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Rebels Bottom Out, Drop 2 to Mets

Posted by Mike Conry at Jul 22, 2010 6:47AM PDT ( 0 Comments )

North Bellmore, NY – The North Bellmore North Merrick Rebels were swept in a double-header by the Mattituck Mets, 5 – 2 and 6 – 5.

In the first game, the Mets got key hits while the Rebels, although scattering seven, including 2 hits each for Jack Delaney and Kevin McCleneghan, could not put them together.

Game two was particularly painful for the Rebels. On the back of strong starting pitching by McCleneghan that kept the Mets bats at bay in big spots for most of the day, the Rebels offense, including two hits by Nick Valeriano and extra-base hits from Matt Nilsen and Brian Porricelli, was efficient in building a 5 – 1 lead through four.

In the fifth the Rebels bullpen bent but did not break as the Mets scratched out a gift run to get within three, 5 – 2.

The Rebels wheels flew off in the sixth, however, as pitching and defense — even understanding where the play is — completely imploded and they had wasted an otherwise good effort in embarrassing fashion.

The Rebels will look to redeem themselves when they visit a formidable Elwood team on Tuesday.

Massapequa, NY – Massapequa Coast defeated the NBNM Rebels yesterday in a nail-biting battle of wills, 1 – 0.

It was a heart-breaking loss for the kids from North Bellmore North Merrick who just a few games ago had what appeared to be unstoppable momentum.

Rebels starting pitcher Nick Valeriano once again provided the rock-solid performance the Rebels and their fans have come to expect of him. In arguably the most pressure-filled game this young Rebels team has ever played, Valeriano showed great control, consistency and composure and provided the Rebels every opportunity to win this game.

The only run of the game came on a clutch, two-out single in the third inning by Massapequa with runners on first and second. Rebels center fielder Michael Proios played the hit cleanly and came up firing home. While an outstanding, one-hop throw, the hop was a little ‘in-between’ and, despite catcher Matt Coster’s fine effort, couldn’t be handled and Coast led 1 – 0.

The Rebels biggest threat came in the fifth when Alec Acri led off with a walk. Pinch-runner Matt Conry took second on a wild pitch. With one-out, Valeriano stroked a clean single to right center. Conry, who made a good read and got a pretty good jump on the play, tried to score but was cut down at home on a well-executed relay. With Valeriano moving to second on the throw, Kevin McCleneghan followed with a two-out single to center to put runners at the corners. Big lefty Brian Porricelli then grounded to second and, hustling hard down the line as he always does, was out by less than half a step for the third out.

Valeriano came out and sat Coast down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth.

But the Rebels could not convert in the sixth and a district championship on their first try had slipped away.

All in all, these Rebels have plenty to be proud of from this tournament. They clearly set the tone early putting perennial favorites Coast and Merrick into the losers bracket. They played very high quality baseball right down to the end of this tournament and were just a couple of key hits away from winning it.

In the long run, the sting of this defeat may drive them to work a little harder, focus a little more, and become closer as a team. And these may be the things that propel them up that next step when surely they return amongst the favorites in next year’s Williamsport tournament.

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Coast beats Rebels to Force Final Game Play-off

Posted by Mike Conry at Jul 13, 2010 1:22PM PDT ( 0 Comments )

Massapequa, NY – Massapequa Coast beat the North Bellmore North Merrick Rebels Sunday, 3 – 0, to force a final, ‘do or die’ Williamsport play-off on Monday.

Rebels starter Kevin McCleneghan went toe-to-toe with Coast’s starter in a classic pitcher’s dual with both throwing shut-outs through four innings.

With K-Mac appearing to tire on this very hot and humid day, Coast managed a couple of walks to start the bottom of the fifth. Then Coast’s #3 hitter drove a ball deep to right field to clear the bases and score on a throwing error.

The Rebels failed to produce any runs in the sixth.

The final game of the Williamsport District 31 play-offs between these same teams starts tomorrow, Monday July 12, 5:30pm at Burns Park.

