SOMERS, N.Y. - On Monday, July 13, Bull Trade Finder faced Off Constantly at Reis Park, and the home team had good reason for not getting much going until the bottom of the seventh.
"We faced the best pitcher in the league," Gary Casey said of Phil Chontos.
But despite the 73-year-old's mastery, Casey's team remained bullish to the end.
"Unbelievable. They fought until the end," said the opposing pitcher. As a result, Bull Trade Finder came away with a walk-off 7-6 win.
Of course, Casey is no slouch in the circle either. Having pitched since the early 1990s, the veteran induced three straight popups in the first inning and quickly put the bats in his teammates' hands.
Chontos responded in kind. Three batters, three popups, and the game moved to the second.
There, Off Constantly turned it on. Eric Dustin's hard grounder got under Luis Santos' glove at third, Bobby Larejina lined an opposite-field single to left, and Jay Reyes also went with the pitch for a single to right.
With the bases loaded and one out, a pair of errors brought home the first two runs, leaving Chontos in position to help his own cause. He found an opening in short right-center, and Jay Jazwinski's sacrifice fly to right plated the final run of the inning.
Trailing 4-0, Bull Trader opened the bottom of the second in similar fashion. Vinny Corcione pulled a single to right, Rob Albano dropped a bloop into left, and Marco Fedele bounced a single past shortstop.
The bases-loaded, no-out situation did not deter Chontos, though. He got ahead of Chris Frissora with a strike, and after intentionally working the count in his favor, Chontos elevated a pitch that Frissora couldn't resist.
The ball was fouled off for strike three, and then Chontos got some help. Nick Gianotti's scorching one-hopper to second was snagged by Chris Vitale with a diving stop. He flipped to Jazwinski at short, whose relay to first completed the inning-ending double play.
In the third, Off Constantly couldn't build on its lead. Other than an error at third that put Jake Fuss aboard, the visitors went down quietly against Casey.
Leading off for Bull Trade Finder, Joe Rossi reached on an infield hit, and his brother, Louis, followed with a line single to left that sent him to third. Luke Fedele then blooped a ball behind second that looked destined to fall.
Instead, with Vitale and Jazwinski converging, the shortstop kept his focus and made the catch while avoiding Vitale's raised glove. Joe Rossi, however, took advantage of the deep fly and easily tagged up and scored.
With two more outs to get, Chontos remained unfazed. He got ahead with first-pitch strikes, and Gianotti knew exactly what was coming.
"He's always going to get it somewhere into the corner," said the catcher, as the next two Bull Trade Finder hitters fouled out.
The pitchers remained in control through the next two half-innings. Casey recorded three ground-ball outs, while Chontos continued to get ahead in the count. With one out in the fourth, he retired Albano on a foul pop and Marco Fedele on another popup.
In the top of the fifth, Off Constantly rewarded its pitcher. Jazwinski, Alex Egiziano and Fuss all singled to make it 5-1, and with two outs, Larejina's grounder skipped under Santos' glove for the team's sixth run.
Not ready to quit, Bull Trade Finder rallied from the bottom of the order. Frissora doubled over the center fielder's head, and Gianotti reached on an error at third.
With runners on first and second and nobody out, Casey hoped to help his own cause. But a ground ball to short resulted in an easy double play, seemingly ending the threat. Still, Joe Rossi singled home Frissora to trim the deficit to four.
In the sixth, Off Constantly looked poised to get that run back and more. But with the bases loaded and two outs, Casey got Fuss to fly out to left.
Chontos answered by striking out the side in the bottom half, and there appeared to be no stopping the elder statesman.
Except maybe Frissora.
Leading off the seventh, Casey had confidence in his teammate.
"Chris is a clutch hitter," said the winning pitcher, and Frissora delivered with an opposite-field single to right.
Gianotti followed with another hit.
"I saw the first pitch was outside, so I tried to hit it to the right," he said. "It worked out perfectly."
Then Casey came to the plate in the No. 10 spot with his previous at-bat still on his mind.
"I wanted to go to the right side so I wouldn't hit into a double play," he said.
The first baseman fielded Casey's grounder to his right but collided with Gianotti, leaving everyone safe. Joe Rossi then lined a single to left to drive in two runs.
Now trailing just 6-4, Bull Trade Finder was still alive.
Chontos momentarily settled things with a pair of fly-ball outs, but Corcione's single to right made it 6-5 and moved the tying run into scoring position.
Santos stepped in next, and his line drive to center sent Egiziano charging in.
It looked like the game was over.
Instead, the ball glanced off Egiziano's glove, tying the game. That left it to Albano, whose bloop behind first appeared catchable.
Instead, it fell safely to the grass, completing Bull Trade Finder's dramatic walk-off comeback.
"Fantastic," Casey said, summing up the improbable finish.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here