Mineola 12U Baseball Opens 2013 Summer Season with Walk Off

By Kenneth Solosky

On July 9 the Mineola 12U baseball team opened their summer season against a team from Manhasset at the Mineola Willis Ave field complex. Mineola defeated Manhasset with a dramatic 4-3 walk off victory in the final inning. 

Mineola had superb pitching with Jack Dwyer and Sean Hembach. Dwyer struck out six and allowed two unearned runs while Hembach had five K's and allowed one earned run and was credited with the victory.

“Both Jack and Sean pitched their hearts out,” Mineola manager Ken Solosky said. “Both pitchers had outstanding control as they only allowed three walks the entire game.”

The Mineola defense also shined. Catcher Kenny Solosky threw out the only Manhasset attempted steal, holding their runners close all day. Joe Franzini made a couple of sharp grabs playing second. Andrew Geagher, Kieran O’Gara, Ryan Burke and Christian Duarte also contributed on defense.

The Mineola hitting attack was led by Solosky (1-2, run scored), Sean Hembach (1-2, double, RBI) and Bryan Camacho (1-3, double, 2 RBI).

Entering the last inning down 3-2, Mineola began their comeback. After drawing a walk, Hembach was driven in by a Camacho double to right. Camacho then stole third and Dwyer drew a walk, quickly stealing second. The most dramatic moment of the game came with Mineola runners on second and third, two outs and Mineola down to their last strike. Patrick Solosky was able to work the count to 2-2 and then smashed a walk off single to right plating the winning Mineola run for the 4-3 come from behind win.

A special congratulation to newcomer Alan Nanu who played his first organized baseball game and did an outstanding job playing the outfield and several infield positions.

“I was glad to see the boys start the season with a victory,” coach Solosky said. “They work very hard in hot practices so it is nice to see their hard work pay off.”

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, “catcher’s station” at which an older travel team catcher works with the boys on this unique position. They also feature “guest instructors” that focus on a particular aspect of the game.

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