2017 Yankees Claim ‘Back to Back’ Titles in 45+ Division of Long Island MSBL
Long Island MSBL, 45+ Division
Long Island Yankees 5, Long Island Mutiny 0
Back Row L-R: Bob Rizzo, John Manfredo, Ed Dewalter, Ed Sparrow, Bruce Grossman, Mike Bass, Nelson Lewis, Jerry Diliberti, Gary D’Ambrisi, Jaime Schwartz. Front Row L-R: Luis Matias, Joe Henry, Chuck Korn, Joe D’Andria (MGR), John Alutto. Not pictured: Paul Simorella, Jim Sparrow
‘Lewis and Manfredo Lead the Mound Corp’
Submitted by Joe D’Andria, Yankees manager
Great pitching, defense and timely hitting carried the Yankees to back to back 45+ Long Island MSBL Championships with a 5 -0 win against the Long Island Mutiny.
The final four playoff games were pitching gems. Nelson ‘Big Game’ Lewis pitched game one in both the semis and the final games, going 18 innings and giving up only one earned run. When the Yankees needed to close out a team or stay alive they only needed turn to one man, John Manfredo. Manfredo beat J. Mullady of the Mutiny by throwing nine inning, 2-hit baseball while striking out 17. John also hit .470 for the season and when not pitching he played a flawless shortstop.
The Yankees defense was almost flawless committing only three errors in six playoff games. This does not happen without the soft hands of Jaime Schwartz at first base. Yankee hitting in the playoffs was led by Jerry Diliberti, Ed Dewalter, Bob Rizzo and Gary D’Ambrisi, all providing clutch hits and driving in game winning runs.
After a slow start to the season the Yankees won 12 in a row in route to back to back Championships. The season was led by Bruce Grossman, who again led the team in the regular season with a .600 batting average as well as 19 free passes. Chuck Korn caught almost every inning and brought his bat and legs all season. Mike Bass provided clutch hitting all season while batting .465 and knocking in 27 in 19 games played. Paul Simorella played an outstanding left field all year for the team along with leading the team in steals.
As the Yankees manager I speak for everyone when I say that we are looking forward to trying to ‘3-peat’ against some of the best teams and players any league has to offer.