Bronx Bombers right fielder Jeremy Sosa was on base twice and scored a run in Thursday’s game.
By Steve Merrill
Kobe Tindley rocketed a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the sixth inning as the time limit expired to give the Long Island Body Armor Titans 15U a thrilling 10-7 victory over the Bronx Bombers 16U on Thursday in the 16U Blue Chip Prospects tournament.
A wild sixth inning brought out the end-game drama between the Titans and Bombers. Trailing 7-4 in the top half of the inning, the Bombers got even on Ryan Neville’s second home run of the day, a three-run longball to send the dugout into a frenzy. The Titans responded by immediately getting the first two runners on base in the bottom of the sixth via walks. After a flyout, the stage was set for Tindley.
“I was waiting for a strike down the middle,” Tindley said. “Just take it out. If it was outside, I was going to hit it oppo. If it was inside, I was going to pull it. I had a lot of pressure on me because my teammates were screaming at me from the dugout. I had to do my thing.”
Tindley knew he had it off the bat, too. It was his second career walk-off home run.
“Definitely knew I had it,” Kobe said. “I was walking and I knew it was gone. It feels pretty good because I haven’t really been hitting. I’ve been down but I think I’m back up now.”
Long Island scratched all 10 runs across in the final three innings of the game. As one of the youngest teams in the tournament, their offense didn’t make it seem the case. The Titans were dormant for the first three innings but exploded off Bombers reliever William Rangel for five runs in the fourth inning.
Jace Jarmon also went deep for Long Island, cracking a three-run home run in the fourth. Angel Cartagena drove in four runs in the game, delivering a two-run single in both the fourth and fifth innings.
“I felt good,” Cartagena said. “I saw the ball well. I just wanted to help my team win and get runs in.”
The Bombers scored in each of the first three innings. The visitors jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first when Jeremy Sosa reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and third base, and scored when the Titans catcher overthrew the bag for an error.
Neville smacked his first home run to left field in the second inning to tack on another run and make it a 2-0 ballgame in favor of the Bombers. After a walk and a single, Micah Garrett grounded out to bring in the third run of the game.
Bombers starter Pedro Leon dealt the first two innings but was pulled with one out in the third due to a predetermined pitch limit. Leon didn’t allow a hit in his short body of work and was replaced by Rangel, who gave up the first hit to the first batter he faced.
Titans starting pitcher Kameron Tindley (twin brother of the game’s hero, Kobe) went five innings and allowed three runs on five hits, walked two and struck out three.
“This felt nice,” Cartagena said, who caught the entire game. “We felt we had it. The pitching was good. I knew we had it in us. I blocked some balls, helped the pitchers. It feels good being the youngest team here and beating 16-year-olds.”