May 7, 2007 — The Yankees stormed back from an early 7-0 deficit to beat the 40 Plus Pirates 14-8 Sunday night in the Raphael Jackson AA Baseball League.
Most of the Yankees damage was done in their 10-run second inning, which gave them the lead for good. The Pirates — affectionately referred to as the “Geritol Posse” — threatened several times in the remaining innings, but just could not get that timely hit when they had runners in scoring positions.
Batting first, the Pirates jumped on Yankee starter Luis Ramon for two runs in the top of the first on a two-run single off the bat of Eustace Davis to take the early lead. The Yankees went in order in the bottom of the inning.
The Pirates extended their lead to 7-0 in the top of the second, scoring five runs on two-run singles by Davis and Cruz Soto and an RBI single by Malcolm McGregor. The Yankees answered mightily in the bottom of the inning, exploding for 10 runs to take a 10-7 lead. They would never trail again. Five of their 10 runs came off the bat of Jose Morales.
With his team batting around in the inning, in his first at-bat Morales lined a two-run single into left field. He followed with a three-run blast to left-center in his second trip to the plate in the inning. The Yankees also had RBI singles off the bats of Omari Eastman and by Angel Torres Jr., an RBI ground out by Mckeel Rogers, an error on the Pirates right fielder and a wild pitch.
The Pirates scored their last run of the game in the top of the third on an error by the Yankees shortstop, Carlos Morales, to trail 10-8 going into the bottom of the inning. The Yankees answered with a run of their own on an RBI single off the bat of Eastman to lead 11-8 at the end of three completed innings.
The score would stay that way until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Ellerton Maynard drilled a 3-2 pitch from Pirates reliever Alejandro Rivera over the left-field fence for a three-run homer to give his team a 14-8 lead.
After the pirates batted in the top of the seventh, the game was called because of time constraints.
Roberto Soto, who relieved Yankees starter Roman in the second inning, did an excellent job in limiting the Pirates to just two hits and an unearned run over five innings of relief work to pick up the win. Gilberto Belardo got the loss for the Pirates.
Jose Morales led the Yankees offensively, going 2 for 3 with a home run and five RBIs. Maynard was 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs and Eastman was 2 for 4 with two RBIs. For the Pirates, Soto was 2 for 3 with two RBIs, Davis was 2 for 4 with four RBIs and Reuben Malloy was 2 for 4.
In the early game, the defending champion Vikings defeated the Mets 6-4 in seven innings. Arthur Canaii scattered four hits to pick up the win, while Nick Colabella got the loss for the Mets. Top hitters for the Vikings were Warren Brooks (2 for 4 with two RBIs) and Dennis Brow (1 for 4 with three RBIs). For the Mets, Dario Linares, Francois Barone and Miguel Gonzales all went 1 for 3 with one RBI.
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