Division Edges South Side, 4-3

South Side starting pitcher Christian Colletti was dealing against conference rival Division on Monday at Barasch Field. The junior southpaw had let up five hits and one run through four innings, and was cruising through a potent Division lineup.

The Blue Dragons finally got to Colletti in the fifth, stringing together four hits for three runs, which ended up being the difference in a 4-3 win over South Side on Monday afternoon.

Division was down 3-1 before scratching out the three runs against Colletti, showing a resiliency that head coach Tom Tuttle said he expects from his team. 

"That's our tradition here in Levittown, to be resilient and tough," Tuttle said. "We hurt ourselves on the bases, but we hit some balls hard today that were caught and we swung the bats well."

Division's starter Sean Abbate threw 120 pitches for the complete game win, giving up seven hits, three runs with six strikeouts and four walks. The right-hander wiggled out of jams in the fifth with runners on the corners and two outs, and in the sixth with a runner at third and no outs. 

"We were debating whether or not to send him out there in the seventh, but we asked the catcher if the action was good on his ball and he said 'yeah,'' Tuttle said. "He bared down, battled and made big pitches in the big spots."

The Blue Dragons jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first after an RBI single from Matt Santorufo (3-for-4, 3 RBIs). South Side answered with three in the third courtesy of an RBI-single from Louis Matarazzo ( 2-for-4, RBI) and a two-RBI single from Andrew Talbot (1-for-2, 2 RBIs) to give the Cyclones a 3-1 edge.

The score remained the same until the fifth when Division's John Muller (2-for-3) led off with a single. Centerfielder John Cruz hit in what appeared to be double play, but the speedy outfielder beat the throw to first. Lenny Martinez (2-for-3) and JJ Kissane (1-for-4, RBI) followed with two infield singles, and Kissane's hit scored Cruz. Santorufo then promptly scorched a two RBI-double to left-center, scoring Martinez and Kissane to give Division a 4-3 lead.

South Side had its chances to tie, however, couldn't get the clutch hit. In the fifth, the Cyclones had runners on the corners with two outs, but first baseman Matt Leach flied out to right to end the threat.

In the sixth, designated hitter Evan Singer hit a line drive to right and Muller dove for it, but the ball skipped under his glove and Singer trotted into third with a lead-off triple. 

That would be the last hit South Side would get. With the infield in, David Hawley hit a chopper to first, but first baseman Tom Wiebke made a great play to snag it for the out. Tom Kane then popped out to second and Joe Geraci grounded out to short to end the rally.

The Cyclones had the meat of the order up in the seventh — Matt Sollin, James Howard and Matarazzo — but Abbate sat them down in order for the 4-3 win.

South Side will play at Division today in a rematch at 4:30 p.m.

BOX SCORE

CYCLONES

BLUE DRAGONS