The Sea Turtles survived two extra inning contests and pulled off a 3-0 day, while shorthanded, to move into first place in the league at the half way point. 17 games got archived on Monday night at Hendersonville Park, only the Turtles were unbeaten as the league parity becomes more evident.
Boneyard Wiffle, after a five game week, is still tied atop the league ranks, but has played the most games in the league and dropped a head-to-head match with the Turtles.
Prestige World Wide continued their impressive rookie season with a second straight 2-1 day. The Ball Busters and High Heat picked up big wins en route to a 2-1 Week 2.
The Beavers and Lumberkings were set back slightly with 1-2 days, while the Splunkers went an even 1-1. Oakdale dropped their lone two games in hard fought battles.
The Roman Noodles and Banana Slugs finally earned a win and both fell in an extra inning game to gain a half point more.
Extra innings were in effect for the first time this season. Four games took more than regulation to complete. Recaps of each game can be seen below.
Game by Game Recaps
Nick Popielarczyk did not allow a hit, leading the Roman Noodles to their first win of the season. Pop struck out three and had a perfect game through three innings before surrendering his lone walk of the game. Pop also was the source of offense for the Noodles, hitting a two-run blast in the top of the first.
The first extra inning contest of the year took place to lead off Week 2, as Steven Keelon and Bernie Riley went pitch-for-pitch in regulation. Both teams scored a run on a solo home run, the Turtles came off the bat of Jordan Castelli in the third inning and High Heat's was by Maxx Melnyk to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Riley got the tough luck loss on the rubber, as Castelli plated the tiebreak runner, who starts the inning at second base in extras, on a one-out single in the sixth. Keelon shut the door in the bottom half with two flyouts.
Cole Lanni had the only two hits of the game for Boneyard Wiffle, a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first and a walk-off home run in the fifth, as BYW defeated Oakdale 2-1 to kick off Week 2 action on Field 3. Chris Sarnowski dealt all five innings for BYW and struck out seven, allowing just one run. Scott Bilovus tied the game at one with a single in the second. Bilovus pitched a complete game for Oakdale and was near perfect, the right hander sat down nine in a row in between the Lanni home runs.
It took a team effort as the Lumberkings battled out a narrow, 2-1, win over the Beavers. Jake Cadez pitched a complete game and was backed by great defense, including a kick save by himself in the circle to end the top of the second with runners on. Cadez scattered six hits and struck out four, while walking one. Offensively, Frank Fortunato was 3-for-3 and drove in a run, while Justin Davey also had a bases loaded single. Both Lumberkings runs came in the fourth inning, facing a 1-run deficit. Ian Hess drove in Greyden Piechnick, who hit his second double of the game the at bat prior, in the third inning for the Beavers lone run.
Prestige World Wide built up an early lead (3-1) with three home runs, Will Taczak had two and Tyson Mead one, across the first two innings. Steve Keelon settled in from the rubber and did not let up more than a single the rest of the way, scattering eight hits across six innings and giving up just the early three runs on way to a victory. Down to their final out in the fifth, Keelon hit a home run and then after a single by Reed Bursic and walk by Jordan Castelli, Keelon came back up and tied things up with a double to the left field wall. It only took one extra inning to decide a winner, as Castelli belted his second home run of the game to lead off the sixth inning and Keelon closed things down from the rubber in the bottom half.
Boneyard Wiffle downed the Roman Noodles in a competitive rematch of last year's championship. A Ty Zadrozny single and Eric Diffendal homer plated three runs in the top of the first for BYW. The Noodles got one back on a Nick Popielarczyk solo home run in the bottom half. After a quiet second inning, the Noodles were able to take a 4-3 lead in the third behind another Pop homer, a bases loaded walk, and a run-scoring single by Matt Cottrill. Boneyard went to the pen and Chris Sarnowski mowed down the Noodles in the fourth and the fifth, racking up three strikeouts. Diffendal lifted his second longball over the fence in the fourth to tie it up and then the gates opened in the fifth, as Boneyard poured in six runs, on two Cole Lanni home runs, to take control of the game.
Adam Carosone and Nate Morris silenced the opposing offenses through regulation and forced extra innings to take place. Both teams plated the tiebreak runner, who starts each extra inning at second base, in the sixth to make this game the longest in the league this season so far. Carosone drove in the Beavers first run in the top of the sixth on a single over the left fielder's head. Nate Morris executed a one-out, hit and run to tie things up in the bottom half of the sixth. The Beavers gave the Slugs a taste of their own medicine with a hit and run to start the seventh resulting in a run scored, as Greyden Piechnick singled up the middle. The Slugs, out of steals, went down in order in the seventh.
