The North Shore Knights clinched their sixth playoff berth in their sixth season as a club. They were able to continue their streak by sweeping the Avengers in a doubleheader in Syosset on Saturday, October 28th.
Real boys wear pink! In their last game of the season wearing their pink jerseys, paying tribute to those who have overcome and those who lost their battle to breast cancer, the Knights shut out the Avengers 7-0. In his first start on the mound, and seemingly strengthened by Grandma Losi, Ryan O’Shea was dominant on the mound earning the win. Ryan surrendered a hit by the leadoff hitter in the first and then did not allow another hit in his four innings of work. He struck out and impressive seven Avengers on the day.
The Knights got things started early in the 1st inning. TJ Lombardo was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. After stealing second and third, Lombardo came around to score on Max Kemnitzer’s base hit to center field. Ryan O’Shea followed with a hit of his own advancing Kemnitzer to second base. Kemnitzer then came around to score when the Avengers attempted to throw out a Knight who reached first on a dropped third strike. O’Shea scampered to the third on the play and later scored on Noah Catandella’s ground ball to second base.
With the score still at 3-0, the Knights pushed three runs across the dish in the top of the 4th inning. The inning got started with a Frankie Rodrigues walk, a single by Jake Persichilli, and a walk to Noah Catandella. With the bases juiced and no outs, John Simonelli walked to bring in Rodrigues. Next, Charlie Nader took a pitch off his backside to score Persichilli from third before Catandella scored on wild pitch with Lucian Othman at the plate.
In the top of the 5th, Angelo Simonelli reached base on a walk to start off the inning. You can never walk the leadoff hitter! Angelo stole second and third putting him in prime position to score the 7th and final run for the Knights. TJ Lombardo then smoked a like drive to center to bring in Angelo.
Max Kemnitzer threw one inning of scoreless ball for the North Shore Knights giving up zero runs and strking out one. Luca Ierano was the true definition of a hot corner at third base. Luca made three great plays at third base at key points in the game to keep the Avengers off the board. Lucian Othman led the shutout win with his defensive genius behind the plate catching three foul tips for strikeouts in the game. Charlie Nader’s nice running grab in right field ended any hope for the Avengers.
Game 2 of the doubleheader started off hot for the Knights. In the top of the first inning, the Avengers’ two singles made it first and second with one out. The cleanup hitter then hit a line drive to the left of Max Kemnitzer whose diving catch turned into a double play with a flip to Charlie Nader who started the game at second base for the Knights. The Knights took the defensive momentum to their swings in the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of the first, the Knights scored nine runs to take a commanding lead.
Once again, TJ Lombardo started the rally for the Knights with a leadoff single to center. Following suit, Max Kemnitzer struck a line drive to center. On the hit, Lombardo quickly rounded second and forced a bad throw to third base which allowed him to score. Ryan O’Shea wanted in on the action so he drove a single to left field bringing in Kemnitzer from third base. Luca Ierano made it four in a row with a single of his own brining in O’Shea who stole second base on the pitch before. Later in the inning, Charlie Nader reached base on an error that brought in Frankie Rodrigues and Jake Persichilli. Rodrigues reached base earlier on a walk and Persichilli got on with a fielder’s choice to center. John Simonelli walked to keep the rally going. With first and third, Lucian Othman, struck a double to left center scoring Nader and Simonelli. With the score at 7-0, John Considine singled to center advancing Othman to third. Angelo Simonelli’s single to the right of second base drove in Othman. Continuing their early dominance, Max Kemnitzer’s ground ball to third pushed Considine home making it 9-0 Knights to the growing groans of the opposing bench.
In the top of the fourth inning, TJ Lombardo made two impressive catches in center field. With two outs in the inning, the Avengers’ cleanup hitter drove a line drive to Lombardo’s left. With a running grab, Lombardo decided that three outs weren’t enough so he threw a dart to first to double up an Avenger heading back to the base. Oh well, four outs is even better than three! Up 9-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the North Shore Knights scored three runs to give them the 12-1 lead that proved to be the final score. Angelo Simonelli walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second and third on a throwing error by the pitcher trying to pick him off first. He then came around to score on wild pitch. TJ Lombardo followed with a walk before Max Kemnitzer’s triple to deep left scored Lombardo to give the Knights a ten run lead. Kemnitzer later scored on Ryan O’Shea’s ground ball.
