FINAL: Smith 11, Adrean 8

Hey guys. I'm here at Notre Dame High School for today's Blue Division match-up between Adrean and Smith. Adrean is coming off a 7-4 loss to Roberts in their season opener last night. Smith knocked off Roberts 6-3 back on June 7 in their only game thus far.

I'll be providing inning-by-inning updates throughout the game. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section - they are encouraged. I'll try to answer your questions during the game, whether you want to talk legion baseball, the College World Series (which starts tomorrow) or anything else.

Also, be sure to check out the schedule for this weekend's Father's Day Classic, hosted by Utica Post: http://adonovan-uticaod.blogspot.com/2008/06/fathers-day-classic_13.html
There are some talented teams in the tournament which should provide for some enjoyable baseball.

Starting line-ups:
Adrean Post (0-1)
1. Rafaele Cordero, SS
2. Jack Lottermoser, 3B
3. Michael Gaetano, 1B
4. Steve Campbell, RF
5. Steve Sarcone, P
6. Craig Warncke, CF
7. Luke Manolescu, C
8. Matt Rotundo, 2B
9. Mike Hill, LF
Pitcher: Steve Sarcone, RHP

Smith Post (1-0)
1. Kyle Richardson, P
2. Ryan Kramer, SS
3. Jason Nowicki, 3B
4. Ryan Marquette, 1B
5. Nate Mallinder, CF
6. Garrett Baker, RF
7. Zack Ciccotti, C
8. Ryan Cooke, LF
9. Mike Stevens, 2B
Pitcher: Kyle Richardson, RHP

*Tonight's game is being broadcast on 1350 AM.
*I'm sitting up in the press box behind home plate - the smell of the popcorn in the concession stand below is killing me. There must be 10 lbs. of butter on it. I'm thinking I might have to make a stop down there at some point. So much for laying off the sweets...
*My former JV baseball coach at NH, Art Williams, is the home plate umpire tonight - brings back some memories.

Top 1st: Kyle Richardson opened the game with a walk. Ryan Kramer smoked a triple down the left field line, scoring Richardson. Smith 1, Adrean 0. Jason Nowicki then hit a high chopper over the head of the third baseman, bring Kramer home for an RBI single. Smith 2, Adrean 0. Ryan Marquette followed with a groundout to shortstop Rafaele Cordero. Nowicki was hustling to second leaving Cordero no choice but to go to first. Mallinder then flew out to left for the inning's second out. Garrett Baker drew a walk, putting runners on first and second. The inning ended on a hard hit line out to center fielder Craig Warncke by Zack Ciccotti.

Bottom 1st: Cordero led off with a groundout to second baseman, Mike Stevens. Richardson walked Jack Lottermoser on four pitches. Michael Gaetano hit a one-hop grounder right at Kramer at short. He flipped it over to Stevens who touched second and fired over to first, completing the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Smith 2, Adrean 0

Top 2nd: Ryan Cooke swung at Sarcone's first pitch, smacking it up the middle for a single. With Stevens showing bunt, Sarcone threw a high pitch that got away from catcher Luke Manolescu for a passed ball, allowing Cooke to advance to second. After another ball, Stevens laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Cooke to third. Richardson popped out to second baseman Matt Rotundo on the next pitch for the second out. Kramer hit a 2-2 pitch on the ground at the second baseman, but it hopped off Rotundo's chest, allowing Kramer to reach first and Cooke to score. Smith 3, Adrean 0. Kramer stole second, beating Manolescu's throw. Nowicki then grounded out to Lottermoser at third to end the inning.

Bottom 2nd: Steve Campell popped out to Richardson for the inning's first out. Sarcone then hit a double over Mallinder's head in center field. Warncke followed with a line drive up the middle for an RBI single, putting Adrean on the board. Smith 3, Adrean 1. Manolescu smoked another liner up the middle with Warncke running on the pitch. Warncke made it over to third on the single. Manolescu stole second on the next pitch with Rotundo pulling back his bat on a safety squeeze. Rotundo took a pitch and then hit a hard groundball through the hole into left field, bringing home both Warncke and Manolescu and tying the game. Adrean 3, Smith 3. Rotundo advanced to second on a error by the left fielder, Cooke, as he didn't come up with it cleanly. Rotundo then went to third on a Richardson wild pitch. Richardson got the batter, Mike Hill, looking for the second out. Cordero grounded out to Richardson for the third out.

Adrean 3, Smith 3

Top 3rd: Marquette grounded out to Rotundo to lead off the inning. Mallinder then drew a walk. Baker hit a tailor-made double play ball at Rotundo, but his throw to second pulled Cordero off the bag and both runners were safe (Rotundo's second error of the game). Mallinder stole third, putting runners at the corners with one out. On the next pitch, Ciccotti hit a line drive into center for an RBI single. Smith 4, Adrean 3. Baker went to second on the hit. Sarcone went full on Cooke before walking him, loading the bases with one down. Stevens hit a liner through the left side of the infield (Lottermoser was drawn in at third, giving him no chance at it) that scored Baker from third. Smith 5, Adrean 3. Richardson followed with a sac fly to left, scoring Ciccotti from third and allowing Cooke to move to third. Smith 6, Adrean 3. That put runners on the corners with two outs. Kramer walked to load the bases, but No. 3 hitter Nowicki grounded out to Cordero to end the inning.

