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Creekside falters, loses title to New York Nine
By Brian Dzenis
STRUTHERS
One bad inning put Creekside Fitness in a bad spot that it couldn’t escape.
New York Nine tagged Creekside for four runs in the first inning and rode the early lead to a 5-0 victory in the NABF Senior World Series on Sunday at Cene Park.
“We weren’t putting it together. There were a couple of kicked balls, a couple hits and we just couldn’t execute with getting guys on base,” Creekside’s Nick Guarnieri said.
The Ohio team opened the game with an error that allowed Nine’s leadoff hitter Griffin Arnone to reach first base. While Arnone later was called out at third base, three consecutive singles loaded the bases with one out.
Justin Peralta hit what looked like a routine fly ball to right field, but outfielder Dylan Gurski misplayed the fly ball and it landed behind him. What could have been a 1-run sac-fly turned into a bases-clearing triple.
“[Either he lost the ball in the sun] or maybe he was asleep,” Creekside manager Terry Landis said. “That just killed us. We should have scored some runs, but we didn’t.”
The reason Creekside never scored was due to the efforts of New York’s Tyler D’Amico. He threw a complete game for the Nine, scattering five hits and striking out nine with no walks while hitting one batter.
“His curveball was working great,” Guarnieri said. “He was really keeping us off balance with his curveball and fastball while mixing in a changeup. That kid threw a heck of a game.”
Guarnieri was one of Creekside’s brighter spots in the game with two hits. He was a one-week rental for Creekside in the NABF World Series, joining the team last week.
“I got picked up to play,” Guarnieri said. “After the season was over and my team [Prospects] didn’t make the tournament, there was a draft, Creekside called me and the rest is history I guess.”
Ryan Sullivan took the loss for Creekside, giving up four runs on six hits and had a walk with two strikeouts.
New York’s Colby O’Shea hit a one-run double in the seventh to complete the final score. Creekside’s season is not over as the team will start the Palomino Zone tournament on Thursday at Cene Park.
The 16U — or Junior — edition of Creekside also fell short in the NABF World Series final with a 5-1 loss to Release Baseball.
The defeat came after an exciting semifinal against Roth Brothers earlier on Sunday that ended in a 1-0 walk-off victory.
Gabrial Yannsens executed a suicide squeeze with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh and no outs. Samuel Bosso scored from third to win the game.
Santino Campoli got the win for Creekside, giving up four hits and four walks while striking out seven.