Jericho Jay Sox Sweep Into First Place

On what started out as a dreary day in Levittown, the Jericho Jay Sox swept a doubleheader 13-1, and 10-1. By games end, the sunshine had broken through the clouds, and the Jay Sox found themselves in first place (7-3), in the highly competitive National Junior Baseball League.

In the first game, starter and winning pitcher, Jeffrey "Pedro" Goren, got the Jay Sox off to a fast start with a single up the middle. After a stolen base and a ground out to third, Goren came around to score on a single by Jeremy "He's so" Feinstein. After a stolen base, Feinstein came around to score the last run of the frame on a double by Brandon "Big Mac" First. After retiring Levittown in order in the bottom of the first, the Jay Sox added a single run on a single by Nicholas "Twinister of Defense" Tuccillo, a stolen base, and an RBI single by Goren. Levittown threatened in the bottom of the second, but with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Tuccillo turned in the defensive gem of the day at second base. Nick ranged far to his right and fully extended to grab a short bloop near 2nd base. The Jay Sox added 2 more runs in the top of the 3rd. Feinstein led off with another single and stole second base. First then launched a moonshot over the left field fence for a 2 run homer before being mobbed by his teammates. Levittown scored their only run and registered their only hit in the bottom of the 3rd, before Jericho responded with 5 of their own in the top of the 4th. Singles by Goren(4 for 4 in the first game) and Feinstein(3 for 4 with the game ending double off the wall in the 5th), were followed by a walk to first, an error on a smash by Matthew "Big Cat" Newman, and back to back singles by Jesse "The Grin" Aronica(2 for 2 with a walk), and Marc "AFLAC" Roth. Jason "Hollywood" Fellows came in to pitch the 4th for the Jay Sox, striking out 3 of the 4 batters he faced. The Jay Sox iced the game in the fifth on a lead off single by Tommy "Flipper" Caruso, followed by singles from Fellows and Goren, before Feinstein's game ending double.

In the second game, the Jay Sox were led by winning pitcher Derrick "Ichiro" Hakim, who went 3 innings without giving up a hit or run while striking out 6. The Jay Sox struck early with 2 in the bottom of the first on 3 consecutive hits by Feinstein, First and Newman. They added 6 in the bottom of the 2nd to put the game out of reach. Caruso and Phillip "Fitz" Fitzpatrick worked back to back walks to begin the frame. Nick Tuccillo brought them both around with a sharp smash up the middle. Hakim walked with 2 outs, and both came around to score on hits by Feinstein, First and Newman. The Jay Sox added a single run in the 3rd on singles by Fitzpatrick and Fellows. Fittingly, Feinstein capped the scoring with an opposite field blast over the fence in right center for the Jay Sox second roundtripper of the day. Feinstein, also pitched 2 innings, before turning the game over to First, who got the Levittown hitters out in order in the top of the 6th to complete the sweep. Also contributing to the sweep was Michael "Twinister of Offense" Tuccillo, who added a hit and played flawless defense behind the plate in the second game. Charlie "The Pest" Fasano, played great defense and, as usually, made the opposing pitcher's day miserable.

The Jay Sox play next week against the Whitestone Wanderers, before concluding the season at the Jackson Elementary School on Sunday, October 24 at 10 am against the Long Island Astros.