Joe Kealy of the LIB Expos Black presents game ball to teammate Luca Russo after the final out of Russo’s four-inning no-hitter.
By Sean Reilly
The bases were loaded in what had already been a productive first inning for the Locked In Baseball Expos 16U Black, when Joe Kealy, the runner on third base, made an observation.
“When I got on third, I saw that the pitcher had a really long windup,” he said.
He began to think about stealing home. Several pitches into the at-bat, he made it happen and was safe at the plate on a straight steal.
“I asked Coach if I could go, and at first he was hesitant, but after a couple of pitches, he said yes,” Kealy said. “Once I saw the pitcher take his foot back, I knew I had to go.”
The alert move by Kealy, which actually triggered a triple steal since the other runners also advanced, typified the effort by the LIB Expos in what became an 11-1, four-inning victory over Juniata 16U Elite at the Diamond Nation 16U World Series.
Drew Friday scores on wild pitch for the LIB Expos Black.
The LIB Expos also won with a no-hit pitching performance from right-hander Luca Russo.
Russo struck out two, walked none and hit one batter as the Expos moved to 1-1 in the tournament, with two more games to play on Thursday.
Russo, a Class of 2027 player from Chatham High School, pitched 1-2-3 innings in three of the four frames.
“My focus was to throw first-pitch strikes, get ahead and then go on attack after that,” said Russo, who was relying on a fastball, slider and changeup. “I was hitting every spot, I had all three pitches working and my defense was working. The offense really jumped out early, gave me a lot of run support, and I was really happy about that.”
The Expos scored five times in the top of the first, all after the first two batters struck out.
Drew Friday was the instigator, by hitting a grounds rule double to right field. He moved to third after Colby Stratemeir singled over the head of the shortstop. With Jack Hadzima at the plate, a wild pitch scored Friday. Hadzima walked, and Robbie Frei also walked to load the bases.
Nick Petullo was hit by a pitch to bring in the second run. Petullo, the catcher, was replaced on the bases by courtesy runner Kealy.
Alertness also resulted in the third run. With Andrew Censullo at the plate, the catcher failed to accurately throw back to the mound after a pitch. That led to Hadzima racing home for a 3-0 lead.
Censullo walked to reload the bases, and after a pitching change, Liam Egan drew a bases-loaded walk. Kealy then stole home during Krish Patel’s at-bat.
After Russo needed just five pitches to throw a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, the Expos added two more runs in the second inning.
Andrew Censullo of the LIB Expos Black handles throw at first base for an out.
Kealy walked with one out, stole second, and scored when Friday hit another double, this one to left field. Friday wound up scoring on a wild pitch.
Russo struck out the first two in the bottom of the inning before getting a pitcher-to-first ground out.
The Expos then added three more runs in the third.
Egan was hit by a pitch with one out, and after a strikeout, Russo was also hit by a pitch. Kealy hit an RBI single to center, and two errors on the play allowed a second run to score, and for Kealy to circle the bases for a 10-0 lead.
Juniata Elite scored its run in the bottom of the third. Jamil Morales led off for the Philadelphia-based team and was hit by a pitch. Raymi Marte was safe on an error. A force play left runners on first and third before Jeremy Manon hit a sacrifice fly to center field.
Stratemeir led off the Expos’ fourth inning with a double to left. Hadzima followed with a single to shortstop which sent Stratemeir to third. Frei was up next, and hit a sacrifice fly to center for the mercy rule victory.
Friday and Stratemeir both finished 2-for-2 with a walk for the Expos.