In the top of the fifth inning, two Avengers reached base in an attempt to start a rally but a line drive to Frankie Rodrigues at third base led to a 5-3-5 double play to end the game on a run rule victory for the Knights.
Luca Ierano earned the win for the NSK. The righty only allowed three hits and one run over three innings of work on the mound. Ierano struck out three hitters and walked only one. Jake Persichilli threw two innings of scoreless ball for the Knights closing the door on the Avengers. Angelo Simonelli caught a solid game behind the plate for the Knights.
The Knights finished the regular season 7-3 and head to the playoffs on November 4th. They will face the South Shore Chiefs with whom they split a twin bill earlier in the season. The winner will play the winner of Hicksville and Sharks Baseball Academy in the championship. Let’s go!
The North Shore Knights easily reeled in the 5-2 Sharks Baseball Academy on Sunday, winning 14-2. With the win, the Knights move to 5-3 on the wet fall season.
North Shore Knights got on the board in the bottom of the first inning after TJ Lombardo walked to start off the inning and stole a couple of bases before scampering home to make it 1-0. Following Ryan O’Shea’s triple to deep left, Luca Ierano’s single brought in O’Shea to advance the lead to 2-0. Max Kemnitzer kept it going with a double to left field advancing Ierano to third. Ierano came around to score on an error to push the lead to 3-0 Knights.
After Charlie Nader shut down the Sharks for the second straight inning, the Knights extended the lead to 4-0 when Nader came around to score on TJ Lombardo’s fielder’s choice. Nader reached base on a walk to start the inning. Nader went to work again pitching two more scoreless innings before the Knights broke open the game in the bottom of the 4th with four runs. Helping his own cause, Charlie Nader led off the bottom of the 4th with a base hit up the middle. Kai Ramalho followed with a walk, TJ Lombardo singled, and Noah Catandella walked to set the stage for the Knights. Next, Ryan O’Shea took a pitch off his helmet to bring in Ramalho. Luca Ierano then cleared the bases with his double to deep right center to make it 8-0 Knights.
The Sharks scratched out two runs in the top of the 5th inning which would prove to be their only runs. In the bottom of the inning, the Knights ended the game with 6 runs to win the game 14-2. Jake Persichilli got things started with a walk, stole second, and advanced to third and home on wild pitches. Lucian Othman walked before Charlie Nader’s single to right brought Othman across the dish to make it 10-2. After Kai Ramalho singled to left, TJ Lombardo’s double to center brought Nader and Ramalho home. Tasting the run rule and looking to end their Sunday early with a win, Noah Catandella’s line drive to second base scored Lombardo. Ryan O’Shea ended it with a triple to center field scoring Catandella.
Charlie Nader earned his second win of the season with a complete game. He surrendered only two runs, striking out five, and walking only two Sharks.
TJ Lombardo, Ryan O’Shea, Charlie Nader, Luca Ierano, and Max Kemnitzer each collected two hits for the North Shore Knights.
With their eyes on the playoffs, the 5-3 Knights will take on the Avengers on Saturday, October 28th.
The North Shore Knights moved to 3-1 on the fall season with a big comeback win against the mighty South Shore Chiefs of Massapequa. After dropping the first game of the doubleheader at Stillwell Park in Syosset, the Knights came from behind in dramatic fashion scoring 11 runs in the final two innings to take the win, 14-13.
Down 7-0 early, the Knights grabbed two runs in the bottom of the 2nd. Luca Ierano led off the inning with a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on Jake Persichilli’s ground ball to short. Lucian Othman then hit a scorcher to third to bring in Ierano. A walk to John Simonelli and a basehit from Charlie Nader led to Angelo Simonelli driving in the second run for the Knights when he reached on a hit to second. The Chiefs extended their lead to 12-2 in the top of the third inning but the Knights were far from done. They scratched out a third run in the buttom of the inning when John Considine led the inning off with a basehit to left followed by a hit by TJ Lombardo advancing Considine to third. Frankie Rodrigues’ single then drove in Considine to narrow the lead a bit but the Chiefs didn’t know what was about to hit them.
