FINAL: Smith 4, Anaconda 3

Hey legion fans. I just arrived at Newburgh's Delano-Hitch Stadium for the nightcap between Smith Post and Anaconda in the American Legion New York State championship tournament.

Here's a quick recap of yesterday's action: Anaconda remained undefeated in the tournament with a 7-5 victory over Jurek Friday night in a game that did no start until after 10 p.m. due to rain delays ealier in the day. Before that, Smith advanced with a 9-6 win over Melvin Roads (eliminating the defending state champion) in the day's second game.

Tonight's implications: With a win today, Smith will advance to Sunday's semifinals against Newburgh (it beat Jurek 7-6 in today's 4 p.m. game) at 11 a.m. tomorrow. If Smith loses, it will be eliminated from the tournament and Newburgh will take on Anaconda in the championship round on Sunday, needing to win twice to capture the state title. The games will be played at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. (if necessary). Anaconda will play in the championship round regardless of the outcome of the game against Smith tonight. If it loses tonight, it will meet the winner of Sunday's 11 a.m. semifinal in a winner-take-all championship game at 2 p.m.

This is totally unrelated, but I thought it might enteratin you guys before the game starts: While I'm down here for the tournament, I'm staying with my brother, Matt, in Nanuet (just north of the New York/New Jersey border). Since I had so much free time before today's game, I went down to his worksite in Haworth, N.J. today. He's working as an engineer on a water treatment plant this summer. Here I am on site with my brother, "supervising," if you will:














Now that you've had the pleasure of seeing me in my reflective vest, hardhat and protective glasses, let's get on with tonight's game...

Starting lineups:
Smith (29-4-1)
1. Kyle Richardson, CF
2. Ryan Kramer, SS
3. Nate Mallinder, LF
4. Zack Ciccotti, C
5. Jason Nowicki 3B
6. Ryan Marquette, 1B
7. Rocco DeBlasiis, DH
8. Eli Hendrington, 2B
9. Ryan Cooke, RF
Pitcher: Joe Melioris, RHP

Anaconda (41-8-1)
1. Aaron Pennings, DH
2. Jordan Pennings, RF
3. Billy Nikolski, CF
4. Bobby McLaughlin, 2B
5. Eddie Shivley, 3B
6. Aaron Sapp, SS
7. Mike Center, LF
8. Shawn Kennedy, 1B
9. Mike Fischer, C
Pitcher: Alex Massaroni, RHP

*It looks like we won't be getting underway until at least 7:20 p.m. as neither team has taken its infield-outfield warmups yet. I'll keep you guys updated if I hear anything new on a starting time.

*While we're waiting, here's a link to the Anaconda Indians' team website for those of you who would like to know a bit more about Smith's opponent tonight: http://www.eteamz.com/IndianBaseball/index.cfm

*Keep this in mind during tonight's game: As I said earlier, Anaconda has already qualified for tomorrow's championship round regardless of the outcome of this game. This likely has affected the Anaconda coaching staff's decision on a starting pitcher and possible relievers as they will most definitely be looking to save their best arms for tomorrow.

UPDATE (7:13 p.m.): Smith just finished its infield-outfield warmups. Anaconda will now have eight minutes to complete its warmups. The pregame coach-umpire meeting, and the National Anthem and American Legion code of conduct reading will take another few minutes, so we're looking at a 7:25 to 7:30 p.m. start time.

*Tonight's crowd is pretty sparse. There can't be much more than 100 fans in attendance. However, like last night, the majority of the fans that are here, are Smith fans.

UPDATE (7:30 p.m.): The pregame ceremonies (player introductions, code of conduct, and National Anthem) have just finished up. Smith is running on to the field and will be the home team in tonight's game (Smith is now four-for-four in winning the pregame coin tosses in the tournament).

Top 1st: A. Pennings struck out swinging to lead off the game for the first out. J. Pennings hit a line-drive single to left on the first pitch he saw from Melioris. Nikolski walked to put runners on first and second with one out. McLaughlin ripped a liner down the left field line that got caught under the fence for an RBI groundrule double (runners on second and third, one out). Anaconda 1, Smith 0. Shivley grounded out to Marquette at first for the second out, but picked up an RBI as Nikolski scored from third on the play (McLaughlin went to third). Anaconda 2, Smith 0. Sapp hit an RBI single up the middle to score McLaughlin. Anaconda 3, Smith 0. Center reached on an infield single to put runners on first and second with two outs. Kennedy flew out to right for the third out.

*Early observation: I know it's still EXTREMELY early, but Anaconda just showed that it can swing the bats. It will be interesting to see if Anaconda continues to hit the ball as well as it did in the last half inning, and, if it does, it will be very interesting to see how long Melioris can last.

Bottom 1st: Richardson reached on a throwing error by the shortstop as his throw pulled the first baseman off the bag on what would have been a great play (the SS ranged to his left and then made a strong throw, but it was just wide). Kramer laid down a 1-3 sacrifice bunt (he nearly beat it out) for the first out, moving Richardson to second. Mallinder grounded out 4-3 for the second out (Richardson went to third on the play). Ciccotti popped out to end the inning on a great catch over the fence in foul territory by the first baseman.

Anaconda 3, Smith 0

Top 2nd: Fischer popped out to Ciccotti in foul territory for the first out. A. Pennings singled to right after fouling off several pitches in a long at-bat. J. Pennings grounded into a 5-4-3 double play for the second and third outs.

*Smith has double-barrel action going in the bullpen with Ryan Kramer and Nate Mallinder warming up.

Bottom 2nd: Nowicki grounded out to the third baseman for the first out. Marquette struck out looking for the second out. DeBlasiis was beaned to put a runner on first with two outs. Hendrington grounded out 5-3 to end the inning.

