12U Gladiators win Fall Baseball Championship

The champions pose in front of the scoreboard.

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The Garden City Gladiators solid fall season earned them the 2-seed heading into the eight team playoff tournament. They were shorthanded, however, heading into the playoffs, with speedster Adrian Alvarado nursing a finger injury, but supplying various flavors of sunflower seeds and cheering his teammates along in the dugout throughout the team’s playoff run.

In their first game against the 7-seed Long Island Indians, the Gladiators faced a 7-0 deficit going into the bottom of the third inning. Staring down potential playoff elimination and an early end to their season, GC sent ten men to the plate in the third, ultimately scoring seven runs that inning and tying the game on Luke Vendetti’s 2-RBI single. After a back and forth next couple innings, GC took the lead for good 9-8 on a JoJo Albano triple which scored Ryan Nies in the bottom of the 5th. Pitcher Christian Arlia came in close it out earning the save and sending the Gladiators to the next round after a huge comeback win. This was a true team win, with contributions coming from everyone, including John David Scianablo’s clutch RBI single and Ben Fuschillo’s two stolen bases and two runs scored.

The second round of the playoffs pitted a confident Gladiators squad against New Hyde Park under the lights at Community Park on

Thursday 11/3. Matteo DiLoreto toed the slab for GC, scattering nine hits and striking out 5 without allowing a walk in a huge complete game performance. The Gladiator bats were quiet in this pitchers’ duel until Tucker Leake singled, stole second and third, then scored on a groundout in the 4th inning to give GC a 2-1 lead. Then in the 5th Evan Glace’s gutsy at bat resulted in a well-earned walk. He proceeded to steal second then score on a Leake groundout to push the lead to 3-1, which DiLoreto held in the 6th to preserve the win, sending GC to the championship.

A champion would be crowned at Glacken Park in Freeport the next night, 11/4 against the North Bellmore North Merrick Rebels in front of a packed house. The Gladiators were locked in from the beginning, with Chris Pospisil mowing down Rebels batters on his way to an 8 strikeout, no walk complete game performance. GC ’ s bats came alive in the 5th, with hits by Drew Hillman and Ryan Nies, but they couldn’t push a run across. The game was still scoreless heading into the top of the 6th, when NBNM advanced their leadoff batter to third base as the potential go-ahead run with no outs. Never wavering, Pospisil struck out the next two batters and got the third to ground out to Luke Vendetti at second to end the inning, preserving the scoreless tie and giving GC a chance to win it in the bottom of the frame. JoJo Albano led off with a bomb to centerfield, which bounced off the top of the wall and back into play. After some confusion and speculation that the ball would be ruled a game-ending walk-off home run, it was ultimately deemed a single after a conference by the umpires. Undeterred, Albano advanced to second on a perfect bunt by Chris Pospisil, then to third on a hard single to right by Tucker Leake bringing Eli Patrickakos to the plate with a chance to drive in a run to win the championship. Ice water in his veins, Patrickakos took a strike to allow Leake to steal second, then calmly laced the next pitch down the third base line to score Albano and give the Gladiators the championship with the 1-0 win. Players and coaches streamed out of the dugout, mobbing Patrickakos behind second base and showering him with water and Gatorade.

This championship was the culmination of a group of players coming together, playing for each other and dedicating the time and effort necessary to be ready to contribute to their team when they had the opportunity. Expect big things from this group as they continue their baseball journey.