by James Ryder
What started off as a fast paced, offensive slug fest at Kings Park Memorial Park turned out to be a late game thriller. The Kings Park Knights, down to their final out and final strike, managed to tie up the game in the bottom of the sixth and force extra innings. However, Long Island Baseball quickly responded with a huge top of the seventh to win 10-5.
Dylan Fitzpatrick and Aiden Collins each got the start on the mound and both threw four scoreless innings. Kings Park almost scored first in the bottom of the fourth, when Nick Paliotta hit a leadoff single and stole second base. Dom Romano hit the ball to right field but was thrown out at first base. Paliotta tried going home, but was also thrown out for an inning ending double play.
LIB instead struck first in the top of the fifth on Collin Roulstons RBI single to left field. He brought home Roman Sandanato, who stole second after hitting leadoff single. The lead didnt last long though, as the Knights came back with a run of their own in the next frame. Nick Balsamo hit a single to left field and was followed by Joe Rossis single to RF. Balsamo reached third safely on the hit, but the throw to the bag was late and went out of play. This allowed both runners to advance and allowed Kings Park to tie the game at 1-1.
In the top of the sixth, LIB was quick to regain the lead. Griffin Strauss led off with a double to right-center field and stole third. Angelo Forthofer walked and both runners can home on Ryan Tullos double to CF to make it 3-1.
Fitzpatrick reached base to start the bottom of the sixth. Kings Park had the tying run in Paliotta at the plate. Fitzpatrick stole second and went to third on a ground ball to third base. The throw to first skipped past the first baseman, resulting in another run off a dead ball for the Knights. This also advanced Paliotta to second base, putting the tying run in scoring position. Chris Stewart popped out to CF, leading to Romano coming back to the plate with another chance to bring home Paliotta. Down to the final out and down to his last strike, he hit another opposite field single to RF. This time it was enough to score a run and tie the game at 3-3 and force extra innings.
What had been a fast-moving game up to this point seemed to come to a screeching halt in the top of the seventh inning. LIBs offense took control of the wheel and put it in neutral, rolling to the tune of seven runs. Each batter had exactly one at bat in the frame. It started with Sandanatos single to LF. Nick Taranto walked and he and Sandanato stole second and third base on a pass ball. Roulston hit another RBI single to gain the 4-3 lead. Gabe Schultz walked to load the bases and two more walks from Strauss and Forthofer made it 6-3. Jason Sudols ground ball to shortstop, a single from Collins, and a double from Tullo brought the score to 10-3.
Final Score: LIB 10, Kings Park 5. Here is Collin Roulston who pitched the final inning and had two RBI singles, the second of which started their big extra inning rally: pic.twitter.com/skeUoPYOAy
Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 6, 2019
Roulston relieved Collins in the bottom of the seventh inning. Two straight one out walks and a 2 RBI triple from Jake Hurrer was all that the Knights had left. Both teams flashed the leather for four innings before finding their grooves offensively. Despite a nice effort late in the game, the Knights couldnt match LIB in extra innings. Final Score: LIB 10, Kings Park 5.