WPCNR PRESS BOX. Special to WPCNR from a White Plains CitizeNetReporter. April 17, 2005: It was a pleasant sunny afternoon in White Plains Saturday for the Third Annual Joe McAvoy Baseball Tournament at White Plains High School. The players were introduced, the national anthem was sung and two pitchers, who had faced each other back in the 10-and-under days of White Plains Little League Baseball were squaring off once again. Jake Riss for White Plains was facing Stepinac’s Pat Massaroni. It was just like the good old days and it was a testament to all the hard work and fun that happens in Little League.
But there was nothing little about this game. The fans were lively and the crowd was large. Leadoff batter Chris Mentrasti singled to center, stole second and moved to third on a ground out. But Riss came up with a big strike out and a popup to retire the next two batters without giving up a run. Massaroni promptly fanned the first two White Plains batters and after a walk, got a fly to left to end the inning.
Riss breezed through the top of the second with two strike outs, but in the bottom of the second, Kenny Lipschutz led off with a double for White Plains. The next batter, Mike Bivas was sent up to sacrifice him to third. Bivas laid down a nice bunt, and an errant throw to third allowed Lipschutz to score. Matt Zettl then singled Bivas to third, and White Plains was looking to add to their lead. Keith Lazere lifted a fly ball to shallow right filed. The speedy Bevis tagged up for home. But right fielder Jonathan Triolo threw a one- bounce strike to the plate, and on a close play the catcher tagged out the head-first sliding Bivas at home for a double play. Massaroni got out of the inning by striking out the next batter.
Riss breezed through the top of the third, but the bottom of the third was looking like déjà vu all over again. A leadoff double, this time by Morello started things off for White Plains. Matt Romano then needed to hit the ball to the right side of the field to advance Morello to third. Romano came through with a foul pop far enough down the first base line that Morello was able to tag up. Now White Plains had their dangerous number three batter at the plate with one out and a runner on third. Matt Taft lifted the ball to right field. He hit it off the bat handle without much distance, but surely it was far enough to score the speedy Morello from third. But Jonathan Triolo had other ideas. He caught the fly and threw a one-hop strike to home where the catcher was able to tag out the head-first sliding Morello. It really was déjà vu all over again. At the end of three innings, it was still 1 – 0 in a well-played pitchers’ duel.
The top of the fourth began with a bunt base hit by Michael DeRentiis. But a grounder to short, a pick-off at first base and another grounder to short quickly ended the inning. White Plains was still trying to increase its lead. This time Sean Campbell led off with a walk, and Kenny Lipschutz cracked his second double to the game. Second and third with no out, and Mike Bivas stroked a single to center. Lipschutz raced home from second, only to find himself being tagged out at home. The Stepinac outfield had just thrown out three base runners at home in three consecutive innings. After a strike out, then Keith Lazere smashed a double to bat in a run, and Mike Chrystal singled to put runners on the corners. Fancy base leading induced a balk, which allowed Lazere to score, and White Plains was now up by 4 runs.
Riss came out to pitch the top of the fifth, and although he thought the strike zone was very small this game, he had been his usual self, living on the corners and not giving up a walk. After striking out the first batter on four pitches, Riss finally gave up a walk to the next batter. Then Triolo came up and took a called strike and fouled off a pitch. He was down no balls and two strikes. But he battled back, fouling off 5 pitches in a very good at bat, and eventually he earned a walk. With two runners on and one out, the number nine hitter in the order, Brian Pisano, came up. He connected with a fast ball right off the outside corner of the plate and drove the ball deep to right, that right field Matt Taft had a beat on as he ran full stride toward right center where it looked like he was about to make a running backhand catch. But as Taft made a great athletic move to get to the ball, he also met the outfield fence. At full speed he flipped head over heals over the fence and landed hard on the ground on the other side of the fence without the ball. Stepinac had just closed the gap to 4 – 3. Riss went to a full count on the next batter and walked him. Coach Galligani then brought in Matt Zettl to relieve, as the crowd gave Riss a strong ovation for a fine pitching performance. A caught stealing and a strike out promptly ended the top half of the inning.
In the bottom half of the fifth, White Plains was able to chase Massaroni. A walk, and infield single, another walk and single, began the damage. Then junior Keith Lazere, who was just inducted into the National Honors Society this week (White Plains has five baseball players in the Honors Society), hit another double for another RBI. The score was White Plains 8 and Stepinac 3.
Stepinac fought back for a run in the sixth, but did not want to die easily in the seventh and final inning. Two walks and a single brought the tying run to the plate. A sacrifice fly then made it 8 – 5. Then DeRentiis smacked a single to drive in two more runs. He advanced to second on a wild pitch. He was the potential tying run. After an intentional walk to set up a force, Zettl walked the next batter. With the bases loaded and one out, another single put Stepinac in the lead 9- 8. White Plains was losing for the first time all day.
Stepinac brought in senior Bobby Russo to close the game. He induced a ground out to shortstop. Then lefty hitting Mike Bevis lifted a high twisting fly to left field with so much spin that it kept spinning away from the fielder until it landed for a double. Zettl worked a walk, and then Lazere hit a frozen rope to left that only allowed the runners to advance one base. Russo struck out the next batter so that it was now bases loaded, two out, and captain Gary Morello at the plate. Two quick strikes put Morello in the hole, but he laid off the next four pitches to earn a walk and an RBI. With the game tied, Coach Galligani called out that he wanted Joe Danyo to hit. Danyo had been sitting all day, but promptly drilled a grounder up the middle. The Stepinac second baseman made a diving stop and a quick flip to second base, only to find the speedy Morello already standing on the bag. Danyo had just driven in the winning run and was mobbed by his teammates. White Plains 10 - Stepinac 9.