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Rebels Swept by Rain and Mets

Posted by Mike Conry at Jul 13, 2010 12:06PM PDT ( 0 Comments )

Mattituck, NY – The Rebels were defeated in both games of a double-header with the Mattituck Mets on Saturday by scores of 6 – 2 and 10 – 4.

Rebels got serviceable pitching from Kevin Weber, Billy McAdam, and Tyler McPartland who all stepped up to extend the rotation.

At the end of the day, while the Rebels hit into some hard outs, they just couldn’t put enough hits together to post the kind of scoring they knew they’d need.

After the starts of both games were delayed by rain, and having dropped two, the Rebels didn’t let the day dampen their spirits as they looked forward to their pursuits in the Williamsport Tournament District final on Sunday.

Merrick, NY – The North Bellmore North Merrick Rebels improved to 3 – 0 in the NY District 31 Williamsport play-offs when they defeated Merrick North Merrick LL last night, 13 – 2 at Merrick Road Park. The win leaves NBNM as the sole survivor in the winners bracket where they will wait to face the losers bracket finalist this Sunday in a game for the District championship.

Rebels starter Nick Valeriano was once again in command and highly effective never allowing Merrick any substantial momentum and pitched shut-out innings in four of his five en route to the complete-game victory. Further, he fielded his position like a cat making a couple of outstanding plays on defense.

And speaking of defense, the Rebels set the tone right out of the gate. After Merrick saw their lead-off man manage a two-base hit to start the game, their two-hitter lined softly to Matt Conry at third. Merrick’s number three then smacked a hard grounder toward the hole at short-stop. The Rebels Jack Delaney fielded the ball, froze the runner at second, and gunned it for the out at first. The Merrick base-runner, having to start from a dead stop, broke for third on the throw. NBNM first-baseman Kevin McCleneghan then fired a strike across the diamond to Conry who tagged out the Merrick runner two feet short of the bag completing the inning-ending 6-3-5 double play.

Meanwhile, the Rebels bats stayed aggressive and hot.

In the bottom of the second, Kevin McCleneghan singled and later scored on a clutch, hard hit double in the left-center field gap by Matt Coster to give the Rebels the early lead, 1 – 0.

NBNM really lit things up in the third. After Conry reached on a walk and Delaney singled, Billy McAdam singled to score Conry. Valeriano then singled to drive in Delaney. McCleneghan, continuing his tear, drove a ball deep down the left field line plating McAdam and Valeriano. Next up was Brian Porricelli who crushed a ball to the fence in left-center with a back-to-back triple scoring K-Mac. Matt Coster then managed a very effective at-bat hitting a ball to the right side driving in Porricelli for the sixth run of the inning and a 7 – 0 lead at the end of three.

The closest Merrick came to threatening was in the top of the fourth when they managed two on with nobody out. But Valeriano and the Rebels defense stayed tough and smart playing for outs and avoiding a big inning. The score was 7 – 2 at the end of four.

After Merrick went quietly in the top of the fifth, the Rebels sealed the deal.

Showing the killer instinct of a prize fighter with an opponent reeling on the ropes, the Rebels provided the baseball equivalent of a flurry of cleanly-landed left-hook, right-hook combinations.

McAdam started things off with a well-struck double into the alley in right-center. Valeriano singled and the Rebels had men on first and third with no one out. The red-hot McCleneghan then doubled in two and extended the Rebels lead to 9 – 2. Next, Porricelli grounded a ball that was too hot for the Merrick shortstop to handle putting Rebels at first and second. Michael Proios singled to drive in McCleneghan, 10 – 2 Rebels. Then Conry singled up the middle to drive in Porky, 11 – 2. Delaney provided the final at-bat of the evening smacking a two-RBI double into the left-center field gap scoring Proios and Conry and invoking the run-rule and a 13 – 2 final.

The Merrick Patch’s version of things can be found at http://merrick.patch.com/articles/timley-hitting-leads-nbnm-over-merrick-in-williamsport-tourney-2#c

The Williamsport tournament continues with what could likely be the championship final Sunday July 11, 3:30 pm at Burns Park where the Rebels face whoever emerges from the losers bracket.

The Rebels next game is Saturday July 10, 10:00 am at Mattituck as NJBL Summer League play resumes.