by Anthony DiCocco
In his third plate appearance of the opening inning, Wescott crushes a grand slam over the right field wall.
Plainedge leads 19-0 heading into the second. pic.twitter.com/FBpRa55ZDF
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 16, 2026
Coming into their Conference A matchup with the Island Trees Bulldogs, the Plainedge Red Devils had not scored a first-inning run since their opening day contest against Wheatley on March 24.
That changed in a big way on their home turf Thursday evening.
Plainedge put a severely crooked number on the board during the opening frame, posting 19 runs while batting around twice and sending 22 men to the plate. The Red Devils ultimately came away with a 23-1 victory in the run-rule-shortened, five-inning affair.
After a defensive miscue led off the bottom of the first, Mike Calapai got the party started by blasting a two-run shot to left field. Two batters later, Jaxson Torres took a pitch the other way and deposited it over the right field fence to make it 3-0.
Plainedge momentarily took a break from slugging with a pair of walks before AJ Calapai pulled a ball that bounced over the left field wall to plate another run with a ground-rule double. During the ensuing at-bat, Rob Northrop found a hole on the right side of the infield to single home a pair of baserunners.
Still with only one out in the inning, the Red Devils loaded the bases for Torres, who split the right-center field gap while first pitch swinging for a two-run double. With the bases juiced again, Mike Calapai notched two more runs batted in (RBI) with a double of his own.
After Jayden Gaghan and AJ Calapai registered a sacrifice fly and RBI single, respectively, Northrop blasted a three-run tank and Bobby Wescott capped off the monster inning with a towering grand slam soon after.
Mike Calapai is our @GetGameChanger Player of the Game after going 2-for-2 with a two-run double, two-run homer and a hit-by-pitch, with all of his damage coming in the first inning. pic.twitter.com/c2prNXiW7N
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 16, 2026
By the time the first inning came to an end, four different Red Devils had already recorded multi-hit games.
With Plainedge recording 10 hits in the first inning alone, it is easy for Taylor Nitsch’s performance on the mound to get lost in the shuffle. However, over three scoreless innings, Nitsch recorded six strikeouts and did not allow a hit, walking one batter to face one over the minimum.
In the top of the fourth inning, Jacob Schmeisser broke up the Red Devils’ combined no-hitter and shutout with a swinging bunt single that drove in a run.
During the bottom of the frame, Plainedge added five more runs with Ty Stark, Adam Rosenberg, Matt Mortillaro and Dylan Loccisano all picking up an RBI apiece.
In relief, Stark allowed a run on a hit and two walks while racking up three strikeouts. Matt Judge struck out a pair in a spotless inning to end the game.
Overall, Plainedge totaled 15 hits. Along with Torres, Northrop and both Calapai brothers picking up two hits each, seven other Red Devils collected knocks.
Though Island Trees surrendered 23 runs on the day, Joe Barracato was solid in relief. Despite allowing two hits and issuing four walks, he struck out two batters while delivering 1 ⅔ scoreless innings from the bullpen.
With its win, Plainedge improved to 9-0 on the season while the Bulldogs fell to 4-7.
The two sides will wrap up their two-game set at Island Trees on Monday with the Red Devils looking for a sweep and the Bulldogs aiming to even the season series. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.