Bottom 3rd: Lottermoser and Gaetano hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Campbell struck out swinging for the innings first out. On the first pitch he saw, Sarcone helped his own cause, bombing a three-run homer over the fence in dead center field to tie the game. Adrean 6, Smith 6. Warncke grounded out to Stevens for the second out of the inning. Richardson got Manolescu swinging to end the inning.

Adrean 6, Smith 6

Top 4th: Marquette and Mallinder both walked to lead off the inning. Baker gave himself up, bunting the runners over to second and third. Ciccotti hit a one-hopper off the left-center field wall for a double, driving in two runs. Smith 8, Adrean 6. Adrean manager Mike Macchione came out to pull Sarcone in favor of first-year pitcher Collier Maddox (Sarcone went to first base, Gaetano moved to left and Hill was taken out of the game). Sarcone's final line: 3 IP, 6 hits, 8 R, 6 ER, 7 walks, 0 K. Maddox got Cooke looking for the second out of the inning. He then walked Stevens, the nine hitter. On a 1-2 pitch to Richardson, Smith tried a double steal. Manolescu threw through to second, but Stevens beat the throw, allowing Ciccotti to score from third. Smith 9, Adrean 6. Richardson popped out to Rotundo two pitches later to end the inning.

Bottom 4th: Rotundo led off with a triple down the right field line. He scored on a Richardson wild pitch with Maddox at the plate (Maddox took Hill's spot in the batting order). Smith 9, Adrean 7. Maddox ripped a line-drive single up the middle two pitches later. That prompted Smith coach Tony Abone Jr. to pull Richardson. His final line: 3 IP, 9 hits, 8 R, 8 ER, 0 walks, 3 Ks. Dustin Colgan replaced Richardson on the mound (Richardson stayed in the game, moving to center field and Mallinder moved to left). Colgan struck out Cordero looking, got Lottermoser to ground out to first (Maddox moved to second), and Gaetano to ground out to the shortstop to end the inning.

Smith 9, Adrean 7

Top 5th: Maddox got Kramer looking to start the inning. Nowicki followed with a rope down the left field line for a stand-up double. Marquette flew out to left for the second out. Mallinder hit a line drive up the middle on the first pitch he saw, bringing Nowicki around to score. Smith 10, Adrean 7. Mallinder stole second easily as he got a huge jump on Maddox's pitch. Baker walked, putting runners on first and second with two outs. Ciccotti hit the ball hard for the fourth time in four at-bats today, but Warncke ran it down just steps in front of the center field fence for the third out.

Bottom 5th: Campbell walked to lead it off. Sarcone lined out to Kramer who made a nice grab moving to his right for the first out. Warncke hit a grounder up the middle, but Campbell was stealing on the pitch, putting Stevens in perfect position to scoop up the ground ball and step on second for the inning's second out. Warncke beat the throw to first to avoid the double play. Manolescu was then hit by a pitch. Rotundo ripped a double to the gap in left-center, scoring Warncke from second and moving Manolescu to third. Smith 10, Adrean 8. Abone Jr. visited the mound again, taking Colgan out (he moved to left) and bringing in Kramer to pitch (Nowicki moved to shortstop and Mallinder to third (his third position of the game)). Colgan's line: 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 walk, 1K, 1 HBP. Kramer got Maddox to ground out to first to end the inning.

*The game is going on 2 hours and 25 minutes and the daylight is fading quickly. We might not get in all seven innings at this pace.

Smith 10, Adrean 8

*Steve Campbell is now pitching for Adrean. He is replaced in right field by Ryan Andrews who will now bat in Maddox's spot.

Top 6th: Campbell walked the first batter, Cooke. He tried picking Cooke off of first, but threw the ball past the first baseman for an error, allowing Cooke to move to second. Stevens moved Cooke to third with a sacrifice bunt. With one out, Richardson laced an RBI single into left. Smith 11, Adrean 8. He stole second on the first pitch to Kramer who then grounded out to short (Richardson went to third). Campbell struck out Nowicki to end the inning.

*It's very likely that this is the last half-inning they play as it is getting pretty dark. Adrean has the top of the order coming up.

Bottom 6th: Cordero grounded out to third for the first out. Kramer then walked Lottermoser. Gaetano popped out to Nowicki at short for the second out. Campbell walked to put runners on first and second. Abone Jr. brought in Baker - Smith's fourth pitcher of the game. NOTE: IT IS VERY DARK RIGHT NOW AND THERE IS NO WAY THEY'LL START THE 7th INNING. Baker struck out Sarcone on three pitches to get the third out.

*The umpires have called the game due to darkness - they say it's official.

FINAL: Smith 11, Adrean 8