Sudbury Little League Majors Roundup

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was submitted by Paula Mackenzi.)

SATURDAY, MAY 26

Cardinals 7, Athletics 5

Thomas Bacons’s three-run, inside-the-park home run powered the Cardinals to a come-from-behind victory over the Athletics. All nine Cardinals’ batters reached base. Jack Fletcher’s RBI single started the Cardinals rally after the A’s built a 5-0 lead. Conor Lee (2 RS), Ben Hankey (1B, BB), Ethan Weisman (1B, SB), and Greer Fried (1B, RS) all had key at-bats as well. On the mound, William Fletcher pitched two perfect innings, faced six batters and struck out five. Jack Fletcher pitched a scoreless inning and had one strikeout while Hankey (2 IPs, 3Ks), and Kyle Smith (1 IP, 3Ks) each had good performances on the mound. For the A's, Max Durante (5Ks) pitched two scoreless innings and Ben Fasciano limited the Cardinals to three runs in two innings. Joseph Sziabowski had two base hits, and Victor Figueroa and Ben Winters each banged out a double. Defensively, Jacob Pentz, who was called up from the A’s AAA team, made a great sliding catch in right field to rob the Cardinals of two runs in the first inning.

Pirates 8, Giants 1

Quality pitching and timely hitting powered the Pirates past the Giants. Pirates’ third baseman Tate Ciccolo’s made a great defensive play with his grab of a hard-hit line drive by Giants’ Owen Kinney in the second inning. Pirates’ starter Brett Flanagan (3 IP, 6 Ks) gave up the lone Giants’ hit and Jack Sorbo (1 2/3 IP, K) and Matt Perricone (1 1/3 IP, 3 Ks) kept the Giants’ bats quiet. Offensively the Pirates were powered by Jack Reading (2B, 2 RS), Perricone (1B, 2B, 2 RS, 2 RBIs), Flanagan (2 1B, RS), Sorbo (1B, 2B, RS, 3 RBIs), and Jake Erman (2 1B, RS). The Pirates called up AAA players Nick Carter and Jack Carter, who were active for the game, and the call-up paid immediate dividends when Jack made a nice catch in the outfield.

Marlins 11, Phillies 4 (no game summary available)

Orioles 4, Royals 1

The Orioles out dueled the Royals in a great pitching match-up.  The Orioles’ defense and pitching were keys to their victory as Adam Thomas (3 IP, 5 Ks) and Archie Stewart (3 IP, 3 Ks, 0 ER) combined to allow only one run. Defensively, Thomas made a diving play to end a Royals’ rally in the first inning, and shortstop Nate Nickerson made four excellent plays at his position in two innings. Catcher A.J. Cataldo ended the game with a great play in the bottom of the sixth. Stewart, Nickerson, Thomas Griffin and Alex Gullotti each made key contributions offensively for the Orioles. The Royals were led by terrific pitching performances of Ryan Cusick (3 IP, 4Ks O ER) and Ethan Beatty (3 IP, 3Ks). Cusick, Seamus Fagan, and Betty also made solid defensive plays to limit the Orioles’ scoring chances.  James Ensley scored the lone run for the Royals.

Orioles 15, Marlins 0 (make up from rainout on May 12)

The Orioles recorded their first shutout of the season over the Marlins. Orioles’ pitchers Harrison Reiter (2 IP, K), Jack Colletti (1 IP, K) and Brendan Frain (1 IP) gave up only three hits. The Orioles played great defense throughout the game as Nate Nickerson, A.J. Cataldo and Reiter each recorded multiple put-outs in the field. Offensively, the Orioles banged out 10 consecutive hits to start the game and each base runner scored. Orioles’ Nickerson (1B, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 RS), Cataldo (3 1B, 2 RS), Alex Gullotti (2 1B, HBP, RBI, 2 RS), Jack Coletti (2 1B, 2 RBIs 2 RS) and Reiter (1B, 2B, BB, 2 RBI, 2 RS) all had multi-hits. Coletti’s hits were both shots up the middle to lead the rally. The Marlins’ hits were recorded by Jonathan Vellom (1B), Milind Lele (1B) and Max Solomon (2B).  Defensively, Daniel Desmarais and Thomas Palmer made excellent plays and Will Fraser (1 IP, 2Ks) and Vellom (2 IP, 2Ks) combined for four strikeouts.

