October 18, 2015 (Yaphank, LI) – The Antonia Agostinelli Memorial Tournament, run by Sal Agostinelli to raise funds for cancer awareness, took place over the weekend at Baseball Heaven.
The 40-team tournament invites the areas top clubs and is the final big event of the calendar baseball year.
NY Nine 1, East Coast LumberJacks 0 – In the tournament opener, the Nine rode the right arm of RHP Cameron Johnson who retired the last 11 batters he faced en route to the complete game shutout. John Marti’s third inning sacrifice fly plated Jake Hertz giving Johnson the only run he would have to work with.
New York Nine 8, Shrub Oak 4 – In a game where there was a twenty mph crosswind, making things difficult for everybody, the Nine jumped out to a short lived four run lead in the bottom of the second as Jeremia Bueno, Hector Coco, CJ McCarthy and John Marti all singled and ultimately crossed the plate ahead of Nick Vella’s two-run double. Winning pitcher RHP John Zapata, was victimized by two wind-aided two-run singles setting up a dramatic fifth inning as time expired. With the score tied, Darien Rivas and Nick Vella singled and stole second and third base respectively. After a strikeout, Aaron Sabato was hit with a two-strike offering to load the bases. Following a critical strikeout for the second out, Bueno’s opposite field grand slam capped the dramatic win for the Nine.
NY Nine 5, Long Island Prospects 1 – In a winner advances pool play finale, the Nine fell behind early. The Nine, however, took the lead 2-1 on Trevor Johnson’s two-run single that scored both CJ McCarthy and Jake Hertz. The Nine put the game away as Hertz and Johnson both scored on Jeremia Bueno’s single ahead of Ryan Popp’s RBI double. RHP Spencer Lodes picked up the victory as the Nine closed pool play 3-0.
PLAYOFF ROUND
Quarterfinals, NY Nine 9, Long Island Storm 3 – RHP Austin Cole battled through early command issues and fell behind in this contest 1-0 with the bases loaded and no one out in the first, but escaped further damage. The Nine offense exploded in the second inning for seven runs. Trevor Johnson finished 2-2 with a run scored and stolen base, Daniel Alfonzo was 1-1 with a walk, single and two runs scored, Nick Vella was 2-2 with a double, single and run scored and Anthony Martinez was 2-2 with a single and mammoth two-run home run to right field giving Cole the victory after five gutsy innings.
Semi-Finals, NY Nine 6, Long Island Titans 0 – The Nine opened the scoring with three runs in the second and tacked on two more in the third and one more in the fourth inning. RHP Ryan Steffens was outstanding spinning five shutout innings as RHP Andrew Pena came on to close the door. Trevor Johnson was 2-3 with a walk, run scored and stolen base, Ryan Popp was 2-4 with a run scored, And Daniel Alfonzo, Jeremia Bueno, Justin Tavaras and Nick Vella all scored for the Nine as they shut out the bracket’s #1 seed.
Finals, NY Nine 10, New Jersey Super 18s 2 – With a first pitch temperature of 37 degrees, and playing in their fourth game of the day, with the first being at 8am, the talented and tired roster dug deep one last time. LHP Matteo Flamio was masterful through the front four innings pitching out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the fourth while LHP Vladimir Baez tossed the fifth frame in the mercy shortened contest against the #2 seed Super 18s. Both Jake Hertz and Anthony Martinez doubled, singled and scored a run. Danny Alfonzo singled and scored a run,Ryan Popp added a 2-RBI triple and scored and Trevor Johnson was 2-2 with a triple, single, two walks and three runs scored.
Tournament Notes
The Nine went 6-0, winning all six games in a two-day span including four victories in fourteen hours. Johnson was named Agostonelli tournament MVP finishing with an .800 average (8-10) with three walks and six runs scored. The Nine scored 39 runs against allowing just 10. Martinez was 6-9 with three extra base hits including a home run. Jeremia Bueno was 10 for 17 (.588) with a grand slam, Nick Vella was 7 for 15 (.467) and Jake Hertz scored 5 runs.
