Cardinals Take 3 on Rainy Saturday

There was rain in the forecast, but that did not dampen the Cardinals bats, as the boys took 3 games (2 in NJBL and 1 in the MCLL Tournament).

NJBL Game 7 (9/27/08)
After giving up a first inning run to fall behind the Bethpage Eagles, the Cardinals quickly came back with 4 in the bottom of the first, 3 in the 3rd and 4 in the 4th to take an 11-1 victory.

With 2 outs in the 1st, Andrew Purcell walked, followed by consecutive singles by Kyle Cashman, Anthony Wallitsch and Ryan Fama. Matt Tsotras walked and Kyle Lamb followed with a single, giving the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.

In the 3rd, Purcell and Cashman led off with back to back singles. With 1 out Fama singled them both in to take a 6-1 lead. Fama then stole 2nd, 3rd and home to increase the lead to 7-1.

In the 4th, with 1 out, Anthony Salamone singled. Salamone stole 2nd with 2 outs and scored on a singe by Kyle Carroll. After a walk to Purcell, Cashman and Wallitsch followed with back to back singles to close out the scoring and secure the 11-1 victory, with the Cardinals improving to 6-1.

Anthony Wallitsch pitched 5 innings of 3 hit, 1 run ball and Andrew Purcell closed out the 6th for the save.

NJBL Game 8 (9/27/08)
After a scoreless top of the 1st, the Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead. The Cardinals countered with a run in the top of the 2nd, as Wallitsch led off with a single. After a walk to Salamone, Fama singled for the first Cardinal run.

The Eagles came right back with two of their own in the bottom half of the 2nd to take a 5-1 lead, but the Cardinals bounced right back with 3 in the top of the third. Joe Oliveto led off with a single, followed by singles by Kyle Lamb and Chris Sarni. 3 consecutive walks to Wallitsch, Salamone and Fama helped close the gap to 5-4.

The Eagles came right back with 1 in the bottom fo the 3rd, but again, the Cardinals responded with 4 in the 4th. Michael Chicarella led off with a single. Joe Oliveto then dropped down a sacrifice bunt, with Chicarella running on the play and moving to 3rd. Kyle Lamb then singled him home, followed by a walk to Chris Sarni. With 2 out, Salamone singled them both in, and proceeded to steal 2nd, 3rd and home to close out the inning and give the Cardinals an 8-6 lead.

In the 5th, Kyle Carroll led off with a single. After stealing second, Carroll scored on a single by Joe Oliveto, securing the Cardinals 9-7 victory and helping the team improve to 7-1.

Ryan Fama kept the Cardinals in the game with 3 solid innings, and Kyle Carroll finished out the final 3 innings, giving up 3 hits, 1 run and striking out 4.

MCLL Game 3 (9/27/08)
The Cardinals jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Bayville Falcons, as Andrew Purcell walked with two out and promptly stole 2nd, 3rd and home. The Cardinals continued their scoring in the 2nd, with 5 runs on a walk to Wallitsch, a single by Carroll, a walk to Lamb and successive singles by Oliveto, Chicarella and Sarni.

After a scoreless 3rd, the Cardinals added 3 more runs in the 4th, on singles by Carroll, Chicarella and Sarni, and a double by Fama.

The Cardinals added 4 more in the 6th on a single by Wallitsch, walks to Lamb and Oliveto and a single by Chicarella.

Meanwhile, pitcher Kyle Cashman was dominating, throwing a no-hitter through 5. After a lead-off single in the bottom of the 6th and with Cashman's pitch count nearing the max, Kyle Carroll came on to close out the game.

The MCLL Tournament continues Sunday 9/28, and the NJBL season resumes on Sunday 10/05/08.

No practice this week, as darkness comes quickly, and many of the boys are involved with after school commitments.

See you tomorrow.

Coach Carroll