Martha’s Vineyard Little League roundup

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Penn Field on Opening Day. - Chris Roberts

Cardinals 13, A’s 9

In the first playoff game of the season on Monday, June 13, the Cardinals got the win against the A’s, with the entire lineup contributing. In the early innings, Hardy Eville had a double, a single, and three RBIs, and Faith Thigpen, Axel Abrams, and Wyatt Thigpen each added an RBI. The A’s countered with a sacrifice-fly RBI from Parker Ben David, which Cardinals centerfielder Hardy Eville tracked down inches from the fence. Charlie Porterfield added two hits and three RBIs. The Cardinals broke things open in the fifth with a 2-out, five-run rally. Jakie Glasgow started it with a single, followed by a Faith Thigpen walk. Cole Lambert and Silas Abrams then hit back-to-back RBI singles. After a walk for Emmett Athearn, Abrams came home on a passed ball, and Andrew Marchand capped the inning off with a long RBI double. The A’s countered in the fifth as Parker Ben David, Charlie Porterfield, and Bethany Cardoza came around to score. In the sixth, A’s rightfielder Nathan London made two crucial pop-fly catches to keep the Cardinals off the board. The A’s threatened in their last at-bat, with Matt Moore driving in Owen Metell with a single. Cardinals relief pitcher Silas Abrams settled down, getting a strikeout, a tag-out at home on a passed ball, and another strikeout to end the game.

Cubs 3, Red Sox 2

The Cubs and Red Sox played in front of parents, siblings, and friends at Penn Field Tuesday night, June 14. Starters Cam Napior and Nate Story dueled for five innings, each allowing one hit. Story was backed by a flawless Sox defense. The Sox took a 2-0 lead in the third on a Latham Higgins single and a Nate Story bunt, followed by two Cubs errors. But Napior didn’t allow another runner past second. The Sox clung to the lead into the bottom of the sixth, when Nate Aloha Sawyer started a Cubs rally with a double to leftfield. He advanced to third on Silas Stanek-Streed’s infield hit. Cubs leadoff hitter Finn Lewis drove in both with a laser to left center. Sox reliever Nick Cranston managed a ground-out and two strikeouts to send the game into extra innings.

Cubbies closer Keaton Aliberti (2 IP, 6 Ks, 0 hits) set the Sox down in the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, Parker Blake and Stanek-Streed reached on walks, and with two outs and two strikes on him, Lewis delivered with a walkoff ground-rule double to right for a 3-2 victory.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 3

The Cardinals beat the Pirates 6-3 Wednesday, June 15, for their second straight playoff win. Cardinals pitcher Silas Abrams pitched a complete game, striking out nine, and fielding four ground balls and a line drive to a record 14 out of his team’s 18 defensive outs. The Cardinals jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first as Emmett Athearn worked a walk, followed by Andrew Marchand’s home run to center. They got three more in the second inning, rallying with two outs behind an Axel Abrams walk and RBI singles from Silas Abrams, Andrew Marchand, and Jakie Glasgow.

In the fourth, the Cardinals pushed one run across despite excellent pitching from Pirates hurler Nico Arroyo. In the bottom of the inning, the Pirates got on the board as Jonathan Norton singled and then scored on a passed ball. In the fifth, the Pirates threatened to climb back into the game. Tobey Roberts singled to lead off the inning. Harper Hearn followed with a double. With runners on second and third and no outs, Silas Abrams escaped the inning unharmed. Pirates reliever Tobey Roberts kept the Cardinals at bay in the sixth with an efficient nine-pitch inning. Down to their last three offensive outs, the Pirates made some noise. Liam Marek led off with a single. Next up was Ben Mulvey, who laced a grounder that was handled by Cards shortstop Emmett Athearn for a crucial force out. The Pirates put up two runs behind singles from Lukas Fernandes and Tobey Roberts, but Silas Abrams put them away, getting another 1-3 put-out to seal the victory.

Red Sox 7, A’s 6

In an elimination game, the Red Sox held off the A’s on Saturday afternoon, and will meet the Pirates on Tuesday. The A’s held a 4-1 lead after two innings, but the Sox scored 6 in the third and fourth, and rode clutch pitching to the victory.

Cubs 8, Cardinals 1

Cubs advanced to Sunday’s championship game with an 8-1 victory over the Cardinals Monday night. Keaton Aliberti’s solo shot to center to start the third ignited the offense, and the Cubs scored six runs. Parker Blake drove in two with a bases-loaded single. Clyde Smith drove in two more with a line-drive triple to right. Cubs starter Cam Napior scattered five singles over four and a third innings, while striking out five to get the win. Aliberti pitched the final one and a third of hitless relief. The Cards took a 1-0 lead in the first when Andrew Marchand drove in Silas Abrams with a sharp single. They threatened in the second and fifth, but stranded nine baserunners over six innings. Silas Abrams pitched effectively for two-plus innings for the Cardinals. The Cards play Thursday and can advance to the championship game with a victory.

Pirates 9, Red Sox 3

Pirates and Red Sox met in an elimination playoff game Tuesday night, with the Pirates moving on to a rematch with the Cardinals on Thursday. Red Sox starter Atlas Zack held the Pirates in check for the first two innings, and the Sox took a 1-0 lead when Latham Higgins scored on a passed ball. The Pirates broke through for 4 in the third inning off a walk; Jonathan Norton and Nico Arroyo singled, another walk, two errors, and Barrett Oliver drove in the last run with a hard single to right. The Pirates scored again in the fourth off a Jack Carbon sacrifice fly, making it Pirates 5-1. The Red Sox closed the gap in the fifth with Jack Lionette and Nick Cranston scoring, with hits by Cranston and Atlas Zack. Pirates starter Nico Arroyo allowed only four hits over 4⅔ innings. With bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, Tobey Roberts came on in relief for the Pirates and got the strikeout to end the rally. The Pirates scored four more in the fifth inning, all with two outs. Tobey Roberts (2-3, 3 runs) hit a 2-RBI single, and Nico Arroyo (3-4, 3 RBI) a 2-RBI triple to deep right. Roberts struck out two of the three batters he faced in the sixth to end the game.

For the complete schedule and recaps of Majors and Minors games, go to mvlittleleague.org.