May 6, 2017
AL Game 33

S.A.M. Construction    13
Coldwell Banker    12

Six innings weren’t enough to decide this one and neither were seven as SAM Construction avenged two earlier losses to Coldwell by winning 13-12 in eight innings on Saturday. In a back-and-forth affair that saw five lead changes and four ties, SAM used 13 hits including the game winner off the bat of Jack Shafer to secure the walk-off win in the bottom of the eighth.

Mike Phillips walked to lead off the game. When he attempted to steal second, the catcher’s throw wound up in centerfield and Phillips took third. The throw from the outfield to third was also airmailed. But Coach Gill was inexplicably aggressive with nobody out in the first inning and the heart of the order coming up. He sent Phillips right into an out at home as Michael Piscopo quickly recovered the errant throw and hit Shafer with a strike at home for the tag out. Despite the coaching brain cramp, Jack Gill (double) and Sean Gorman (reached on error) both scored on a Jason DiRita 2RBI double and it was 2-0 Coldwell. But SAM put up a 5-spot in the bottom half. Piscopo (walk), Quinn Kell (single), Ben Kaufmann (hit by pitch), Shafer (RBI single) and Lily Riordan (2RBI single) all scored in the inning. Sam Grace also knocked in two runs in the inning with a double and it was 5-2 after one.

The second inning was a quick one as both teams went down in order. In the third, Coldwell cut into the lead when Phillips singled, was knocked to second on a Gill ground-out, and then stole third and home. Riordan singled again for SAM in the third but Sean Gorman struck out the other three batters he faced and it was 5-3 SAM after three.

Coldwell continued to chip away adding another run in the fourth. Shawn Welsh walked with two outs and scored on a Matt Halpin line-shot triple to right-center. SAM was unable to score in the fourth as Gorman added two more Ks to his stat line and it was 5-4 SAM after four.

Coldwell regained the lead in the fifth as they put up four runs. Phillips singled and stole second and third and was knocked home on a Gill single. Gorman then singled and took second on a throwing error as Gill moved up to third. Patel knocked in Gill with a single and DiRita did the same to knock in Gorman. DiRita then took advantage of three passed balls and stole second, third, and home to make it 8-5 Coldwell. SAM answered as Kell reached on an error and stole second, third, and home. Riordan singled again and matched Kell’s feat and it was 8-7 Coldwell after 5.

Big Blue padded their lead in the top of the 6th when Halpin walked and scored on a Tristan McLean RBI triple. But the two-run cushion wasn’t enough. Harry Giles singled and scored on a Piscopo RBI triple and Piscopo scored on a Kell single and we were headed to extras with the score knotted at 9.

Phillip doubled, stole third, and scored on a Gorman RBI single and it was 10-9 Realtors. But Riordan reached on an error, stole second and third, and scored on a sacrifice grounder off the bat of Sam Grace, and it was tied again, 10-10, after 7.

Things looked good for Coldwell as they added two more runs to take a 12-10 lead in the 8th. Arizin (walk) and Halpin (reached on an error) scored on a Phillips 2RBI double. But SAM answered with three as Giles (single), Kell (RBI single), and Kaufmann (reached on error) all scored with Kaufmann plating the winning run on a Shafer single.


Pitch Counts:
SAM Construction:
    Lily Riordan – 68
    Quinn Kell – 37
    Harry Giles – 39

Coldwell Banker:
    Jack Gill – 32
    Sean Gorman – 59
    Avi Patel – 27
    Jason DiRita – 37