Cumberland looks to rebound
State champs look to bounce back
Little Leaguers looking ahead to next contest
The Cumberland American Major Division all-star team’s defense and pitching weren’t close to perfect in Sunday night’s 13-0 four-inning defeat to Goffstown, N.H. in its New England opener at Breen Field in Bristol, Conn.
But, after re-watching the contest later that night, CALL coach Tony Tarara came away with one conclusion – CALL needs to be more effective at the plate.
“Our defense has been fine, but we need to get our bats going,” Tarara said Monday afternoon after watching Fairfield American, Conn. defeat South Portland, Maine, 8-0, in the winners’ bracket semifinals. “We didn’t really get a chance to hit yesterday because we only played a couple of innings of ball.
“It’s one thing for your pitching to have a problem, but it’s another thing when the bats aren’t going.”
In Sunday’s defeat to Goffstown, CALL didn’t record an extra-base hit and wound up with just three singles and seven strikeouts. Charlie Tarara reached base safely twice, while Joey Cote and Jack LaRose each contributed a single in the third inning.
Cumberland American struggled to string together hits early in the state tournament
“The field is bigger and you have to get the ball out quicker. There’s a lot of things that are different at regionals than they are at states. The boys saw it.”
– CALL coach Tony Tarara
before scoring 20 runs in two state title games against Cranston Western.
“When we lost to Cranston the other week, we used it as a learning tool. The field is bigger and you have to get the ball out quicker,” Tarara said. “There’s a lot of things that are different at regionals than they are at states. The boys saw it. They realize they aren’t in Kansas anymore – so to speak.”
Cumberland American will be back at Breen Field tonight at 7 p.m. in a losers’ bracket contest against South Portland. The Maine state champions appear to have a depleted pitching staff after No. 1 hurler Nolan Hobbs fired five innings in Sunday’s win over Essex Junction, Vt.
In Monday’s loss to the Connecticut state champions, South Portland’s Johnny Poole entered the game in the first inning after the Maine starter was hit with a ball.
“I think we match up rather well with them,” Tarara said. “They had to take out their No. 2 pitcher in the first inning and someone just told me he got hit in the arm. I don’t know how he’s doing, but we just need to bring our game the way we brought it at the state tournament. If we do that, we can take it to any team in the tournament.”
Outside of LaRose, who would start Thursday’s losers’ bracket contest, Tarara has every arm available to him. Tarara will make his fourth start of the summer and brings a 3-1 record into the contest. The 12-year-old pitched brilliantly in wins over Scituate-Foster in the District 4 winners’ bracket final and against Cranston Western in the state tournament winners’ bracket final.
The elder Tarara said his son is ready to accept the challenge of keeping his team’s season alive.
“Absolutely, he’s ready,” Tarara said. “The thing about Charlie is he’s so cool in big moments like this. You know how he deals with pressure and adversity. He’s angry in the sense of what happened to us because we’ve never been mercied. He knows that’s not our team and not how we play. He was a spitfire after the game. He wanted to go out and play right away.”
Tarara will face a lineup that managed just two hits against Fairfield American hurler Ethan Righter in Monday’s loss. Sunday, Andrew Hefferman, Matt Fogg and Carson Blake all had two RBIs in a 9-7 win over Essex Junction.
No matter how well his son pitches, Tarara believes his squad will remain in Bristol for another two days if Scotty Penney, Tarara, Cote, LaRose and J.J. Sanzi ignite the offense.
“Out of 1,800 teams in the region you have 12 teams here and six from New England,” Tarara said. “You’ve got to hit the ball. When you have opportunities to score runs, you have to. You can’t strand six guys and not plate a run.”