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Briarwood Stanners Come Away with 11-3 Victory

by Nicholas DiLapi

The Briarwood Stanners took on the Long Island Empire (Mac) at Bay Park Field on June 25th, as a part of the Hot Stove 15u National League. With Briarwood sitting at 1-2, and the Empire 0-2, this was an important matchup for both teams to win. 

Aiden Cecchetti started the game what seemed like perfect with a strikeout and then a groundball being thrown to 1st base, but with the throw being too high and hitting the dugout, JT Caramancia was able to reach 2nd base safely. He advanced safely to third on a ground out, which brought Tyler Wright to the plate with 2 outs and a runner at 3rd. Wright delivered and gave the Empire a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st inning. 

Taking the mound for the Empire, Mike Campagna also started with a punchout. But Briarwood hit the Empire back, and harder. Joe Pellegrino got on safely with a single, and Mike Piotrowski followed with a walk to put two runners on with 1 out. #2 Stines brought home Pellegrino with an RBI double that was nearly caught, and Piotrowski made it home safely on an RBI from Cecchetti. #20 Stroble notched the 3rd RBI on the 3rd hit of the inning, to give the Stanners a 3-1 lead. 

The Empire nearly got themselves more runs, with a 2 out single and double, but Cecchetti’s dominant curveball got him out of trouble and caused a groundout, holding Briarwood’s 3-1 lead.

In the bottom of the 2nd, #12 Hopkins earned a walk with 1 man away. Hopkins successfully stole 2nd, and while trying to take 3rd, a bad throw from the catcher let Hopkins score, giving the Stanners more cushion with a 4-1 lead after just 2 innings. Cecchetti maintained the lead, pitching a perfect inning in the 3rd.

And for the 3rd inning in a row, Briarwood was still hungry. A leadoff single from Stines and Cecchetti walk, followed by a forceout at 2nd, gave the Stanners a chance to tack on more runs. #20 Stroble took off for 2nd base, and Stines took off from 3rd base to pull off a successful delayed double steal, extending the lead to 4 runs for Briarwood. A walk following the run got Campagana pulled from the game, after just 2.1 IP and 5 runs conceded. Frankie Lobello entered the game for the Empire, but couldn’t escape the trouble. An RBI sacrifice bunt, walk, and wild pitch would contribute to 2 more runners scoring, bringing the score to a troubling 7-1 for the Empire, who were staring at an 0-3 record. 

The Empire seemed like they were ready to rally, with the bases loaded and 2 outs, an RBI walk would make it a 7-2 ball game, but once again, Cecchetti’s breaking ball gifted the Stanners a groundout to limit the 5 total baserunners to just 1 run in a nearly troublesome top of the 4th. 

The Stanners must have eaten nothing for days, and their hunger was only increasing with the lead being back to 5 runs. And Lobello thought this was a food drive, giving 2 batters free bases with a walk and hitting the other. With another groundout bringing in a run, Lobello saw the malnourishment of Briarwood, throwing a pitch away from the catcher in an effort to nourish their hunger, bringing the score to 9-2 in 4 innings of play. 

Cecchetti had another perfect inning in the 5th, retiring the side in order. 

With a new pitcher entering for the Empire in the 5th, Tyler Wright was hoping to just hold the score the way it was. However, a 4 course meal wasn’t enough, so the Stanners decided to have a 5th course of food. And the food was giftwrapped to them, with Stroble leading off the inning on a walk. After reaching third base over the course of 2 outs, another wild pitch brought him home, extending the lead to 8 runs. 

Now scoring 10 different times, it was time for dessert. Back-to-back walks and a runner being hit by a pitch loaded the bases, and #24 Alex reached base on balls to bring home another, making the score read 11-2, in favor of the Stanners.

After a single and an uncaught 3rd strike, the Stanners decided to pull Cecchetti to bring in #24. Cecchetti finished with 5 innings pitched, 5 strikeouts, and only 3 runs were scored against him, only 2 of which were earned runs. 

The Empire would end up scoring one more run in the 6th inning. However, 2 hours of gametime had gone by to end the game in 6 innings. The Briarwood Stanners earned a much needed win over the Long Island Empire in terrific fashion, winning by 8 runs with an 11-3 final score.

The Stanners scored in all 5 of the innings they approached the plate in, and Aiden Cecchetti held his own going 5 innings, with 5 punchouts and allowing only 2 earned runs. 

The Stanners will return to play on June 30th, at 8:00 PM against the Lynbrook Knights 14U. The Empire, however, will have a quick opportunity to rebound, matching up against the Beach Bombers on June 26 at 8:15 PM.