Rookie Division
Metro Star Café 8, Marlite Construction 3. The young Metro-Stars laced up their cleats and took to the field against the Marlite Construction crew in RGMVM Rookie action.
The Metro Stars came out early with the bats, scoring two runs in each of the first four innings behind the hot bats of Justin Rodriguez, Stephanie Abruzzo, Chris Piteo, Mike Guglielmi and Ryan Hallahan. The Metro Star pitching was the real story in this one.
The Stars handed the ball to flame-thrower Chris Piteo, who pitched the first three innings in impressive fashion, striking out eight batters along the way. The Stars then handed the ball to Ryan Schulz, who took to the mound and fired a barrage of fastballs over the last three innings to keep the Construction crew off the board.
Not to be lost in the game was the solid outfield play of Anthony DeMario, who made a great grab in the gap in the second inning to kill a rally. With this solid victory, the Metro Stars improved to 7-0 on the season.
Major Division
Sarabella 1, Juniper Elbow 0. Juniper Elbow took to the field for two gut-wrenching games over the weekend. On Saturday, Juniper lost to a tough Sarabella team by a final score of 1-0 in eight innings. This game was a baseball classic, with TJ Fox pitching six scoreless innings for Juniper and striking out 13 batters.
Unfortunately it was not Juniper’s day, as Mario Valdez matched TJ’s performance with six scoreless innings as well. As the game went into extra innings, Juniper made extraordinary plays to keep it scoreless, from Patrick Coyne’s great catch of a long fly to a Steve Varela spectacular grab of a line drive at shortstop, which was turned into a double play. Steve Pelligrino pitched two additional scoreless innings for Sarabella, and Brandon Smith knocked in the game-winner with a double in the bottom of the eighth. What a game.
Juniper Elbow 5, Ridgewood Savings 3. Juniper was back at it on Sunday for a game with its division rival, Ridgewood Savings. Once again the game ended as a nail-biter, with Juniper emerging victorious, 5-3.
Justin Tableman pitched a complete game, with a dominant five innings and a gutsy sixth inning, where he withstood a Vinny Reda home run and some strong hitting by Cory Bannon.
Andrew made the play of the game. Blanke in center field, where he went way, way back to the fence, grabbed the ball off the fence, turned and threw on a line to second base, where shortstop Steve Varella applied a tough tag to thwart a potential Ridgewood rally.
Andrew Zeni, Andrew Blanke and all-star catcher Anthony Cacioppo supplied much of the offense for Juniper. Juniper Elbow’s record improved to 7-2. Classic baseball games, green grass — it almost felt like spring.
Girls Softball Senior Division
Myrtle Bagels 18, AJ Roofing 16. The bats were afire with hits by Vanessa Melendez, Nicole Follenius, Tasha Birgnoni with a huge in-the-park grand slam, Sierra Hunt, Jaclyn Weber, Alyssa Goldbach, Catherine Auriemmo and Grace Kahl.
Good defensive plays by Brittany Masica, Alison Brennan, Cynthia Torres and Catherine Illuzzi. The third inning’s defense allowed 10 runs to score, adding to the manager’s and the parents’ ulcers. Good come back, ladies.
Glendale Diner Wins Again
At RGMVM, the Diner Devils took on the Nulite Fuel Flames in girls’ senior softball action. The Devils’ bats were on fire all night.
Doing the damage for the Devils were: Nicole Kennedy, Dannie Amato, Bonnie DeFina, Krystil Hofmann, Brooke DiMarco, Lauren Ferenc and Melissa Endres.
The Devils got great pitching from windmill pitcher Sammy Stallone, who battled through a tough first inning, and pitched the next two innings, getting the win. Getting the job done was closer Dannie Amato, who fired away strikes over the last two innings.
At shortstop, Lauren Ferenc, who continues to impress with her flashy defensive style, made some great defensive plays. Go Devils.
Travel Teams
The 8-Year-Old RGMVM “Bulldogs” 21, Our Lady of Grace All-Stars 5. The young travel dogs of RGMVM loaded up the bus and cars and headed to Brooklyn’s Gill Hodges field to face off against the Grace All-Stars.
The Bulldogs handed the ball to starter Chris Piteo, who escaped some early trouble in the first, getting the side on strikeouts. The Bulldog offense broke out early in the first, rallying with a 12-run outburst. Who let the Dogs out?
Doing the damage for the Bulldogs offense were Chris Piteo (3-3, 7 RBIs), John Codelia (2-2, 1 RBI), Johnny Murphy (1-1, 2 RBIs), Brandon Acosta (2–3), Brett Buser (1-2, 2 RBI), Brian Torres (1-2) and Matt Fox (2-2, 2 RBI).
The doggies handed the ball to young fire-baller Nick Lante, who battled through the tough Grace line-up in the third and fourth innings, striking out five along the way for another Bulldog victory. The win puts the RGMVM travel squad at 6-0 in the early going.
