SOMERS, N.Y. - With three teams holding only three losses at the top of A-League Men’s Softball, first place was on the line in the matchup between Bobo’s Café and Level Up Fitness. So Steve Green of Level Up gave their opponents proper due.
“They’re a great team,” he said. But by the end of seven, his guys had proven they weren’t bad either.
After Bobo’s put up a doughnut in the first, Level Up scored five runs in the bottom and went on to a 14–7 victory.
Green got his team started with a single, and after a Chris Rios walk, a very big day began for Danny Paesano. One swing, and he cleared the long right-center field fence.
“He crushed that ball,” said Green. “It probably went 400 feet.”
A groundout to short seemed to temper the rally, but a pair of infield errors kept Bobo’s off balance. That opened the door for Mark Xifo and Dylan McGuire to single in a 5–0 lead.
First place wasn’t coming that easy, though. After Tim Paletta flew out to center, Bobo’s followed with five straight singles. John Barbagallo, Joe Fedele, Steve D’Ambrosio, Anthony Biondi, and Matt Adino suddenly turned it into a 5–3 game.
But five Italians aren’t necessarily as good as one, and Paesano kept making the case. The left fielder blasted another homer to right, and Level Up led 6–3.
On to the third, Bobo’s didn’t have an answer, and Green provided the insight. “He throws strikes,” said the right fielder. Mark Xifo’s pitching cause was helped by a pair of Bobo’s errors in the bottom half.
With runners on first and third and no one out, Xifo lined what appeared to be a single to center. But the shallow ball had Chris Arita holding close to first, which led to a force at second.
Still, the run scored. After Dan Rios reached on an infield hit, John Vegliante kept it simple. “I just try to put the ball in play,” said the Somers track coach, and an easy bouncer up the middle extended the lead to 8–3.
Green singled in run number nine, and Bobo’s took their turn in the fourth. Singles by Adino and D’Ambrosio set the table, and after Paletta moved the runners over with a sacrifice fly, Jesse Hunt cleared the dishes with a two-run single.
Even so, Paesano was still a one-course meal. Almost. He tripled this time and came home on a single. A pair of sacrifice flies made it 11–5, and Xifo returned to the circle to do his thing.
Save a single, the Level Up pitcher set up his team to put the game out of reach. Daniel Rios reached on an error, and Vegliante went up the middle again to put runners on first and second.
With nobody out, Green’s single to center looked like another run. But Hunt’s relay home cut Rios down at the plate, which only served to anger Paesano. This time, he stroked a double for two more runs, and two singles later, Level Up led 14–5.
Two more runs for Bobo’s proved to be window dressing and left Level Up in a first-place tie with Highway Hammers at 8–3.
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