Mount Kisco Little League
This Week in Baseball (TWIB) – Mount Kisco Baseball edition 5/15-5/20
Welcome back baseball fans…the week ended with an amazing Mother’s Day event celebrating the moms, grandmas and special ladies in our players lives. Thank you for all that you do. On the field we have made our final turn for the finish line. And…here they come down the stretch…
In the MKLL and minor league standings we now have 3-game leads at the top with Cassidy Flynn (10-2) and Varamo (6-0) flexing their muscles. On the MKLL side we have an extremely tight race for the #2 seed in the playoffs as Exit 4 Food Hall, M&R Deli and Robison Oil are separated by just 0.5 games. This last week of action will decide which team gets the bye in round 1 of the playoffs. As for the minors it looks like all playoff seedings have already been set so the coaches are tinkering with lineups and working on their pre-game speeches.
Over in MKLL…
Our Game of the Week was an extra inning, come from behind, anything can happen type of game between SW&G and Cassidy Flynn. SW&G jumped out early behind some big hits and smart baserunning. Hayden Brown was the catalyst with a key RBI single and multiple hit-saving grabs in centerfield. Trailing 7-2 in the bottom of the 6th, Cassidy-Flynn rallied for 5 runs to send the game into extra innings capped by a 2-run bomb by Roan “Goin’ Goin’ Gone” Guyder that tied the game. The game remained knotted at 7-7 through the 7th and 8th innings with players, coaches, umpires and fans on the edge of their seats. Actually the umpires were standing, and hungry, but it was very tense. In the top of the 9th SW&G went ahead 11-9 showing their team speed as they stole home twice. But Cassidy Flynn…and another Guyder were not done. Jason Tavolocci led off the bottom of the 9th with a single setting the stage for Max “Clutch” Guyder to tie the game with an opposite field blast…11-11. The big mo…momentum…had now officially swung to Coach Barone’s squad. The next batter, Achylles Pons-Beltsyk belted a triple and scored on an RBI grounder by rookie Luke Tavolocci for the 12-11 win. What a game!!
Rocky’s orange crush Robison crew had a busy week with four games. This is where Coach Andy Newberg’s strength & conditioning program has proven to be a differentiator. Coach Newberg has run organized team activities that include hot yoga, P90x and even Sweatin’ to the Oldies with Richard Simmons. Even with the extra conditioning the team got off to a sluggish start dropping weekday games to Exit 4 and Cassidy Flynn but the team came back strong over the weekend. On Saturday Robison was flying as they defeated Elks 13-1. The offense was paced by Chris Bueti (2 doubles 4 RBI), Jack Cicchelli, Michael Sorio and “blazing” Tess Newberg as she smashed a double and scored on a pure hustle play. Great pitching by Nick Cacovic, Nick Pierce and Cicchelli. The win was followed-up by a flawless performance against first place Cassidy Flynn as Robison pulls out a 5-3 win. The game was owned by Cacovic and Bueti as each dazzled on the mound and hit HRs. Bueti smashed a 3-run HR in the 3rd putting Robison put in front. Cacovic added insurance with a solo HR in the 6th. The team was aided by great defensive plays by Jonah Bai and Daniel Caparole.
It was a tough week for the young Elks team with an 0-4 record losing to M&R, SWG, Robison and Cassidy Flynn. Despite being on the losing end the team continues to have flashes of breaking out. Against SWG on Thurs, Anthony Luppino blasted a double to LF and Paul Wichmann went 2 for 5. The “core four” of Spolansky, Simon, Mannion, and Larizza continue to show true heart as they take the mound game after game against the formidable MKLL lineups. Only a few games left in the regular season for this young squad but their heads are held high as they dream of a playoff upset.
It was a bounce back week for M&R winning 2 of 3 to get themselves back into the race for a first round playoff bye. Infield defense has been a big part of the teams identity this season and it was evident this week. Led by Lev Simkhai on the mound and in the batters box (3rd HR of the season) the team is now 7-5 entering the last week of the regular season. Contributions throughout the team as Joe Shea “It Isn’t So” had a multi-game and made his pitching debut, Garrett Westervelt came through with a key hit and strong pitching from Gigi & Malcolm “Big Mack” Seidman helped pace the team.
Exit 4 came through with two wins this week to keep them in the race. Early in the week, Exit 4 enjoyed victories over Robison and M&R 9-2 and 11-5 respectively. Once again, Daniel Davis, Danny “Triple Threat” Orta, and Jeff Tripodi contributed multiple hit games as “Babe” Tripodi went deep with another 3-run homer to get things rolling. The pitching rotation of Will Oliverio, Josh Taplitz and Jeff Tripodi limited the attack giving the offensive a chance to explode.
In the minors AAA division…
Varamo continues with their undefeated season looking to match the Examiners 2016 run. The pressure may start to build on Coaches Sal-Horn-Son VC Ballers with “Blackjack” Grayson, “Crusher” & “Bones” Salvatorelli and “Ducky” Hirschorn preparing for their playoff run. The Examiner is laying back in the weeds leaning on their championship experience to pull off the upset. Coach Diorio knows he has “Jono” Diorio, Alex Montaño-Miller and Sammy DeMarco (big week) to provide team leadership while youngsters Liam Provost and Vincenzo Valvano blossom into superstars. Shell is also sitting right behind ready to pounce on any slipups by the VC Ballers. Drew Bagley and Eion McCintyre provide a formidable duo to compete on any given day. McCarthy rounds out the group in a rebuilding year but showing they will be a force next season. John and Luke Grasso lead the team with strong recent games from James McDonald and Tyler Graham.
In the seniors division …
The U15 Mount Kisco Chiefs improved to 4-2 with a pair of victories this past week. On Wednesday the Chiefs travelled to Pound Ridge and came away with a 12-8 win over Bedford Pound Ridge (BPR) Vegas followed by Saturday’s 10-5 home win over BPR White. Each day had their close-game moments but the Kisco kids pulled out victory. Clutch hitting by Ben Belfiglio and Anthony Sinapi on Wednesday highlighted a 4-run 6th inning to break open an 8-8 game. The same could be said for PJ Boles on Saturday as he delivered the big blow with a 3-run home run over the RF’s head to push the Chiefs to an 8-2 lead. Key contributions all week from AJ Townsend, Mike Luppino, David Boucher and Luca Chousa. And… Newberg, Luppino, Rosen and Boucher controlled the games on the mound. Let’s keep it rollin’ Chiefs!!
Well folks that’s all for TWIB Mount Kisco baseball. See ya’ll next week.
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