Down 13-3 in the bottom of the 4th inning, the Knights’ bats got hot. Once again Luca Ierano got the inning started with a walk before Jake Persichilli hit a line drive single to left. Charlie Nader came through again with a single to right field driving in Ierano. Consecutive walks to Angelo Simonelli, Kai Ramalho, and John Considine brought around Persichilli and Nader to narrow the lead, 13-6. Next, TJ Lombardo struck a double in the right center gap to drive in Angelo Simonelli and Kai Ramalho to make it 13-8 Chiefs, setting up a dramatic 5th and final inning.
In his second inning on the mound, Max Kemnitzer retired the side in three batters after a nice double play by middle infielders Ryan O’Shea and Frankie Rodrigues. Here come the Knights with their last at bat. Down 5 runs. Frankie Rodrigues started the rally with a base hit to third base then stole second on the first pitch. With one out in the inning, Luca Ierano’s rope to right field scored Rodrigues. Ierano stole second to get into scoring position. After the Chiefs got the Knights second out, the Knights dug deep to keep things alive when six straight Knights refused to give up. Lucian Othman battled pitches to draw a walk before John Simonelli’s single up the middle brought in Ierano. Charlie Nader followed with a similar shot up the middle to score Lucian Othman to make it 13-11. The noise from the Knights’ dugout began to get loud as they could start to taste the possible win. Angelo Simonelli liked what he saw from his brother and Charlie Nader, so he did the same. His single to center loaded the bases. Kai Ramalho then walked on a tough at bat scoring John Simonelli, 13-12 Chiefs. With Drake’s “Started from the bottom now we’re here. Started from the bottom now my whole team here,” playing, John Considine walked up to the plate with “the whole team here.” With a 1 and 2 count, Considine fought off two pitches. With a 2-2 count, John struck a line drive to left field scoring Charlie Nader from third to tie it, but here comes Angelo Simonelli around third from second after nicely taking a huge secondary lead allowing him to score the winning run to give the Knights the 14-13 walkoff win to the chants of “John-ny, John-ny, John-ny.”
Max Kemnitzer earned his first win of the young season. The right hander gave up one hit and one run over two innings, striking out one and walking none. Luca Ierano led things off on the mound, striking out five Chiefs over three innings, allowing only two earned runs.
The Knights accumulated 13 hits in the game. Charlie Nader led the team with three hits in three at bats. John Considine went 2 for 2 at the plate and led the team with three RBIs. TJ Lombardo and Frankie Rodrigues each collected multiple hits for the Knights.
With the doubleheader split, both the Knights and Chiefs moved to 3-1. The Knights will take on the Sharks Baseball Academy next Saturday at their home field, Flynn Memorial Park.
The North Shore Knights got off to a fast start in the fall season, taking both games of a doubleheader vs. Storm Sports Academy. The Knights took Game 1, 14-4, and Game 2, 17-1. Solid pitching, timely hitting, and precise fielding made the Storm feel more like a drizzle.
Charlie Nader always knew he wanted to be a warrior but he is finally at home as the strongest warrior there is, a Knight. Donning his familiar maroon for the first time as a North Shore Knight, Charlie took the mound in Game 1, pitching a complete game, striking out eight batters and only allowing two earned runs to get his first win of the season.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the first, the Knights struck for five runs to give them a lead they would not surrender. Noah Catandella led off the inning with a walk before stealing second and third base. Max Kemnitzer’s line drive to left then drove in Catandella to get the Knights on the board. Kemnitzer stole second and third before scampering home on a wild pitch to tie it at two. Jake Persichilli continued his hot hitting from the summer, driving a double to left field bringing in Ryan O’Shea who reached base on a fielder’s choice. Persichilli went 5-5 on the day. With Persichilli on second, TJ Lombardo got his best day as a Knight started with a triple to left field scoring Jake to give the Knights a 4-2 lead. Lombardo finished 6 for 6 on the day with 5 RBIs. In his first at bat with the Knights, Charlie Nader’s pop fly drove in Lombardo from third. 5-2 Knights.
