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Rookies Conclude Summer With Runner-Up Finish at East Coast Nationals

Game One
After a rain delay forced this to be a grueling one day event, the Nine trekked back to Baseball Heaven knowing that they a had long day ahead.

Although the team started the day a bit slow, the Nine battled all game. Mano Boutsikakis smashed a double with two walks and JA Spanoudakis and Alex Bardi each had hard hit singles and a walk. Alex Bardi kept the Bandits off balance all game and finished with a complete game shut out. The Nine, unfortunately, couldn’t sequence together their hits and failed to score a run, settling for a 0-0 tie.

Game Two
After a tie in the first game, the Nine bats came alive early as they jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead against the Hudson Valley Renegades and never looked back. George Kyriakopoulos had two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored, Sabin Ghale also had two RBI, while Mano Boutsikakis went 3-3 with 3 SBs and one run scored. Sebastian Granobles pitched the 2nd complete game of the day, leading the Nine to a 5-3 victory.

Game Three
With a chance to play in the championship, the Nine sent Micah Garrett to the mound and he didn’t disappoint. Garrett allowed no hits and no earned runs in his 4 innings pitched while also helping his own cause with a two RBI triple. Johan Franco came on to slam the door shut and send the Nine to a 2-1 victory over Team Steel and a spot in the championship.

Championship Game
After a grueling three games, the fourth in a row proved to be too much as the Nine ran out of gas and fell to a tough Levittown American Adrenaline team. The Nine’s runner up finish was quite admirable as they completed a long, hard fought day and left everything they had out on the field.

New York Nine Win East Coast Championships at Baseball Heaven

The New York Nine Scout Team ended the 2017 summer season in grand fashion winning the Blue Chips East Coast Championship at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, Long Island. In their final three Baseball Heaven tournaments, the Scout team went on an incredible 17 game winning streak, finishing those tournaments at 6-0,6-0 and 5-0 respectively.

The tournament opener saw the Nine face the Long Island Titans (who finished the tournament 3-1), beating them by a 6-2 score. In the first inning, Danny Alfonzo was hit by a pitch for the 11th time this summer, which is a new Nine record (the previous record held by Ricardo Espinosa, stood since 2006). With two on, Carlos De La Cruz took an 0-1 fastball and drove it out of the park. The very next batter, Oliver Fernandez, went back to back, hitting his first home run of the summer. With the score cut to 4-2, in the 6th inning, Danny Perez hit the longest home run of the summer, which scouts in attendance said would have landed in the upper deck of Yankee Stadium. The very next batter, one Carlos De La Cruz hit his second home run of the game putting the Nine comfortably ahead 6-2, where the game finished. Austin Cole fanned four in his final start for the Nine, while Matt Demartini pitched a perfect 2 2/3, striking out four in the win.

In game two of pool play, the Nine faced a tough New York Grays team and their hard throwing righthander John Rodriguez. Daniel Alfonzo opened the scoring in the top of the first inning hitting a missile into the left centerfield trees plating Freddy Rojas for a quick 2-0 lead. The Grays quickly tied the game in the bottom of the first on a two out, two run single and took the lead in the second, 3-2. After an Alfonzo leadoff double and a Danny Perez walk, Carlos De La Cruz singled to center plating Alfonzo. Perez scored when JP Compres reached on an error. In the fourth inning, Shawn Harrison led off with a walk and forced at second on a Preston Milano groundout. Angel Presinal singled to push Milano to 2rd and Alfonzo singled on a fly ball to right to score Milano. Perez then hit a long double to center field to score Presinal and Alfonzo, giving the Nine three runs in the frame. The Grays cut the lead to 7-4 in the fourth and the Nine completed their scoring on a Jesse Spellman single, Harrison walk, Presinal RBI single, Rojas walk and an Alfonzo RBI groundout. Anthony “Ace” Costa was superb considering the lack of strike zone, tossing a CG and striking out 6.

Having already clinched their pool, the Nine played an early Sunday morning contest against the CGI Braves out of Long Island. DJ Flug got the start striking out four, allowing two hits and no runs. Eury DeJesus fanned two in his inning of work, and Mario Medina worked a perfect inning striking out a batter. The Nine once again jumped on the board early as Carlos De La Cruz, who you may have heard of by now, hit another three-run homer. In the second, Shawn Harrison, Elvis Torres, Nick Hernandez and Angel Presinal all walked to start the inning. Freddy Rojas scored Elvis Torres on an RBI and Danny Alfonzo‘s sac fly scored Hernandez. Carlos De La Cruz reached on an error, scoring Presinal, leaking the Nine out to a quick 7-0 lead. The bottom of the third saw more of the same as a Nick Hernandez walk plated Jesse Spellman and a Presinal ground ball single to center scored two. Danny Alfonzo added an RBI on yet another HBP. With this win the Nine moved into the quarter finals as the 4th seed.

