Central Amherst
'AAA' Cardinals hang on for 3-2 victory over Orioles

After two rain-outs, the "AAA" Cardinals managed to hold on for a 3-2 opening-season win over the Orioles on Saturday, May 5.

Cardinal pitchers Jack Quinlivan, Andrew Boccio and Tony Regan held the Orioles to six hits while striking out 13.

August Howell's sacrifice hit scored Quinlivan in the fourth inning to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

The Orioles staged a comeback in the fifth, scoring two runs on hits by Clark McLellan, Madison Aston and Brandon Staggs.

The Cardinals then posted two runs on their last at bat off the bats of Regan and Austin Ballard.

The Cardinals finished strong in the field, throwing out two hitters in the sixth to secure the victory.

Cubs 9, Phillies 6

The Cubs held off a late game scoring rally by the Phillies, who had great pitching throughout the game.

The Cubs' fielding was aided by critical throws to third base by Jamie Tulumello and Andrew Miller to second. Pitching for the win included strong efforts from Myron Harvey and Matt Thielman.

The Cubs' Emily Ciocca and Rachel Mead added to the effort with great hits.

'AA Senior' Baseball

Yankees 4, Orioles 1

The "AA Senior" Yankees and Orioles played an entertaining game, which saw strong pitching from both teams.

Jonathan Spina started off the top of the Yankees' first inning with a double. Sam Lobuzzetta singled to move Spina to third base, and Tommy Gioia added an RBI single, scoring Spina to give the Yankees an early one-run lead. Gioia pitched a strong two innings for the Yankees, allowing just one base hit (from Gabby Lasher) and racking up four strikeouts. He received a little help in the first from Spina, who snagged a grounder at first and hustled to the bag to beat the batter for the final out.

The Yankees' Alex Kracker singled in the third inning to knock in a run, putting the Yankees up 2-0. The Orioles got on board in the bottom of the third when Liam Comerford hit a grounder to third with the bases loaded, scoring the runner on third. Emelia Rodriguez scooped up the ball and raced to third to beat the runner coming from second for the inning's first out. Lobuzzetta than struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

The Yankees loaded up the bases in the top of the fourth, setting the stage for Gioia's RBI single. Marcellus Cooper added a bases-loaded walk to knock in the final run of the inning, giving the Yankees a 4-1 lead after three-and-a-half innings.

The Orioles were thinking rally in the bottom of the fourth, but Lobuzzetta put an end to the game by striking out three of the five batters he faced to preserve the win for the Yankees.

Yankees 4, Cubs 4

The "AA Senior" Yankees and Cubs squared off on a beautiful day for baseball.

Jonathan Spina pitched two scoreless innings for the Yankees, collecting four strikeouts in the process. He received some help from Tommy Gioia in the first inning, who fielded a grounder hit along the first base line and stepped on first for an out.

In the second, Matthew Boccio singled for the Cubs to load up the bases. The next batter, Reed Bihary, sent a pop-up to the pitcher's mound, which Spina caught to put an end to a potential Cubs' rally.

The Yankees jumped out to an early lead. Jonathan Zarzecki led off the inning with a single, followed by consecutive walks for Spina and Sam Lobuzzetta to load up the bases. Gioia then hit a grounder to the shortstop, allowing Zarzecki to score, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

Alyssa Helak pitched for the Yankees in the third inning, allowing no runs while striking out three batters to keep the score at 1-0.

The Cubs tied the score in the fourth when Max Marko led off the inning with a walk. Boccio then moved Marko to second when he grounded out to pitcher Marcellus Cooper, who fielded the ball and tossed it to Zarzecki for the out at first. Bihary singled to move Marko to third and Liam Sullivan then hit an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1.

Alex Rodriguez chipped in a single for the Yankees in the bottom of the fourth, but he was stranded. The Cubs sent eight batters to the plate in the final inning, scoring three runs.

Offensive highlights for the Cubs came from Bihary and Samantha Pieri, both players contributing RBI singles to give the Cubs a 4-1 lead. The Yankees' Zarzecki started off the bottom of the inning with a single. Spina followed with a walk, and Gioia singled to load the bases. Helak then walked to score Zarzecki, and Cooper singled to knock in Spina. Alex Kracker then collected the game-tying RBI as he hit a grounder to Bihary at second, who tossed the ball to Sullivan at first for the second out of the inning.

Major Baseball

Yankees 5, Dodgers 4

After a rain-delayed start to the season, the Central Amherst major Yankees opened the season against the Dodgers in a closely contested match-up. Matthew Connolly started the game on the mound and pitched well for the Dodgers. Jake Alessandra then took the mound for the Yankees and pitched well for two innings.

The Dodges were ahead by two after the first inning with runs scored by Colin Tenney and Edward Doherty. The Yankees scored two in the second to even the score with runs by Brian Thielman and Evan Thielman. Evan Thielman held the Dodgers scoreless for two innings, and Joe Primerano put the Yankess ahead with a run in the third.

In the fourth, Morgan Nagy hit a line shot to right field, scoring Alessandra. In the fifth, Cloogie Barnett helped to score Evan Tielman to increase the Yankees lead to 5-2.

Robert Rummings pitched for the Yankees and kept the Dodgers in check, but runs by Tenney and Connolly brought the score to 5-4. With Primerano pitching in the bottom of the sixth and Ben Morina catching, Reed Pepe and Jamie Garand got on base. With the tying run on third base, Primerano popped up the batter and it was caught by Brian Thielman at short, ending the game.

Yankees Dylan Booth and Alex Pizzuto played well. Patrick Murray, James Coriglio, Nicholas Pieri and Ryan Byrne played well for the Dodgers.

Yankees 10, Red Sox 5

The Yankees got timely hitting and scores by Ben Morina and Joe Primerano to open the Yankees' first inning. The Red Sox came back with a score by Kevin Doherty.

In the second, the Red Sox pulled ahead with runs scored by Nick Fago, Max Kreuz and Peter Schultz. Dylan Booth took the mound in the third inning and held the Red Sox scoreless for two innings.

The Yankees then came alive in the fourth and fifth innings with runs by Alex Pizzuto, Jake Alessandra, Morgan Nagy, Morina, Booth, Robert Rummings and again by Alessandra. Cloogie Barnett and Brian Thielman also contributed to the Yankees' victory.