Hamilton-NB 14s come from behind to win in opener
GLEN ALLEN, VA. » When Connor Luckie strolled to the plate in the bottom the seventh with the winning run on second all he wanted to do was relax.
The Hamilton-Northern Burlington 14-year-old AllStar stayed calm and delivered the game winner to give them a thrilling come-frombehind 3-2 win over Trumbull, Connecticut. on Thursday in the first game of the Babe Ruth League World Series in Glen Allen, Virginia.
Hamilton-Northern Burlington will face the Virginia state champion, Centreville, on Friday at 4 p.m.
“I just wanted to stay calm,’’ Luckie said. “I wanted to go to the opposite field to get Nate (Rodriguez) to the next base. “It was exciting and almost surreal when I saw Nate cross the plate. It’s always nice to get the first one and we did it as a team.’’
No matter what tournament, this group of 14’s has shown a lot of heart, determination and a never-quit attitude.
After a busy Wednesday when they had opening ceremonies, the skill competition and a banquet well into the evening, they drew the opening game at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
“I think we were a little nervous in the beginning,’’ said manager Jim Petersohn. “Everyone was there scouting and it was pretty intense. We had some opportunities early, but we were hitting the ball right at somebody.’’
The rough start saw the New England representative get a run in the first and one in the fourth for a 2-0 lead.
“Some of the guys were getting a little down, but Mo (coach Mike Moceri) got us up and going,’’ said Luckie. “Once we got that run we knew we could win the game.’’
The run came when Mike Giambelluca was hit by a pitch, stole second and advanced to third on Jake Babuschak’s infield single and came home on Zac Brown’s perfect
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bunt to cut the lead to 2-1.
“There was a lot of team stuff that happened in this game,’’ said Petersohn. “These kids are very unselfish and I’m very overwhelmed. They are all about what it takes for the team to be successful.’’
Babuschak was brilliant on the mound, allowing just the two runs in 6.2 innings and striking out six and yielding just five hits.
H-NB tied the game in the fifth when Luckie opened with a single. John Gibbs came in to pinch run, he stole second and took third on Danny Perdomo’s sacrifice.
Gibbs scored on Gavin Martin’s single to left, tying the game at 2-2. Martin had Baltimore at Oakland L.A. Angels at Seattle
Friday’s games
Boston (Rodriguez 4-3) at N.Y. Yankees (Garcia 5-8), 7:05 p.m. Pittsburgh (Taillon 6-5) at Toronto (Stroman 10-5), 7:07 p.m.
Cleveland (Carrasco 10-5) at Tampa Bay (Faria 5-2), 7:10 p.m. Minnesota (Gibson 6-9) at Detroit (Sanchez 3-2), 7:10 p.m.
Houston (Morton 9-4) at Texas (Hamels 6-1), 8:05 p.m.
Kansas City (Duffy 7-7) at Chicago White Sox (Lopez 0-0), 8:10 p.m. Baltimore (Jimenez 5-7) at Oakland (Blackburn 3-1), 10:05 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Nolasco 5-12) at Seattle (Gonzales 0-0), 10:10 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Pittsburgh at Toronto, 1:07 p.m. Boston at N.Y. Yankees, 4:05 p.m. Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m. Minnesota at Detroit, 6:10 p.m. Kansas City at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.
Houston at Texas, 8:05 p.m. Baltimore at Oakland, 9:05 p.m. two hits in the game as did Luckie and Babuschak.
David Zamora came in to pitch the seventh with two outs and runners on second and third. He promptly struck out the New England batter to set the stage for Luckie’s heroics.
Rodriguez opened the seventh with an infield hit and the call went to Nick Nemes to bunt, but in a very unselfish move he told the coaching staff that Tommy Cramer was a better bunter.
Cramer did the job and got Rodriguez into scoring position for Luckie’s game winner to right center.
“It was a great team victory,’’ said Petersohn. “The resilience of these kids shows a lot about their character.’’ L.A. Angels at Seattle, 9:10 p.m. Washington Miami Atlanta New York Philadelphia Chicago Milwaukee St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati Los Angeles