The baseball diety smiled on the visitor’s dugout tonight and rewarded the purple gang with a very precious victory. The joy was mixed with relief, and gratitude and pride and hope all in one big baseball flavored smoothy when Jimmy Morrison made the last out and our kids stormed the Vellano sign for the first time this year. I had to Mapquest directions to get there myself, it has been so long.

In the big picture of life, winning or losing this game really meant nothing. In the lives of our team this meant everything. It meant that hard work does pay off. It meant that never quitting means never giving up on your team. This victory meant that yes in fact we do have some very good baseball players on this team.

The fact it was a one run ball game means some things also. It means that we needed every single hit we got. It means that every single play made on the field was necessary. This narrow victory means that taking one inning off would have meant our demise.

So where does credit go for this win? It belongs to all 11 of our young men. Literally every one contributed to make this happen. For the first time since 2009, Vellano batted around the order in an inning.. It was that good.

The game started with Philly Cheese walking, Jimmy Morrison hitting a single.. and then the Blast from our big man Andrew DiNovo. Andrew took a 3-2 pitch to deep deep deep left field that was his second home run of the year. On a sentimental note, I saw his brother Tommy sprint out to beat all of the other kids to get the ball for his brother. You may know Tommy as the CLL outstanding 12 year old of 2007, or as a standout on the CBA JV baseball team. Today he was 100% Andrew’s brother and it was all about Andrew, and getting that home run ball for Andrew. So we end the top of the first up 3-0.

The bottom of the first we send Duncan Satterlee out to the mound. Right away you could tell this was a special night for Duncan. He was reaching back and throwing really hard. It was a long stride, snap follow through, and Nate McCarroll looked like he knew exactly where the ball was going before it left Duncan’s hand. They painted the corners and worked favorable counts to keep the opposing hitters off balance. Inside, then outside.. up the ladder, change of speed. It was a clinic on giving hitters 2 choices.. swing at marginal pitches, or get behind in the count. Despite great pitching, the boys from JT Garry brought 7 hitters to the plate. There were 5 singles, and a fielder’s choice. The hits were finding holes up the middle, and just felt like bad luck. We end the first inning locked up at 3-3 and a little down to see Andrew’s home run melt away into a tie.

The second inning was a stalemate, so the next action came in the top of the 3rd inning.

In the third inning Jimmy Morrison started the inning off with a walk, followed by a James Hutton single, then Andrew DiNovo hit a single.. we had the bases loaded with no outs.. and somehow didn’t score. It was a creepy feeling like we might really come to regret the squandered opportunity.

In the bottom of the third inning we saw JT Garry take the lead on a double by Antonio and then a RBI single by Tommy Kramer.

In the fourth Patrick Hilt made a huge contribution by starting us off with a lead off walk from the ninth spot in the batting order. Phil Adikes hit a double to score Hilt on a tight play at the plate.. Then Morrison hit a double that scored Adikes, and all of the sudden it was the Brothers back in the driver’s seat with a 5-4 lead. However that would not be enough.

In the 5th inning Antonio Archina hit a solo home run for JT Garry to start the innning. It was a great pitch thrown by Satterlee high and tight to the power-hitting Archina.. but Archina would not be denied.. He took it off his fists and drove the ball over the left field fence. That homerun was followed by singles from Kramer, Blaauboer and Nimako..

It was JT Garry up by 1 with Vellano down to its final 3 outs. Vellano was bringing 8, 9 and 1 to bat, and needed a run or it was all over but the crying.

Duncan Satterlee started the Brothers off with a a very very clutch single to center field, followed by Patrick Hilts second trip to first base.. this time being hit by a pitch. Man on first and second and Philly Cheese comes to the plate. This was the best scenario I could imagine for our outgoing 4 year Vellano Brother.. and the moment was not lost. Philly Cheese took a 3-2 pitch and smacked it over the fence in left center field to bring his team to a 7-5 lead.

Somehow the boys must have known that would not be enough against this tough opponent. Phil’s homerun was followed up with a single by Jimmy, a single by James Hutton, a hit deep to center field by Christopher Adikes, and a single by Nate McCarroll. We ended the inning up 8-5.

After AJ Mazzone hit a single we had exhausted all of Duncan’s allowed 85 pitches. He left the game with his team up by 3, seeming like the hero tonight. We handed the ball to Phil Adikes and asked him to throw hard strikes to garner us a victory.

Jared Prezkerat hit a double to center field, and Antonio Archina hit a double that scored Mazzone and Preskerat. Now it was 8-7 with no outs and a man on first. Vellano had to hold on defense to win.. if Archina scored we were going to extra innings.

Andrew Shaw started things rolling by making a great play at second to get the first out.. problem was that now we had the tying run on second. You could feel the park get quiet as parents and grandparents held their breath.

Philly Cheese did not disappoint. Each pitch seemed harder than the last as Nate McCarroll piloted him on. Sean Kramer hit a ball hard back to the pitchers mound. Philip handled it himself and made the second out… the bad new is Archina is now on third.. there isn’t room for one tiny error.

The last hit of the game comes off the bat off Nick Blauber. It was s low bloop hit a few yards short of Jimmy Morrison. Jimmy dives and appears to make the catch in his glove, but…. his glove falls off and the ball is in it. The umpire signals it is a live ball and the catch does not stand. Jimmy rolls over onto his knees and fires from short stop to first on his knees. Andrew DiNovo makes the big stretch and Vellano defies the critics and wins a game on hustle and guts alone.

When it was over the stands had, in addition to our parents and grandparents, a few of the others…. The others are the people who wandered over to see something special. They are the people who got to see that winners never quit. I think that even some of the parents on JT Garry side were glad to see the purple gang get that horrible monkey off our backs. I think everyone in the park sighed relief to see the boys in purple finally get to charge their sign in the outfield and feel the joy of little league baseball.

Philly “Cheese” moves up on all time VB win ladder!!!

Tuesday’s victory was a milestone for 4-yr starter, Philip Adikes. That was career win number 52 for the superstar and puts him in sole possesion of 2nd place for most lifetime Vellano wins!! Congrats Philip, well deserved!!