After the Storm closed the gap to 5-3 in the top of the second, the Knights exploded for nine runs in the bottom half of the inning, extending their lead to 14-3. After back to back walks to Kai Ramalho and Noah Catandella, Max Kemnitzer’s double to center drove in both Noah and Kai to make it 7-3. Kemnitzer stole third on the next pitch before Luca Ierano walked to make it first and third with no outs. Next, Ryan O’Shea’s towering sac fly to center easily scored Kemnitzer from third. Ierano stole second base before Jake’s scorching base hit between short and third brought Ierano around third to make it 9-3 Knights. Another hit by Lombardo and a John Simonelli walk loaded the bases for Charlie Nader. Nader’s ground ball to first scored Persichilli while putting Nader on first on an error, keeping the bases loaded. Resurrected from a near broken finger in the first inning, Lucian Othman wanted a piece of the action. On the third pitch of his at bat, Lucian Othman struck a line drive triple to center field, clearing the bases, scoring TJ Lombardo, John Simonelli, and Charlie Nader. After fouling off a few pitches, Angelo Simonelli then made his at bat count with a ground ball to second base bringing in Othman to give the Knights their 14th run. Boom!
In all, the Knights totaled 10 hits on the game, led by Jake Persichilli and TJ Lombardo who each had three hits in the game. Max Kemnitzer and Lucian Othman each drove in three RBIs in the game.
Game 2 of the doubleheader made Game 1 look like the calm before the real storm. Following his dominant performance in the Rob Olivieri tournament in August, Jake Persichilli took the mound for the Knights, throwing the second complete game of the day, allowing one run and striking out two in his three innings of work. Great job!
Leading off the top of the first, TJ Lombardo singled on a line drive to left field and used his speed to advance to second on a throw in to the pitcher. Lombardo then stole third base and scored on a wild pitch to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. Man does speed kill.
The Knights extended their lead to 6-0 in the top of the second inning. The first three Knights reached base in the inning with Ryan O’Shea’s line drive up the middle followed by walks to Noah Catandella and Jake Persichilli. Lucian Othman then hit into an infield fly that caused more confusion with the opposing coaches than ever witnessed in an 11U game. Storm players threw the ball around the bases thinking they would get a triple play on the infield fly not realizing they never caught the ball! While they threw the ball around, all three Knights came around to score making it 4-0 Knights. John Simonelli got it started for the Knights again, singling to shortstop before Charlie Nader walked. After stealing third base, Simonelli scored on a passed ball. A single by John Considine and a hit by pitch to Kai Ramalho loaded the bases for the Knights. It felt like the bases were loaded all game! TJ Lombardo had his eyes set on six hits on the day so he drove a single to shortstop bringing in Nader to make it 6-0 for his fifth hit on the day.
The Storm pushed a run across in the bottom of the second before the Knights scored 11 runs in the top of the third to give them the 17-1 lead which proved to be the final score. The first 9 Knights reached base in the inning with hits by Frankie Rodrigues who arrived late after ruining kid’s ankles in his early morning SUSA soccer game, Ryan O’Shea, Jake Persichilli, and Lucian Othman and walks to Luca Ierano, Noah Catandella, John Simonelli, and John Considine. In that stretch, Rodrigues and Ierano stole home, Persichilli drove in O’Shea, Othman brought in Catandella, and Nader’s hard hit back to the pitcher led to a throwing error bringing in Persichilli, Othman, and J. Simonelli. After the Knights loaded the bases AGAIN, TJ Lombardo hit a bases clearing triple driving in Charlie Nader, John Considine, and Kai Ramalho who got his first hit of the season with a nice hit to left field. Max Kemnitzer’s single to center brought in Lombardo to give the Knights run #17.
TJ Lombardo led the Knights in the second game with three hits and four RBIs. Charlie Nader added three RBIs.
A great start to the fall season! The Knights will take on the 2-0 South Shore Chiefs next Saturday at Stillwell Park in Woodbury.
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