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LI Elite Cruise to Victory at Antonia Agostinelli Memorial Tournament

by Trevor Dugan

A pair of college commits led the way for 17u LI Elite on Saturday morning as they sailed to a 12-0 run-rule victory against the LI Strong. West Conn commit Anthony Muscatelli recorded four RBIs with two triples and two runs scored, while Old Westbury-commit Ryan Kunkel pitched three shutout innings and struck out five batters. 

The only two hits allowed by Kunkel came in the top of the first inning. LI Strong leadoff man Brett Baumiller from Sayville High School led the game off with a single, then following a fielder’s choice Shane Beatrice singled to put two men on with one out. Kunkel stranded both runners by sitting down the next two batters, nullifying the Strong’s only hits of the game. 

In the bottom of the first, Strong SP CJ Volper of Sachem North High School got off to a good start. Elite leadoff man Luke Chekmayan knocked a ball down the line to start the inning, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double. Muscatelli walked to give the Elite their first base runner, but that was followed by Volper’s first strikeout. Muscatelli was thrown out stealing by Strong catcher Erik Anderson of Bellport High School to finish off the scoreless first. 

Kunkel went back to work in the top of the second. He worked around a pair of walks by recording two strikeouts and a groundout to keep things scoreless, sending the Elite offense back to the plate for another chance to do damage. 

And they certainly did a lot of damage in the bottom of the second, exploding for eight runs with a dizzying flurry of hits as they sent 12 men to the plate in the inning. A walk and two singles to begin the inning loaded the bases, and the first run came on a bases loaded walk by Brady Love. Next to the plate was Griffin Sharkey of Kellenberg High School, who laced an RBI triple into the gap to plate all three baserunners and pushed the Elite lead to 4-0. Their fifth run of the frame came on an RBI groundout by Luke Chekmayan, but they weren’t done yet.

West Conn-commit Anthony Muscatelli and Ethan Ruff of Oyster Bay High School smashed back-to-back RBI triples to push the lead up to 7-0. Their eighth and final run of the inning came on an RBI single by Nick Morelli, before the inning mercifully came to an end. The Elite brought an 8-0 lead into the third inning. 

Kunkel came back out for the third after a long layoff and picked up right where he left off. The only baserunner of the inning for the Strong was CJ Volpler, who was promptly caught stealing after drawing a walk. Kunkel finished the inning with his fifth strikeout of the game, giving the Elite a chance to grab a run rule victory in the top of the fourth.

The runs kept coming for the Elite in the fourth, and they quickly reached the 12-run threshold required for an early ending to their blowout victory. Two walks and a single once again loaded the bases with no outs for the Elite. Charles Jettmar drove one runner in with an RBI single, and another came across on a sacrifice fly by Jack Gerbosi. Muscatelli came to the plate with two men on and once again showed off his speed and power by ripping his second RBI triple of the day into the gap, driving in both runners and delivering a 12-0 run rule victory for the Elite. 

Both of Saturday morning’s college committed stars spoke to Axcess after their dominant win, and talked about how the LI Elite organization has helped on their path to college baseball. 

“It’s been great ever since I started here, just non-stop baseball and competitiveness,” Muscatelli said about LI Elite. “Taking us to showcases and meeting coaches, stuff like that has been great and they really got us out there.”

“They have great programs, I always go to our pitching program and my velo has been going up each year,” Kunkel added. “They always give us a chance at showcases, it’s been good.”