USMMA overcame an early 5-0 deficit to stay alive and defeat Mount St. Mary’s 9-8. Marco Meglio spoke with Jesse Reinebold on his bases-clearing triple pic.twitter.com/QLTGaKH1pI
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 5, 2018
Merchant Marine (USMMA) erased an early five-run deficit with the key hit coming off the bat of Jesse Reinebold in the seventh inning to defeat Mount St. Mary 9-8 in the Skyline Conference tournament.
USMMA starter Martin Justus allowed four hits, five runs and one walk in his one inning of work for the Mariners. He struggle with his command, as his wild pitch helped plate the fifth run of the inning. Mount St. Mary first baseman Chris Introcaso lined a double down the left line to get the rally started for the Knights.
In the fourth, USMMA looked poised to make noise.
A leadoff walk, followed by a hit by pitch and an error by the shortstop set up the bases loaded with nobody out. Reilly Cherry knocked in the second run of the game with for the Mariners with a bloop single to center, cutting the lead to 5-2. A sac fly from Steve Lucy cut the lead to two with one out in the inning. Pitcher Quintin Heck kept the rally going, lining a single to center and making it 5-4 Mount St. Mary.
Heck settled in after Justus lasted only one inning. He controlled the strike and worked at a smooth pace. For the first four innings he was brilliant, until he ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth. A single, a walk and an error by the third baseman set up the bases loaded with no one out. A perfectly placed RBI single by John Santana made it 6-4 Mount St. Mary and ultimately ending Heck’s day of work.
Introcaso followed the single up with an RBI sac fly to center, boosting their lead to 7-4. An error by the second baseman allowed another run to score, giving the Knights a four run lead. Vincenzo Alteri countered the run in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double to deep right center to cut the lead to 8-5.
In the bottom of the seventh, shortstop Jesse Reinebold smacked a rare “little league grand slam” to give USMMA a 9-8 lead. Scored as a triple, the centerfielder kicked the ball on his initial pickup, allowing Reinebold to round third and head home.
Following the game, our Digmi Player of the Game, Reinebold talked about the game-winning hit. “I wanted to come through for the team. We have such a good locker room. I’m not ready to be done yet this year.”
Andrew Hunt provided quality depth from the bullpen, going four innings of scoreless ball to earn the victory.