI single to give MVP South Shore a 7-6 lead.
Another run would come across on a groundout by Tommy Romano, and a sac fly off the bat of Anthony Paladino made it 9-6 MVP South Shore going into the final frame.
Cassibba came back out for the save opportunity in the top of the seventh, and looked much sharper after a shaky sixth inning. He struck out the first two batters of the inning, then got the final out on a popout to second base, completing MVP South Shore Dragone’s dramatic come from behind victory and securing the Boys of Summer 15u Central Division Championship.
Cassibba finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run scored, along with two strikeouts on the mound and the save. Joey Byalick finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored and one walk.
MVP South Shore Director Nick Fiore was elated to hear about the championship win.
“We’re extremely proud of this group as they’ve had to play a variety of teams across a two division flex schedule,” Fiore said. “Each player on the team got better every single day and showed up to each game ready to compete. Congrats to the team and coaches on a great summer. Job well done!”
MVP South Shore Dragone finishes the season 24-13-2 overall and 17-6-2 in league play. Hard 90 finishes their Boys of Summer season with a record of 14-10.
