2012 Little League East Region: Day 3

Coventry American (RI) 1, Scarborough (ME) 0

It took Rhode Island until its 10th inning at the plate to score a run in the New England Regional Tournament, but it was a big one as Coventry moved to 1-1 in pool play. Jarrad Grossguth was the hero for RI as he drove in the lone run on an RBI-double in the fourth inning...and oh year he pitched the first 6-inning no-hitter in the region since 2002.

Grossguth was dominant in his performance as he threw 82 pitches, struck out nine, and walked three. His counter part, Connor Kelly, was nearly as good. He tossed a complete-game 1-hitter with seven strikeouts. Neither team committed an error.

Grossguth started rough with six balls in his first seven pitches, but a comebacker right at him turned into a 1-6-3 double play and he rolled from there.

"I knew after that first inning that I had good stuff," Grossguth said. "My curveball worked best, but my fastball was definitely on too. I just hit my spots."

Grossguth said he recognized the no-hit bid in the fourth inning, but it didn't affect his focus.

Rhode Island's pitching looks fantastic through its first two games. Both pitchers (Grossguth and Manny Bjorkland) throw some serious heat. The Rhode Island bats weren't dominant in their state tournament by any stretch, but you can tell they have them. Manager Mark Barter isn't too worried.

"We're having trouble with our bats, but with our pitching so far, who needs them," Barter said. "This is a whole other world up here (in Bristol). Everyone has a number 1 and 1a."

Maine has been a tough luck loser in its two games so far. They're 0-2 currently, but could easily be 1-1 or even 2-0. It's going to be tough to make the semifinal. A win over New Hampshire might be Maine's best bet at this point.

West Salisbury (MD) 6, Northwest Washington (DC) 4 F/4

Two separate rain delays and a shortened game tainted a great chance for DC to throw a wrench into the Mid-Atlantic region. Maryland led 6-0 after 2 1/2 innings and was in complete control before DC scored four runs in the third inning to make the game interesting. The rally included errors, bunt singles, and bloops, but it all looks the same in the scorebook and Maryland was certainly on its heels. A 1-2-3 inning defensively for DC in the top of the fourth completely swung the momentum.

The key moment of the game came in the bottom of the third with the score already 6-4 and bases loaded. Sydney Love-Baker came to the plate after two consecutive hit batsmen and it seemed like a single would break it open. The DC star hit a hard grounder up the middle but Maryland came up with the play and ended the threat.

A loss by Maryland would've been devastating to its chances to make the semifinals, but even with the win, there's still five teams battling for four spots. DC is still alive at 0-2, but is most likely out of it at this point.

The Mid-Atlantic region could be heading towards a tie-breaking situation as there's a lot of parity. The fact that Maryland only played four defensive innings today could come into play. Tune into that mess later.

East Region Rankings Through Day 3

1. Connecticut (2-0)

2. New Jersey (2-0)

3. New York (0-1)

4. Pennsylvania (0-1)

5. Rhode Island (1-1)

6. New Hampshire (1-0)

7. Maryland (2-0)

8. Delaware (1-1)

9. Massachusetts (1-0)

10. Maine (0-2)

11. Vermont (0-2)

12. Washington, D.C. (0-2)

Random Thoughts: The rain today did some solid damage to the field at the A. Barlett Giamatti Little League complex today. Deep left field was under some serious water (probably do to the stream/river that flows back there). As long as the rain holds up before morning, it should be good to go by 8:30am however, the start of the first game on Monday. There's six games altogether now with the postponement of Day 3's two night caps. Each game will run 30 minutes after the next one until the game's are on schedule. With the threat of storms late again, they may just start games 30 minutes after the prior one all day long.

Homerun Meter: 8

Strikeout Meter: 129

Prediction Record: 2-0 (8-2 overall)

Today's Predictions: Mass over Vermont 11-4, New York over Delaware 5-1, New Jersey over DC 13-2, New Hampshire over Rhode Island 6-3, Pennsylvania over Maryland 5-2, and Connecticut over Maine 7-2.