SFLOI PLAYS 14-INNING MARATHON

Melendez 7, Appell 5
Freddy Melendez improved to 12-8 on the season, as his team scored 4 times in the first and never looked back. Zach Nilva was 2-for-3 with a home run, and Tony Connor was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Alex Rivera was 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 runs scored for Appell's side.

Hewes 9, Nilva 8 (14 innings)
There was talk of playing a tripleheader, but we decided to just play Game 2 forever instead. As is his usual custom, Havelock Hewes gave up 6 runs in the first 2 innings (only 2 of them earned), and then masterfully held Nilva's team to 2 runs over the final 12 innings while his team battled back.
Sal Cipriano lined a 2-run single with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th to tie the game at 6. In the bottom of the 8th, Nilva escaped a bases-loaded 1-out jam by retiring Don Weiss and Alex Rivera on short fly balls. Ken Walker singled and later scored on a throwing error in the top of the 9th, and Nilva got the first two outs before Alexander Rodriguez tripled to right-center, and came around to score on an infield grounder when Marvin Cohen failed to hold on to a high throw. In the top of the 10th, Ken Walker's single to left plated Fred Lang, but Zach Nilva was tagged out in a rundown between third and home, and Walker was out advancing to second to end the inning. Alex Rivera's 2-out infield single to deep short scored Jaime Orochena in the bottom of the inning, after Orochena had just beaten out a hustle double earlier in the inning. Rivera was gunned out with the winning run by Glen Lawrence on Sal Cipriano's single. Nilva escaped a bases-loaded no-out jam in the 12th when Don Weiss led off with a single and reached third when it got past RF Derek Martinez. Afrer two intentional walks, Sal Cipriano popped out, and Alex Rivera was inexplicably caught off of second base. Jeff Appell grounded out to end the inning. Finally, Ian Parfrey led off the 14th with a double to deep right-center, and scored when the relay throw to third ended up in the dugout. If anyone knows of an SFLOI game that went longer than 14 innings, let me know. I've never played in a game longer than 11.
Offensive stars in the long game were Jaime Orochena (5-for-7, 2 doubles), and Alexander Rodriguez (4-for-6, 3B) for Hewes's team. Ken Walker was 5-for-7 with an RBI for Nilva's team.