All Sunshine for Retif on Rainy Day
Retif Oil and Fuel would not let the dark clouds that hung over John Ryan Stadium ruin their day as they won 5-4 against Ponstein’s (Holy Cross).
The game showed the character of the whole squad. Ryan Porche, a recent call up from the JV squad, started the game and pitched two solid innings that showcased his determination and command.
The third is when trouble started to brew as walks started to pile up, and Preston Berggren had to come in to get out of a bases loaded jam. The next inning, Berggren got out of another sticky situation by leaving a man on third.
While all this superior pitching was occurring, Retif could not find a way to get a hit. Fortunately, the score was only 1-0 Ponstein’s in part to superior pitching, and a Will Hellmers catch in foul ground and put-out at home plate to end the top half of the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Brian Valigosky had enough and delivered a shot in the gap for a double to get Jesuit into the hit column. They were not finished. Giovanni Licciardi added a single to move Valigosky over to third with one out.
After two Ponstein’s passed balls, Retif now had a 2-1 lead going into the sixth.
The sixth is when the back and forth started between the two powerhouses. With a combination of Retif errors, hits, and a sacrifice fly, Ponstein’s left the top half of the inning with a 4-2 lead.
Yet, the all-Jesuit crew would not be denied. Zack Casebonne started the inning off with a triple, and Hellmers followed it up with a single to get within one.
Retif would then put another runner on third base with Joel Terry up, and he found a way to put the ball into the misty summer air to tie up the game with a sac fly. To cap off the monster inning, Licciardi delivered a go-ahead single to claim a one run lead that the team would not relinquish.
Hellmers came in for the last time as a pitcher for the blue and white to close the game out and sent all three batters to the bench with two strikeouts and one pop out.
Retif Oil will continue their hot play against College Funding Coach at John Ryan Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.