Newark National (DE) 7, Northwest Washington (DC) 1
Both these teams played in the regional last year and have a lot of starting experience and it was a well-played game for the most part. Delaware started one of their lower end pitchers (Andrew Emory), but he threw well and looked pretty good. Delaware is a big team. DC's starter (Owen Isaacs) was the best D.C. pitcher in a few years and was a very viable number one with a mid-60's fastball. The game was scoreless through two innings, but it seemed like a matter of time before Delaware broke through. They did with a big five-run inning in the third and that was the difference. Their top hitter was only 1-for-4 today, but they had a couple big hits in that inning. Delaware didn't hit as much as I expected them to but they used all four of their top pitchers and they have a deep staff. Two of them threw very hard, and the other two were above average. D.C. will go 0-4 and maybe will take some on the chin, but they're not horrific, and Sydney Love-Baker is fun to watch. She's a legitimate player.
Bedford (NH) 13, South Burlington (VT) 5
I was excited for this game because of the fanfare that New Hampshire's Grant Lavigne brought to the table. To be honest, the pressure of this "Barry Bonds of LL" moniker is way too much for a kid to live up to. I take some blame for that one. He finished 0-for-2 on the day with two walks, but you can see he's a hitter. His two outs matched the amount of outs he's had in the entire tournament so far. Lavigne threw hard on the mound but doesn't have much off-speed and Vermont hit him for four runs in the second inning. Three of the runs were earned, but none of the hits were hit hard. It was a combination of tough luck and the new field dimensions (which I'll get into afterwards). Bedford picked up three runs in the third behind some big hits from Alec Burns and Connor Zendzian (3-for-4, 2 RBI). They added the table with ten runs combined in the fifth and sixth innings to take control of the game. Joey Barrett finished 2-for-2 with three RBI and two walks. The bench came away with three hits on the day. Vermont's Nate Gaboriault is the trivia answer for "Who hit the first homerun at Breen Field with the 225-foot fences?"
Par-Troy East (NJ) 4, Stony Point (NY) 2
The first of the day's two heavyweight fights was a doozy. New Jersey's Emil Matti found his control (which escaped him in the NJ state finals) as he blazed through five easy innings on the mound before a tough sixth. New Jersey got the scoring going in the first inning when Stephen Greeley hung a two-strike curveball to Anthony Scanelli who deposited it 280' away into the trees for a 2-0 lead. Greeley allowed six hits in four innings and had a dominant fastball but left two off speed pitches up on the day. Matti hit the other one over the left centerfield wall. NJ tacked a fourth run on in the third inning when Scanelli hit an RBI-double. NY threatened heavily in the sixth with a bunt single (and a throwing error), a hard single, and a ripped double. Matti's night was done (not by the coaches' choice though, they made a blunder by taking four trips to the mound). David Ton came on against NY's 4-6 hitters with two on and no outs and only allowed an infield single and an RBI-groundout. This looked like the matchup of the two best teams with two mistake pitches being the difference. New York also had their #1 pitcher ineligible for the game. The rematch will be a good one.
Fairfield American (CT) 1, Coventry (RI) 0
I told anyone that would listen for weeks that Ryan Meury was the most fun Little League pitcher to watch. The reasons? His size (he's 5'0'' at best), and his nasty curveball. Meury can ratchet the fastball up near 65 mph when he brings it, but his pitch is the curveball. He throws a true lefty curveball that breaks out and down. He throws it in the dirt, he throws it for a strike, he throws it inside, and he'll backdoor you with it. He's been striking out more than two batters per inning the whole tournament and has only given up two runs to date. For someone who can make a mistake with an average fastball, it's impressive and baffling.
Against Rhode Island, he proved once again that he's for real. Meury threw a complete game two-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts. He also scored the game-winning run on a passed ball in the fifth inning after he hit a single and Biaggi Paoletta roped a double. Coventry starter Manny Bjorklund threw the hardest on the day (72-73?) and was dominant against a team who's hit ace pitching before. His pitch count was his worst enemy and he reached it in the game-turning fifth inning. He struck out eight batters in 4 1/3, gave up zero runs, and just one hit. He walked four. His relief, Jarrad Grossguth, also threw hard, but 68 mph doesn't look so bad after seeing 72 all day. This ALSO looked like a championship preview. We'll see how Maine and Massachusetts look tomorrow.
East Region Team Rankings on Day 1
1) Connecticut
2) New Jersey
3) New York
4) Rhode Island
5)New Hampshire
6) Delaware
7) Vermont
8) Washington, D.C.
OFF: Massachusetts, Maine, Pennsylvania, Maryland
Random Thoughts: The new fences are awesome. 225 is the perfect distance. All the cheap homeruns are taken away, and it opens up the outfield. While 3-4 balls today were homeruns somewhere else, the biggest effect is easily on the outfielders. They have so much more room to cover (obviously) and it showed. You can't hide someone out there. The gaps are huge, and balls drop in front of the outfielders a lot. It will be interesting all week long.
Homerun Meter: 3
Strikeout Meter: 50
Tomorrow's Predictions: Maryland over Delaware 4-1, Maine over Massachusetts 6-3, New Jersey over Pennsylvania 9-5, and Connecticut over Vermont 11-1.
If you'd like game updates as they happen (and you don't have the LL site to be checking on), follow me on Twitter: @LittleLeaguePro
If you have questions, comments, thoughts, etc... please add a comment below or just ask on twitter. Also, if you have blog ideas for each day of the tournament, please let me know. I'll be getting into some other regions as the weekend goes on and we know more about the teams.
No comments:
Post a Comment