Anaconda 3, Smith 0

Top 3rd: Nikolski grounded out 4-3 for the first out. McLaughlin ripped a single up the middle. Shivley walked to put runners on first and second with one out. Sapp grounded out 4-3 for the second out (the runners advanced to second and third). Center grounded out to Hendrington (his third assist of the inning) for the third out, stranding two runners in scoring position.

Bottom 3rd: Cooke flew out for the first out on a well-hit ball to left field. Richardson struck out swinging for the second out. Kramer popped out weakly to the first baseman to end the inning.

Anaconda 3, Smith 0

Top 4th: Kennedy smoked the inning's first pitch for a one-hop double off the left field wall. Fischer struck out swinging for the first out. A. Pennings grounded out to Hendrington for the second out (Kennedy went to third on the play). J. Pennings struck out swinging for the third out, stranding Kennedy at third.

Bottom 4th: Mallinder singled to right to lead off. Mallinder stole second. Ciccotti flew out to center for the first out. Mallinder was thrown out attempting to steal third for the second out. Nowicki flew out to left to end the inning.

Anaconda 3, Smith 0

Top 5th: Nikolski flew out to Cooke in right for the first out. McLaughlin flew out to Mallinder in left for the second out. Shivley grounded out to Hendrington for the third out.

*Melioris seems to be getting stronger as the game goes on. After a shaky first, he's been cruising (minus a few hard hit balls) over the last four innings.

Bottom 5th: Marquette walked to lead off. DeBlasiis drew a second straight walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. Anaconda made a pitching change, bringing in Center (who was in left field) in place of Massaroni. A. Pennings moved from DH to left field. After failing to get a bunt down (two foul balls), Hendrington struck out looking for the first out on a nasty curveball from Center. Cooke hit a grounder to the second baseman who tagged DeBlasiis for the first out, then threw to first to get Cooke to complete the double play and end the inning.

Anaconda 3, Smith 0

*Here's Massaroni's final line (now that we know neither of the runs scored that he would have been responsible for): 4+ IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 1 HBP.

Top 6th: Sapp grounded out to Marquette for the first out as the first baseman made a nice play to dive and touch the bag just before Sapp could reach it. Center drew a one-out walk. Kennedy grounded out 2-3 on a chopper in front of home plate for the second out (Center moved to second on the play). Fischer struck out looking for the third out.

Bottom 6th: Richardson walked to lead off. Kramer reached on an error on a bunt attempt as the first baseman dropped a good throw from Center (runners on first and second, no outs). Mallinder ripped an RBI single down the left field line, just out of the reach of the diving third baseman, to score Richardson from second (runners on first and second, no outs). Anaconda 3, Smith 1. Ciccotti grounded out 5-3 for the first out, but the runners moved up to second and third on the play. Nowicki hit what looked to be a routine groundout to the third baseman, but his throw was low and skipped past the first baseman for an error, allowing Kramer to score from third, Mallinder to move up to third, and Nowicki to go all the way to second. Anaconda 3, Smith 2. Marquette got beaned in the hand to load the bases with one out. Mallinder scored on a wild pitch from Center (Nowicki went to third and Marquette advanced to second). Smith 3, Anaconda 3. DeBlasiis walked to reload the bases with one out. Hendrington grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice for the second out, and beat out the second baseman's throw to first to complete the double play, allowing Nowicki to score from third to put Smith in front (runners on the corners, two outs). Smith 4, Anaconda 3. Cooke flew out to the warning track in left to end the inning.

Smith 4, Anaconda 3

Top 7th: A. Pennings grounded out 3-1 for the first out. J. Pennings grounded out to Kramer at short for the second out. Nikolski struck out looking for the third out.

*The Smith fans just went nuts after the strike out by Melioris to end the top of the seventh. It's clear that the momentum has shifted in Smith's favor big time.

Bottom 7th: Richardson reached on an infield single as he beat out a high chopper to the shortstop to lead off. Kramer laid down a 2-3 sacrifice bunt for the first out, moving Richardson to second. Mallinder lined out to the right fielder for the second out (Richardson tagged and moved up to third). Ciccotti grounded out sharply 4-3 to end the inning.

Smith 4, Anaconda 3

Top 8th: McLaughlin grounded out 6-3 for the first out. Shivley struck out looking at a beautiful curveball from Melioris for the second out. Sapp reached on an infield single that was stopped on a dive by Kramer, but hit soft enough for Sapp to reach base safely. Center ripped a groundball single up the middle to put runners on first and second with two outs. Smith coach Tony Abone Jr. just trotted out to the mound to have a talk with his pitcher and infielders. Melioris struck Kennedy out looking at a nasty curveball for the third out, stranding two runners on base.

*Mallinder is warming up in the bullpen for Smith. However, Melioris is still going strong as he's allowed just five hits and no runs over the last seven innings after giving up three runs on four hits in the first.

Bottom 8th: Nowicki struck out swinging for the first out. Marquette struck out swinging for the second out. DeBlasiis ripped a two-out groundball single to left. Dustin Colgan came in to pinch run for DeBlasiis. Colgan stole second to put a runner in scoring position. Hedrington struck out swinging to end the inning.

Smith 4, Anaconda 3

*Anaconda will have its 9-1-2 hitters due up, needing to score at least one run to extend the game.

Top 9th: Fischer flew out to left for the first out. A Pennings struck out looking for the second out. J. Pennings struck out looking to end the game.

FINAL: Smith 4, Anaconda 3

*Smith stays alive and advances to tomorrow's 11 a.m. semifinal game against Newburgh. The winner of that game will play Anaconda at 2 p.m. in a winner-take-all state championship game.