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Sports

Mineola 10U Baseball Teams Face Off

Mineola 9/10 Summer Baseball has four game winning streak.

It may not have been the “Subway Series,” but on Monday, the two Mineola 10U baseball teams (Team Solosky) met their intra-town rivals – the other Mineola 10u team (Team Othman) at the with bragging rights to be called the champions of the 2012 Mineola 10U summer baseball season.

Team Solosky ended up prevailing 8-5, using 5 pitchers to nail down the victory: Patrick Solosky, Jimmy Tighe, Steven Collica, Zach Buongiovanni and Ryan “Lights Out” Loughlin. The boys allowed only 4 hits, spreading the runs out over several innings.

On offense, every Team Solosky player made it on base through a hit or a walk. Zach Buongiovanni plated two RBI’s with a bases loaded double while Kenny Solosky went 1-2 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored. Kieran O’Gara, Vincent Aidala, Mike Librandi and Dominic Ferreira all scored runs or had an RBI.

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The defense was led with Ryan Burke making a catch off a towering infield fly to end a bases loaded threat while Zach Buongiovanni and Patrick Solosky made the defensive plays of the day: with the bases loaded and two Team Othman runs scored in the final inning, Buongiovanni and Patrick Solosky dove to their respective right and left, becoming entangled while attempting to catch a line drive.

It was not immediately clear who caught the line drive before Buongiovanni’s glove came up displaying the ball to the umpire ending the game.

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The Othman offense was lead by Wyatt Davis and Riley Adrat (1-2, triple). Adrat also made a sliding catch on a sharply hit ball to right preventing an extra base hit.

Two days earlier the team had the good fortune of being treated to a hitting clinic by Kellenberg Memorial High School JV baseball coach Eddie Proctor, a 2008 graduate of Kellenberg High School and a Mineola Athletic Association Alumni and still plays active baseball with the Long Island Firebirds, which consist of former Kellenberg baseball players.

Proctor worked individually with each player, correcting mistakes and provides tips on hitting.

“I love working with young ball players and it is very special to come back to the fields where I started and now teaching. It is a great feeling,” he said.

The players enjoyed the clinic and were anxious to give their newly learned skills to the test on the field. Coach Proctor also spoke on pitching, encouraging the young players to step onto the mound. Coach Ken Solosky said he was grateful for the hitting clinic.

“I love having a guest instructor with the experience and skill that Eddie brought to our clinic,” he said. “The players respond well to his teaching and insight and hopefully it translates to the field with some big hits.”

The Mineola Summer baseball team is a developmental team that stresses fun and learning. Players are assigned to different positions and challenged to try pitching and catching. The team has weekly clinics with guest instructors that develop their pitching, hitting and fielding skills. The clinics have featured a unique “catchers station” at which an older travel team catcher works with the boys on this unique position.

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