2018 La Piazza Yankees Make it a ‘Three-Peat’ in Long Island MSBL 45+ Division

Long Island MSBL, 45+ Division

La Piazza Yankees 7, Dix Hills Dodgers 2

‘Championship Dedicated to Tim Malone’

Submitted by Joe D’Andria, Yankees manager

The Yankees won their third straight 45+ Division Championship in the Long Island MSBL in what can only be described as a very challenging year. Game one was played with a wind chill of 25 degrees to the point both teams ended after three innings 1 to 1. Most of the year was postponed and/or eliminated by rain every weekend. The Yankees were led by our big five pitchers, John Manfredo, Rich Gorecki, Nelson Lewis, Luis Matias and Ed Sparrow. The five combined for a team era of 2.23.

The Yanks line up as well is no easy task for our opponents with an 18-man roster and a .400 team batting average. The Yanks were led by Jim Sparrow hitting for a team season high .600 average knocking in 35 runs. Ed DeWalter paced the Yankees all year with a .475 average playing an amazing center field. The Yanks have a great 1-2 punch with Chuck Korn and Paul Simorella, both with great speed and defense, and both coming up big in the playoffs.

The Yankees had the best record and received a first-round bye; this left us unable to play for five weeks due to the rain. When we finally started the playoffs, the Yanks went with big game Nelson Lewis for the start giving up one earned run with Korn and Manfredo knocking in four runs each. In game two we received the worst possible news that took the wind out of our entire team. Tim Malone, who was 1 for 1 in game one, passed away that night. Manager, Joe D’Andria, had to give the news to his team with a huge assist from teammate Mike Bass. It was a major blow and as we tried to win one for Timmy. Our heart was gone and a strong Cardinal team did what they had to do, beating the Yanks and keeping their season alive. Game three always goes to John Manfredo and again, he came up big with 2-hit one run ball striking out 11. Rich Gorecki and “Mr. Consistent” Gary D’Ambrisi paced the Yanks with three hits each, while Jim Sparrow knocked in five and Jerry Diliberti contributed with three and Mike Bass added two.

The Championship Series was against the Dodgers who were playing great baseball coming into the finals. Game one went to the Dodgers 4-2 on a nasty, rainy night. In Game two the Yanks went to Rich Gorecki to keep the season alive and he proceeded to throw a 2-hit shutout. DeWalter and Manfredo led the way with three hits each and Manfredo’s third home run of the year. Game three, as always, saw Manfredo on the bump, throwing a 4-hit, no earned run, 11 strike game and taking the Yankees to victory. Korn and Simorella led the day in hitting with Bruce Grossman going 1 for 2 and getting on base four times.

We look forward to the 2019 season and the difficult challenge in going for four in a row against some great Long Island teams.