The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Wallingford ousted by Ellington
GUILFORD » On Friday, the Ellington Little League team lost its first game of the postseason in the first round of the state championship tournament and it was a tough pill to swallow for the entire team. Making matters worse was the loss came by way of the mercy rule with Newington defeating Ellington 12-0.
On Saturday, facing Wallingford in an elimination game, Ellington manager Harold Lally said the game plan was to be aggressive and swing at the first pitch if it was in the strike zone.
The aggressiveness certainly paid off in the first inning. Ellington scored seven runs and cruised to a 12-4 win over Wallingford at Adams Middle School. Three of the first four Ellington batters in the first inning belted home runs.
Mike Bontempo led the inning off with a solo shot. Rachel Shaw followed with a single before a two-run homer from Eric Thibert and a solo homer by Kyle Lenz made it 4-0. Bontempo walked in a run with the bases loaded and Shaw’s two-run doubled capped the seven-run inning with 13 batters coming to the plate.
“After yesterday’s short outing, that first inning today is what we needed,” Lally said. “We didn’t play our kind of baseball on Friday and today we were aggressive, swinging early in the count at a lot of first pitches.
“There are so many good teams in this tournament it’s important to be aggressive and try to take an early lead. This win gives us momentum.”
While Wallingford’s season ended, Ellington will face Newington today in another elimination game at 11 a.m. Earlier Saturday, Newington lost 5-4 to Fairfield American in the winners bracket.
Wallingford coach Tim Hackett thought about starting his son Justin Hackett at pitcher, considered the team’s best pitcher. But in an effort to save his son as the team’s closer in the game, Luke Blasi was tabbed as the starting pitcher.
“Ellington did a great job hitting the ball, we just couldn’t get out of that first inning and it just snowballed,” Tim Hackett said. “Our pitchers just had a tough day. I was trying to save Justin and use him as a closer and preserve him for the next day. It didn’t work out.
“Our kids did a great job in the postseason and deserve so much credit for getting this far. We got so much support from our parents and our town that it really became a community event for us.”
After Ellington added a pair of runs in the second inning for a 9-0 lead, the offense finally started to click for Wallingford in the top of the fifth inning. Wallingford scored four runs highlighted by a two-run homer by Charles Ennis to cut the Ellington lead to 9-4.
Ellington responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning capped by a two-run homer by Lenz for the 12-4 final.
“The first inning was very big for us,” Lenz said. “It set the mood for the rest of the game and we cruised after that. Our whole team played great today and everyone contributed.”