Lemon Grove Defeats Italy 5-4 with Eighth-Inning Single

BANGOR, Maine—When the batter in front of you is intentionally walked, it is typically a sign of respect.

On two occasions in Wednesday’s Senior League World Series game, Lemon Grove catcher Alex Estrada was placed in that position, after Emillia, Italy, refused to go after cleanup man Deandre Simpson.

It worked for the Italians the first time but not the second, as Estrada gave the U.S. West champions their second walk-off victory in three games here with an eighth-inning single that pushed Lemon Grove past Italy 5-4 in dramatic fashion.

Estrada smacked a 2-1 offering into left field, just out of the reach of a diving Manuel Piazza to set off a celebration that was surely felt 3,000 miles away in San Diego.

“When I saw it hit the ground, I was happy that we came back and won,” said Estrada, whose hit lifted Lemon Grove to 3-0 in pool play while Italy falls to 1-2.

Lemon Grove returns to action against the U.S. Southwest champs from Houston, Texas, on Thursday at 8 p.m., with a win assuring Lemon Grove a berth in Friday’s semifinal round.

It turns out manager Andre Simpson’s club had to come from behind three times, including from two runs down in the bottom of the eighth.

The teams went into extra innings tied at 2, but the Italians pushed across a pair of runs, one on an RBI single by Matteo Lantmanchi and the other on an error to give them a 4-2 advantage.

Italy could’ve had more if not for a sensational diving catch in right by Nico Alcoser to rob Matteo Bocchi of extra bases and save two more runs.

Alcoser said the ball was tailing away from him toward the line, but the fleet-footed outfielder made up plenty of ground.

“That was a hell of a play,” said Andre Simpson.

If there’s one thing Simpson preaches to his troops, it’s to never quit, and it turns out Lemon Grove had the Italians right where they wanted them despite trailing and being down to its last three outs.

Cesar Preciado led off the Lemon Grove eighth with a single, and he would move to second on a walk.

Dominik Sawyer’s RBI double made it a one-run game with nobody out, and Brad Moreno sacrificed him to third base.

After Esteban Lieras flied out to shallow right, Ray Peterson singled and Simpson, the coach’s son, was intentionally walked for the second time in two innings.

Simpson and Estrada had both been walked intentionally to load the bases in a 2-2 game in the seventh - Italy snuffed out that rally - but Estrada got the best of the European champs this time.

“The first time I didn’t expect them to int walk me,” said Estrada. “The second time, coach was like come on baby its all you right here. I knew I needed to step up and I did.”

The Italians certainly came through with a valiant effort, particularly from shortstop Loreato Fabbri, who had three singles and an RBI and made several outstanding plays in the field.

“Great match, beautiful game,” Italy manager Daniele Frignani said through a translator. “One point divided our team between them.”

Italy took a 1-0 lead in the second on Matteo Carola’s sacrifice fly, but Peterson drew Lemon Grove even in the third with a sac fly of his own.

The Italians regained the lead in the fifth on Fabbri’s RBI single, only to have Lemon Grove and Peterson respond again, with Peterson connecting for an RBI base hit of his own.

Lemon Grove had a glaring chance to win it in the last of the seventh, loading the bases with one out, but Lamfranchi robbed Frankie Nunez of a hit with a lunging catch at second, and Derrick Clark struck out to end the threat.
But the U.S. West champs’ never say die attitude proved dividends in extra innings, and now they’re on the precipice of a semifinal berth.

“We have an angel with us right now,” said Andre Simpson. “I keep telling these kids, there’s no clock in baseball.”