Steven Keelon pitched a complete game gem to silence the defending champions, Boneyard Wiffle, in a 3-0 win for the Sea Turtles. Jordan Castelli hit a solo shot to lead off the third and Keelon added an insurance two-run blast in the fourth for the Turtles offense. That would be all they would need, as Keelon tossed a three-hitter and struck out one while walking none.
Maxx Melnyk hit two home runs and Zion Bunney belted one, as High Heat picked up a 6-3 win over Oakdale Curve in a game that could turn out to be pivotal in the playoff race. High Heat first got on the board with a three-run third inning, thanks to back-to-back doubles from Bunney and Ethan Earley. Nick Longo hit two home runs but that is the only offense Oakdale could put together against High Heat starter, Bernie Riley.
Greyden Piechnick and Adam Carosone hit first inning home runs to put the Beavers up, 3-0, quickly. Austin Abel settled in, retiring the next five batters in a row, but another Carosone homer made it 4-0 heading into the bottom of the third. The Splunkers had a breakout inning in the third, plating six runs all with one out. Cre Gardner had two home runs in the rally, while Zach Williams and Abel each had one. Ian Hess homered to lead off the fourth for the Beavers, but they would remain one run short of the Splunkers.
In another extra inning battle in Week 2, the Ball Busters came out victorious, 5-3, over the Roman Noodles. Roman Lonero cracked a walk-off home run with one out in the seventh inning to end the game, it was his second homer of the game. Ben Taczak also homered, apart of a back-to-back stint for him and Lonero in the fourth. Taczak got the win from the rubber for the Ball Busters, throwing all seven innings and striking out four. Matt Cottrill led off the game with a home run and the Noodles scrapped two more runs across throughout regulation, but the big hit evaded them in extras.
Zion Bunney broke a 0-0 tie in the third inning with a one-out, three-run bomb and that would help push High Heat past the Banana Slugs. Maxx Melnyk hit a home run in the fourth to extend the lead for High Heat. Bernie Riley shut down the Slugs offense, who salvaged one run in the fifth but nothing more. Melnyk finished the game 4-for-4.
The Ball Buster offense was firing on all cylinders, as they mercy ruled the Lumberkings, 12-2, in three innings. The Lumberkings owned a 2-1 lead after the first inning thanks to back-to-back home runs by Frank Fortunato and Justin Davey. The Ball Buster began the bottom of the second with six straight hits and ended with eight in the inning to score seven runs and take an 8-1 lead. Cayden Laskosky walked it off in the bottom of the third with a three run homer into the trees beyond right field.
Cole Lanni threw a one-hitter in Boneyard Wiffle's 2-0 win over the Splunkers. Lanni walked two and gave up his lone hit with one out in the fourth inning. Matt Lockwich singled in the third inning and a Chris Sarnowski sac fly in the fifth gave Boneyard their two runs.
Will Taczak and Tyson Mead were a two-man hitting machine, combining for 13 hits including five home runs, to defeat the Roman Noodles, 10-4. Taczak pitched the entire game and Mead roamed the outfield making plays. Nick Popielarczyk homered for the Noodles, who used all three players on the pitching rubber in the loss.
The Banana Slugs were the lone remaining winless team and it was looking like that would continue into Week 3, but a late comeback surged the Slugs past the Ball Busters in the Week 2 finale. The Ball Busters took the early lead with a second inning longball from Cayden Laskosky. Then, Roman Lonero chased Slugs starter, Nate Morris, from the game with a two-run home run in the top of the third and two batters later Laskosky hit a two-run bomb to make it 5-0. Brock McCormack rejuvenated the Slugs with two quick outs in relief and then a solo home run in the bottom half to get the Yellow Polos on the board. After another scoreless inning by McCormack, Morris and Jesse Marra led off the bottom of the fifth with home runs, narrowing the game to 5-3. Davey singled, Morris doubled, and then Jesse Marra ended the game with a shot down the right field line plating the winning run.
Will Taczak and Tyson Mead defeated the defending champions, Boneyard Wiffle, in 5-3 gutsy win as day turned night to round out Week 2 action on Field 2. Taczak and Mead hit back-to-back home runs to lead off the game, then four batters later a 3-run bomb from Mead made it 5-0 before Boneyard got to hit. BYW starter, Cole Lanni, was relieved in the second and Chris Sarnowski did not allow a run over his four innings of work, but the PWW defense stood strong. Taczak pitched another complete game, allowing just three runs. Lanni homered early and Matt Lockwich had a two-run single to right field in the third, that would be as close as Boneyard could get.
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