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Orioles soar from behind to beat the Athletics

An A’s batter went mano a mano with an O’s pitcher in Sunday’s battle between the two powerhouse G.V.L.L. teams.   Photo by Jayson Camacho
An A’s batter went mano a mano with an O’s pitcher in Sunday’s battle between the two powerhouse G.V.L.L. teams. Photo by Jayson Camacho

BY JAYSON CAMACHO  |  One of the weekend’s most anticipated games of G.V.L.L.’s Majors American Division was Sunday’s battle between the Orioles and the Athletics at James J. Walker Field.

There were few clouds in sight as the teams eagerly warmed up on opposite sides of the field. But there was lots of excitement in the air as the A’s were set to put a stop to the O’s five-game win streak.

Orioles Manager John Economou was warming up his pitcher in the right-field corner when this reporter asked him about their strategy.

“We need to play errorless baseball,” the manager said. “We also need to make sure that we limit walks; there’s no secret there.”

The team’s starting pitcher, Michael M., 12, attends City and Country School in the Village.

Asked about his game plan, he said, “Throw strikes and get outs.”

And that’s what he would go on to do.

Michael started off the game by striking out the leadoff batter and then getting the next batter to ground out to first. He gave up a single to heavy hitter Brett, who would get injured trying to steal second base and was unable to return to the game. This would prove to be a blow to the A’s.

Max D. took the mound for the A’s, and started off hot with a 1-2-3 inning, including two strikeouts. Both pitchers continued to pound the strike zone and get outs.

The A’s started to gain momentum in the fourth inning following a leadoff double and a bunch of infield errors.

O’s Head Coach Josh Levine decided it was time for a pitching change and turned the ball over to the lefty Noah C. Noah struggled to get outs and gave up three runs before getting out of a chaotic inning.

The A’s seemed to have all the momentum in the game, with a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth, but the O’s didn’t give up.

Noah helped his own cause by rapping a leadoff single and then stealing second base. Elijah M. hit a shot to left center for a double. Noah stole home following a walk that loaded the bases. 

Max D. continued to struggle for the A’s, allowing three more runs before being replaced by Daniel T. Daniel gave up another four runs before striking out two batters and getting a groundout to first.

Noah tossed a quick fifth inning. Sixty-four percent of his pitches were strikes in his two innings pitched. He struck out four, allowed three hits, and walked two batters. Both walks came in the sixth inning, leading to a bases-loaded no-outs jam for Noah.

The O’s went to the bullpen, calling in Caleb T. to get them out of the inning and secure the win. The O’s were able to play solid defense and turn a double play, sacrificing a run. The next batter hit a grounder to Caleb to end the game. The Orioles won, 9-4, extending their win streak to six games.

After the game, Economou said, “I think we made some errors in the beginning. But then they came around and played some really good ball. The difference today was our hitting. The hitting was huge. The pitchers did their job. And we even had a little luck.”

The Orioles finished the game with six hits and six walks. Their pitches were also did a good job, with a combined 71 percent strikes thrown and striking out 10 batters.

The win moved the Orioles to 7-3, giving them a two-game lead on the Astros. They have two more games remaining before the start of the playoffs.