The Brothers came to play on Saturday. They were facing the great EHC team and knew this was going to be a big shoot-out.
In top of the first we faced the EHC line-up. As a team they have a batting average 100 points above ours. They also have incredible speed on the basepaths. It is perhaps the toughest match up in the league for us.
They started off with Bricker hitting a triple, and Josh Paszkowski hitting a doule. Then Jonathan Montesanti hit a single and we were down 2-0 with no outs. Our defense then tightened the screws a little and recorded 3 straight outs..
In the bottom of the first inning Jimmy Morrison got us going with a hit and James Hutton hit a single of his own and picked up the RBI. Andrew DiNovo then drove James in… we had 2 runs.
The second was the “inning from Newark.” The umpire had a very tight strike zone, and really forced us to serve up some meat balls. The number 8 and 9 hitter walked bringing up the top of the EHC order with one out and runners on….. The sweat was dripping off of my nose as shot after shot went to our outfield and we just couldn’t get the ball to the right cut offs and EHC seemed to get an extra base after every hit. At the end of the inning it was 7-2.
This is the good part:
Coach DiNovo reached out to our defense and said.. You have to do this for the pitcher…. you guys have to play tougher defense, and you have to get some of these runs back. Nate McCarroll called “Brothers on 3″ and the team roared back.
Duncan Satterlee led us off with a single, Michael Monthie drew a tough walk and now we had the top or our order up with runners on and one out… Philip, Jimmy, James, and Andrew DiNovo got 4 consecutive hits and it was EHC 7 and Vellano 6… We were in a dogfight…. with one of the very big dogs.. it was alot of fun!
The third inning ended up being the difference in the game.. We gave up 2 walks and 5 hits… the EHC crew had their second consecutive 5 run inning. On our end we only sent 3 batters to the plate and now we were down by 6 runs.
This is the time when lesser teams fold up their tents and go home. Not the Brothers….. These guys came right back out of the dugout on a mission. Jimmy Morrison gave us a strike out and made another clutch catch of a line drive while he was on the mound. to end the inning Patrick Hilt made another acrobatic catch in right field.
Philly Cheese led off the 4th inning with a towering homerun to the International field. This is Phil’s 4th Home Run, and he got it in his second to last game as a Brother.. it was a sweet occassion. James Hutton hit a single to right field, DiNovo hit a single of his own, and Nate drew a walk. There was no quit in the Vellano team.
In the 5th inning we blanked EHC with great defense. It was a grounder to DiNovo, a heads-up shovel from Andrew Shaw to short to get a force, and another Morrison strike out. It was nice to see the defense look so sharp.
The bottom of the 5th is where we got the fans on their feet. Patrick Hilt is hit by a pitch, putting speed on first. Then Andrew Shaw draws a walk and it is speed squared….. Philly Cheese hits a single to get the RBI, followed by Jimmy’s double for 2 more Rib Eye Steaks and Huttons single to drive in the 4th run of the inning.. It was 15-11 at the end of 5.
That was all that either team would score. For the first time this year Vellano scored double digit runs. We saw some tight defense in the second half of the game. At bats were improved all around. We took balls and swung at strikes..
We have our final game of the year against VFW this week. For Jimmy, Philip and Patrick this is the end of a long road at Colonie LL. When they got here Bill Clinton was President, gas cost less than $2 per gallon, and they were hitting off a Tee. It has been a great ride.. Let’s end it with a bang for them!
It was an exceptionally hot day to be pitching or catching, but Andrew DiNovo took the hill and went the distance to his full pitch count. The EHC team is known for being very free swingers, and having alot of speed on the basepaths. Andrew threw strikes, they put the ball in play and then it was up to our defense to do the job.