In the opening game of the Milford International Little League’s Majors Division, the Angels defeated the Pirates 10-5.
The Angels got on the board first scoring two runs in the bottom of the first.
Andrew Janik reached base on an error and Brian Pepe drove him in with a long double.
Jason Olexovitch scored Pepe with a hard line drive to left center.
The Pirates rallied in the third with two singles and a long double to the fence off the bat of John Ross to take a 3-2 lead.
The Angels came right back with two runs in their half the inning.
Scott Clark scored on a wild pitch and Pepe slugged a long solo blast to make it 4-3.
The Pirates would score two more in the top of the fourth to take the lead back 5-4.
From there the it was all Angels, with a six-run rally that put the game away in the bottom of the fourth.
The Angels combined for seven hits off the bats of Lucas Burgard, Casey Coon, David Torgerson, Joshua Vellard, Rich Piscetilli, Pepe and Clark, whose ground-rules double drove in two.
Clark pitched well going three innings striking out five. Pepe came on in relief pitching with three strong innings, allowing no runs and striking out seven batters.
John Ross pitched well for the Pirates going three-plus innings and striking out nine batters.
Tigers triumph
In Milford International Little League Majors Division action, the Tigers defeated the Padres 9-3.
Tyler Griffin and James Carbone pitched three effective innings apiece, combining for 13 strikeouts for the Tigers.
Anthony Giannatasio led the 15-hit attack with three hits with Petie Mata, Matt Loverci, Jake Vissochi and Robbie Wainman contributing two hits each.
Danny Cartegena pitched four solid innings and had two hits to lead the Padres, with Matt Gilebbi playing great defense behind the plate cutting down two base stealers.
Farms’ Dodgers win
On opening night for Milford International Farms Division, the Dodgers defeated the Nationals 8-2.
The Dodgers got on the board first in the bottom off the first. After consecutive singles by Patrick Fallon and Aidan Deschaine, Chris Sportini drove them in for a 2-0 lead.
The Nationals got even on a run-scoring hit from Madison DeBiase in the second inning, and Jack Dawid hustled home on a passed ball in the third.
The Dodgers took control of the game, scoring two runs in each of the next three frames.
The Dodgers were led by Deschaine with three hits and Braden Tarczali, Sportini, Presley Boyle and Fallon with two hits each.
Fallon went four innings on the hill, striking out 10, and Tarczali closed it out striking out five of the six batters he faced.
Connor Elson led the Nationals, reaching base three times and pitching two-plus innings striking out three.
Inter-league game
The Milford International Angels defeated the Milford National/Lou Gehrig Royals, 6-2, in inter-league play.
The Royals took a 1-0 lead in their half of the first off a single, stolen base and a wild pitch. That lead held until the third when the Angels bats came to life, scoring six runs to take the lead.
David Torgerson and Jason Olexovitch reached on walks. Lucas Burgard drove in Torgerson with a single and Rich Piscitelli reached on an error.
Scott Clark took the next pitch to deep center field for a three-run home run.
Andrew Janik and Bryan Pepe both reached base on singles and scored on walks drawn by Torgerson and James Dalby.
The Royals would score again in the fifth to make it 6-2.
The Angels were on the receiving end of a strong pitching performance from Piscitelli, striking out 12 batters and giving up two hits in 4.2 innings for the win.
Bryan Pepe came on in relief to get the four-out save securing the Angels’ second win of the season.