Pirates Gobble Up Valley Squads

The Palisades Pirates, a local U-11 baseball team, won five games over Thanksgiving weekend to capture first place at the Mid-Valley Gobbler Tournament. Under the guidance of coaches Pat Vastano and Rick McGeagh, the Pirates gobbled up the opposition, finishing undefeated with 37 runs scored to just 11 allowed. In Friday morning’s opening round, the Pirates defeated the Toluca Titans, 6-4, thanks to the pitching of Matt Kassowitz and Ezra Steinberg, accurate throws to the plate by Cade Hulse and Cameron Kao and aggressive baserunning by Hulse, Kassowitz, Jack McGeagh and Bryant Falconello that led to several runs. On Saturday, the Pirates routed the San Fernando Blackhawks, 13-1, in the morning game and, in the second game of their doubleheader, ousted the Conejo Crush, 6-2. Pitchers Jed Moscot and Tony Rogari combined for the win over San Fernando, with clean-up hitter Steinberg getting several clutch hits and Hulse clearing the outfield fence for a home run. Zack Dufour, Matt McGeagh and Rogari combined to pitch the Pirates to victory over the Crush. Jed Moscot, Falconello and the McGeagh brothers led the offense with multiple hits and RBIs. The Pirates opened the playoffs Sunday morning with a 8-1 victory over the San Fernando Valley Cats. Steinberg had three hits while pitchers Kao, Blumenfeld and Kassowitz made the Pirates’ early lead stand up. Sunday afternoon’s final was a mere formality for the Palisades squad, which triumphed, 14-3, over the Valley Wolves. Solid pitching performances by Kassowitz and Steinberg, coupled with three hits each by Steinberg and Matt McGeagh and two apiece by Michael Vastano (two RBIs), Kassowitz (3 RBIs) and Dalton Blumenfeld (RBI) put the Wolves away early. “We had four outfield assists on strong throws to the plate to cut down a runner, with Bryant Falconello puting on a fielding clinic at third base and Ezra Steinberg with a circus catch in center,” Pat Vastano said. “We made very few errors all weekend. I couldn’t be happier with the way this team played in the tournament. We went 5-0 and won the championship. Can’t ask for more than that.”