Monday, August 5, 2013

East Region: Day 3 (Sunday August 4, 2013)

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Lionville (PA) 8, Capitol City (DC) 4

It was another hard-luck loss for Cap City by an identical 8-4 score as its first game. Cap City took advantage of A LOT of Pennsylvania control issues early to take a 3-0 lead right off the bat. Isaac Frumpkin and Zach Lordan each hit singles in the inning to combine with four Lionville walks. Duncan Hudson pitched with a lot of guts against an imposing Pennsylvania lineup and allowed just three hits in three innings of work. Cap City took a 4-0 lead in the third with three more walks and a single by Sofia Ohanian. With the bases loaded and two outs, Frumpkin appeared to get a hit and two RBI taken away by a rough "trap vs catch" call in centerfield. With bases loaded, no outs, and no runs coming across, it was a huge swing in the game. You knew that four runs wouldn't be enough to win.

Capitol City took Hudson out after three innings and 50 pitches. In a game that DC was winning, it was a questionable move, but with no guarantees of victory and the win potentially not being enough to get into the semifinals, it might've been a good move. I tend to want to go for victories when I'm one of the smaller states. It could work out later for Cap City, however.

All photos courtesy of LISPN.Com
Lionville, on the other hand, took the lead for good with a five-run fourth inning behind a monster three-run home run from Michael Rodriguez (2-for-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI). Joe Janick added an RBI and a double. Zach Burton, who homered in PA's first game, ripped two doubles against DC.

Capitol City threatened in the sixth inning with four base runners, but had a bad luck out at the plate with a head first slide and possibly the greatest catch I've ever seen in Bristol. Brian Ibarguen made a full extendion diving catch to his back hand in the right field gap on a well-hit ball by Frumpkin.



Pennsylvania is all but assured a semifinal spot now and D.C. can get in with a win over New York in its final game if New Jersey loses out. It's safe to say that the Mid-Atlantic is very interesting still.

Lincoln (RI) 14, Newton SouthEast (MA) 8

Rhode Island bashed its way to six runs in the first inning and cruised past Newton. Dominic Cunha picked up the win over five innings and helped his cause with a 3-for-3 day including a home run and three RBI. Lincoln pounded out 16 hits in the victory. Dave Bordieri had two hits including a double, Kyle Marrapese added two hits, two runs and a RBI, Blake Zaniol had three RBI and a double, and Connor Benbenek was 3-for-3 with three RBI.

Newton rallied in the third inning to cut the deficit to 6-4, but Lincoln poured five more on in the fourth. Brandon Lee led Massachusetts with two home runs and four RBI. Matt Beckles was 2-for-2 and also homered. Adam Freedman and Dante Taylor each had two hits. Jeremy Koven added an RBI-double.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (NY) 5, East Greenwich (NJ) 4

Another very tight game in the Mid-Atlantic went the way of the boys from the Empire State. New York led 4-2 until the fifth inning when Josh Crowding and Zack Miller hit back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game. Burnt Hills was able to scratch across the game-winning run in the top of the sixth with an RBI fielder's choice by Derek Haughey. The winning run was set up with singles by Alex Hromada and Glenn Ramos and a walk to Evan Bowers.

New Jersey actually outhit New York for the game and threatened in the sixth inning with three straight singles by Sean Szestowicki, Shawn Dougherty, and Hunter Kelly, but Burnt Hills' Hunter Valley was able to escape with the victory in 1 1/3 innings of relief. Jack Wyatt pitched a solid 4 2/3 innings to get Burnt Hills deep into the game.

New Jersey falls to 0-2 and needs a victory desperately. They have Delaware and Pennsylvania left. New York picks up a much-needed victory. They face Delaware and District of Columbia in their final two games.

Westport (CT) 8, Saco (ME) 0

Well if Chad Knight had some nerves on opening night, he didn't have them in the victory over Maine on Sunday. Knight was perfect for four innings with 10 strikeouts and only reached one three-ball count. He was removed from the game with 50 pitches and a 8-0 lead. Max Popken came in to close out the combined perfect game. He struck out four against a good hitting Maine team.

Westport only had one big inning offensively, but it was all they needed. With a 1-0 lead already in the second inning, Westport tacked on six more to put the game out of reach. Matt Stone crushed a two-run home run, Drew Rogers tripled, and Knight and Harry Azadian (2-for-3) hit back-to-back RBI singles in the big inning. Connecticut tacked on another run in the fifth with an RBI single from Matt Brown.

All photos courtesy of LISPN.com


Maine fell to 1-2,  but its two losses are to the two best teams in the region and they still have their pitching eligibility for the important games. Connecticut can continue to work towards an unbeaten record with Azadian available for 50 pitches against New Hampshire and Popken available in relief if they want to go that route. Knight will be available for the final game of pool play if necessary.

East Region Rankings after Day 3

1. Connecticut (2-0)

2. Rhode Island (2-0)

3. Maryland (2-0)

4. Vermont (1-1)

5. Pennsylvania (2-0)

6. New York (1-1)

7. Maine (1-2)

8. Delaware (1-1)

9. New Jersey (0-2)

10. Washington D.C. (0-2)

11. Massachusetts (0-2)

12. New Hampshire (0-1)

Random Thoughts: Based on everything I'm hearing around the country, Westport could have the best 1-2 pitching punch outside of Northern California. Azadian and Knight are that good.  Westport is probably going to the Little League World Series and they'll do it with a very inconsistent offense. That's how good the pitching and defense have been. Ricky Offenberg is a major league shortstop. While there were a ton of pitching changes today, I didn't mind them as much as other days. For instance, New Jersey went all 35s, but that's what they always do. They don't have an ace, so they show you a different look every time through. It's effective. The D.C. pitching move was iffy today, but I was convinced with the strategy...kinda.

Home Run Meter: 11 (Last Year: 8)

Strikeout Meter: 163 (Last Year: 129)

Note: Only two games were played on Day 3 last year.

Prediction Record: 4-0 (11-1 overall)

Monday's Predictions: Maryland over DC 5-2, Rhode Island over Vermont 6-3, New York over Delaware 7-6, Connecticut over New Hampshire 7-2.

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