Yankees Rookie Ray Parilla overcame a shaky early start to pitch his team to a 7-4 victory over the Raphael Jackson AA Baseball League’s defending champion Cardinals Sunday night at the D.C. Canegata Ball Park.
Parilla, a Dominant pitcher in the 16-18 baseball leagues, showed that he can be just as effective in men’s open league.
After the Yankees failed to score in the top of the first, the Cardinals drew first blood in their half of the inning coming up with one run on an RBI single by Kyle LaMotta to take the early 1-0 lead.
The Yankees would tie the game in the top of the third on Lewelin Serau’s RBI single. The Cardinals had no answer in the bottom of the inning.
The Yankees were back on the offense in the top of the fourth as they came up with two more runs on some sloppy play by the Cardinals’ defense to extend their lead to 3-1. Meanwhile Parilla, who had not allowed a Cardinals run since the first, continued to pitch well. Parilla, along with some good defensive plays by his infield, would keep the Cards off the board until the sixth.
The Cardinals’ defense would continue to let them down as they would allow the Yankees unearned runs in both the top of the fifth and the sixth that gave them a four-run advantage at 5-1 after five and a half innings. The Cards finally got to Parilla a bit in the bottom of the sixth when Efrain Ramirez double home two runs to close the score to 5-3.
LaMotta’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh then cut the lead to one at 5-4, and the champs looked liked they had plans of a huge comeback win.
Both teams were alerted prior to the start of the eighth inning that it would be their last at bat due to time constraints.
The Yankees, sensing the possibility of a momentum swing, wasted little time in trying to put the game out of reach. Mackeel Rodgers delivered an RBI double and Steve Simmonds Jr. pushed across another run on an RBI ground out to put the score at 7-4, the eventual winning margin for the Yanks as the Cardinal went rather quietly in their half of the inning.
Parilla got the win on the Hill for the Yankees, while Juan Francisco got the loss. Top batters for the winners were Serau and Rodgers (both 2 for 4 with an RBI), and Shakeel Newton (2 for 5). For the Cardinals, LaMotta was 2 for 4 with two RBIs.