On a drizzly, rainy day, the first game of the playoffs saw the Nine take on the fifth seeded Freedom Baseball out of Long Island. Starter Wellington Belen was solid, fanning five in five plus innings while giving up three hits. In the top of the sixth, after a walk and double chased Belen, Freddy Rojas got consecutive ground outs to Shawn Harrison, who did not convert either out at the plate and Freedom ended their inning up by two. Mike Garcia held the game where it was with a perfect seventh setting the stage for one of the greatest moments in Nine history. With one out Carlos De La Cruz singled on a line drive to left, followed by a Rojas flyout to left. With an 0-1 count, pinch hitter Jesse Spellman did this:

What is unclear in the video is the leaping attempt by the left fielder to rob him of a home run. This is similar to the final play of the 2016 season where Oakland Athletic draftee, Nate Webb put a bases loaded fastball over the centerfield wall in Charleston, South Carolina only to have it brought back. Fortunes would be different this time as Spellman’s shot caromed off of the glove of the left fielder falling over the fence for a home run, tying the game at 2. With score still knotted at two in the 9th inning, the bases were loaded with one out. Reliever Brayan Garcia punched out two consecutive hitters with fastballs in low 90s to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the inning, with the bases loaded, Angel Presinal hit a fly ball over the left fielders head scoring pinch runner, Braulio Melo to push the Nine into the semifinals vs. the Body Armor Titans, the tournament’s number one seed who had not allowed a run all tournament.

That streak ended quickly as Francisco Soriano lasered a 3-1 fastball into the parking lot in right center giving the Nine a quick 1-0 lead. The Nine scored another run in the top of the second when Oliver Fernandez singled to right center, and when trying to throw out Jeremy Bueno, the center fielder threw the ball into the dugout, giving each player 2 bases. Starter Chris Pichardo battled the rain all game, allowing a run in the bottom of the second and another In the bottom of the third, when he escaped further danger by getting a shallow fly out to center, leaving the bases loaded. After a brief delay due to driving rain, the Nine came out swinging with a Danny Perez fly ball single followed by Elvis Torres running for Perez. Freddy Rojas lined a single to right and Jeremy Bueno‘s single to center plated Torres. Rojas scored on a Fernandez force out and Braulio Melo scored on a Shawn Harrison single, which was followed by a Leury Tejada single scoring Harrison. The Nine plated four runs in the frame giving them a 6-2 lead. In the bottom of the 5th, Body Armor cut the lead to 6-3 on a deep double to left. Chris Pichardo was incredible the rest of the way, with the hard fought complete game victory. The win was Pichardo’s 8th, a New York Nine record, and 14th victory in the past two seasons. This was also the Body Armor Titans second loss all summer. As the rains fell again the tournament was halted, and co-champions were declared. The Nine were the only five win club in the tournament and beat the number one seeded playoff club in the process. It was a fitting ending to a fantastic summer. The final record for the Scout team was an outstanding 33-9-3.

Tournament notes:

Angel Presinal led the team in batting average and OBP and had a line of .500/.588/.571
Carlos De La Cruz slugged 1.000 for the tournament with a team leading 3 home runs and 8 RBI
Shawn Harrison led the team in walks with 6 and had a .538 OBP
Danny Alfonzo set the Nine record for HBP in a season and got hit with 2 pitches this tournament. He hit .417/.500/.833 with a team leading 5 runs scored.
Oliver Fernandez slugged .889
Danny Perez hit .333/.500/.667 including the longest home run of the season, and his 3rd on the season
Anthony Costa led the team in strikeouts with 6 and had a 63.2% ground ball rate
Brayan Garcia struck out 75% of batters faced
Matt Demartini struck out 50% of batters faced
DJ Flug had a groundball rate of 71.4%
The Nine averaged 7 runs per game and hit .306/.437/.545 as a team
The Nine allowed an average of 2.2 runs per game and struck out 32 in 32.2 innings.

New York Nine Win Independence Day Championships

New York Nine Win Independence Day Championships at Baseball Heaven

The New York Nine Scout Team won the 18u Independence Day Tournament Championship at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, New York. The Nine secured a championship day bye by finishing second overall with a 4-0 record through pool play, saving them a potential seventh game in four days.

The opening round saw two outstanding mound efforts as recent Bayside HS alumni Dimitri Papazoglou and Anthony Costa each hurled a no hitter in their respective complete game victories. Papazoglou fanned an incredible 48% of the hitters he faced in a twelve strikeout performance over the previously undefeated Frozen Ropes Rockies while Costa punched out nine in his dominant tournament opening outing versus Motus Academy.

In the semi-final, starter Bryant Gomez threw four shutout innings against the FAA Phoenix from New Jersey. The Phoenix, who were 20-0-1 in their previous 21 Baseball Heaven tournament games mounted a furious rally against the Nine bullpen but fell up short in a 9-5 contest.

The championship game against the top seeded Bayside Yankees lived up to its billing. Nick Vella started things off with a long home run in the top half of the first inning. After the Nine tacked on a run in the top of the second, Bayside’s bats came alive as they plated three runs to take a 3-2 lead. The score remained the same until the top of the 6th inning when Danny Perez doubled home Nick Vella to tie the game followed by a two RBI double by Jonell Perez to give the Nine the lead. In the top of the seventh, Jesse Spellman was brought home by an Angel Presinal single to center ending the scoring at 7-3. Chris Pichardo threw five shutout innings for the win in relief. The Nine lifted the trophy after finishing 6-0 in the tournament.

Tournament Notes:

Carlos De La Cruz hit .500 with three singles, four doubles, one home run, eight RBIs, scored eight runs and slugged .938
Oliver Fernandez also hit .500 with a .556 OBP
Danny Alfonzo‘s .550 OBP was helped by a tournament high four hbp, while homering and scoring seven runs
Nick Vella and Francisco Soriano each launched two home runs while scoring five and six runs respectively
Braulio Melo swiped three bags and scored two runs

As a staff, the Nine fanned 41 batters in 35 innings, while only giving up 19 hits
Dimitri Papazoglou‘s struck out 12 and Anthony Costa struck out 9
DJ Flug picked up two victories in relief
Chris Pichardo and Bryant Gomez each threw 5 scoreless innings and had a victory apiece.