Union holds on to win high-scoring game

Correction appended.

Union International Baseball and the Mariners came out slugging on Saturday, but Union International held on to win 14-11.  

iaBoth teams competed as part of the Van Cortlandt Baseball League. Although each squadscored runs in bunches, Union gained a large lead in the first inning and managed to hold it until the end.  

Union International came up to bat first, and after three walks and a base hit, the bases were loaded. One more walk sent 15-year-old Jessica Gorman, the league’s only female player, home for the team’s first run. With one out, Robert Rutigliano, 14, hit a grounder past second base for a double, which brought in two more runners and put players on second and third.  

Three consecutive walks put the score at 5-0 before a final strikeout by Mariners pitcher Josue Corona ended the inning. 

At bat, the Mariners scored a run when Corona hit a double into the outfield. It was misread by the fielder, and 12-year-old Andrelis Bayambs ran home from second to make the score 5-1. Union was quickly stopped at the top of the second inning by a double play and an unsuccessful attempt to steal second.

 Jason Tavarez, 14, scored another run for the Mariners after hitting a single. Advancing to second and then stealing third, he ran home on a hit from 13-year-old Elias Velossantoas.  

Union regained their 5-run lead in the third inning. Gian Carlos Sosa started the inning by stealing second after a base hit and then making it home on a triple, which was crushed into right field by Rutigliano, who subsequently made it home after an error at first.  

The Mariners lessened the score gap in the third inning, with runs scored by Frankie Castillo, 13, and Corona off a hit by 14-year-old Julian Perez. Michael Castillo, 16, stole third, and an error allowed him to advance for the third run of the inning.  Runners got back on second and third, but the inning was ended with a strikeout by Gorman, Union’s pitcher.