FRIDAY, MAY 25

Rays 10, Orioles 3

Strong pitching and timely offense helped the Rays coast to victory over the Orioles. Chris Reilly (2 ERs, 4Ks) and Rory Bordiuk (0 ERs, 5Ks) held the tough Orioles to just three runs until the Rays’ offense came alive. Tim Quirk made great defensive plays throwing out two Orioles’ base runners. In the fourth inning, Xan Ottenberg (1B, 2B, HBP, 3 RS, RBI, 3 SBs) started the Rays’ rally, and teammates Brett Parker (2 1Bs, RBI) and Bordiuk (1B, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, Run, SB) each scored. Reilly (2 2Bs, HBP, BB, RS, RBI, SB) had one of his two doubles in that inning. Other offensive contributors in the fourth inning for the Rays were Ryan Barrera (1B, RS, RBI), Stephen Brackett (3 BBs, 3 RS, 3 SBs), Jake Titus (2B, RS, RBI) and Bordiuk. Ryan Mulcahey (2 2Bs, RS, RBI), who was called up from the Rays’ AAA team, made his presence known offensively and defensively. For the Orioles, Alex Gullotti (3 IPs, 7Ks), Haydn Herrema and Brendan Frain split pitching duties. At the plate, the Orioles had five base hits from Frain, Adam Thomas, Archie Stewart (1B, BB), Gullotti (1B, RS) and Harrison Reiter (1B, SB). Defensively, the Orioles’ Thomas Griffin applied the tag on a runner at third for an out and Vincent Richard also made a nice play on a hard hit grounder.

Phillies 10, Royals 8

The Phillies defeated the Royals in a game that came down to the final inning. For the Phillies, Aidan Rogers had a big day at the plate (3-3, 5 RBIs), while Justin DiPietro scored three times and Declan Forde scored twice.  Peter Rizzotti (3 IP, 5 K), Aidan Sliwkowski (1 IP, 0 runs), and Alex Cannon pitched well to ensure the Phillies’ victory. The Royals were lead by Sam Winneg, Seamus Fagan, Jack Maillet, and Abby Volo.  Noah Gies and Jack Maillet made great catches to stop several Phillies’ scoring attempts. The Royals rallied in the sixth inning to pull to within two and were led by key runs scored by Drew Teitelbaum and Noah Gies, and offensive contributions from Volo (2-3), Ryan Cusick (2-4), and James Ensley (3-4, 3 RS).

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23

Pirates 6, Cardinals 4

The Pirates edged the Cardinals behind quality defense and solid pitching. The Pirates were led by Brett Flanagan (2 1B, 3 RBIs) and base hits from Jack Reading, Matt Perricone, and George Curry.  On the mound, the Pirates received three shutout innings from Flanagan, and in relief, Nicholas Mitchell and Perricone kept the Cardinals bats in check. The defensive play of the game belonged to Pirates catcher’ Andrew Sanderson who got the ball to his batterymate Flanagan who put the tag on a Cardinals’ runner trying to score from third base for a crucial out. The Cardinals received excellent pitching from Jacob Pullen (3 IP, 5Ks), Kyle Smith (1 IP, 2Ks) and William Fletcher (2 IP, 5Ks). The offensive star was Conor Lee, who drilled a three-run home run over the centerfield fence at Upper Featherland that scored Greer Fried (1B, BB, RS) and Ethan Weisman (1B, RS) to cut the lead to 6-4.

TUESDAY, MAY 22

Royals 18, Athletics 7

The Royals defeated the Athletics on the strength of its offense and solid pitching. Ethan Beatty, Drew Teitelbaum, James Ensley and Ryan Cusick all shared pitching duties, and were supported by their teammates as all Royals’ players scored at least one run in the game. Beatty led the offense going 3-for-4 with a home run over the centerfield fence, banged out two doubles and drove in four runs, and teammates Jake Mackenzi (3-4, 2 RS) and Braden O'Connell (1-2, RBI, RS) were also offensive contributors. For the Athletics, Peter Lindblom had three hits, including a triple, Max Durante reached base four times, and Ben Fasciano had two base hits. Joseph Sziabowski and William Stone each pitched scoreless innings.  

MONDAY, MAY 21

Rangers 4, Phillies 3

The Rangers defeated the Phillies in a close, well-played game that came down to the final at-bat in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Rangers received spectacular pitching from Michael Kossuth (3 IPs, 4Ks, 4 hits) and Chandler Katz, who tossed three innings, struck out seven batters and did not give up any hits. Offensive contributors were Tristan Wolf (2 1B, 2B), Charlie Cavanaugh (2 1B) and Alec Zaccardo (2B). James Dillon (2-3, 3B, 2 RBIs), Alex Cannon (1-2, RBI), Jack McKeon (2-2) were the offensive stars for the Phillies.  Phillies’ defense backed up fine pitching performances by Peter Rizzotti (3 IPs, 7 Ks), who only gave up two hits. Liam Huston pitched a scoreless fourth, and Ethan Benton struck out the side in the fifth.