Hamilton/NB 15s bounce back with win at World Series
When the first pitch is slated for 8 a.m., it’s understandable it took the Hamilton/Northern Burlington Babe Ruth League 15-yearold All-Stars an inning or two to clear the sandy eyes.
Well, the wake-up call came in the fourth inning and after trailing by seven runs, the HNB guys rallied to tie the game in the fourth and then pushed across the winning run in the seventh for a thrilling 9-8 win on Sunday over EAU Claire, Wisconsin in the BRL World Series being played in Stafford, Virginia.
“I got them together before the fourth and let them know it was getting late and
it’s time to play HNB baseball,’’ said HNB manager TJ Bayless. “This was important, we split the weekend and we are headed into the latter half of pool play at 1-1. We could easily be 2-0, but we’ll take 1-1.’’
Next up for the Switlik Park Crew is Albany, Minnesota and the game is set for 10 a.m. o Monday.
Albany defeated the host Stafford team, 6-4, on Saturday and played Torrance, California late Sunday.
The seven run fourth was highlighted by an RBI singles from Chase Porcella and Triston Bonilla, a two-run double by AJ Maddalena and a game-tying double by Jack Ivens to make it 8-8.
“Jack Ivens is the hardest
working player that I have ever met,’’ said Bayless. “He just gets better and better, and he loves the bright lights and he’s always taking a full swing.’’
Maddalena then took the mound and worked the final four innings. He allowed just two hits and in the bottom of the seventh he picked off two EAU Claire runner to preserve the victory.
“He was excellent and it was great to see him bounce back,’’ said Bayless of Maddalena. “He ground out four innings and did a great job with the pickoffs.’’
After one out in the seventh, Ivens singled, Ryan Anderson followed with a single and the ever dependable Adrian Byra, who
is 3-for-5 in the two games, delivered his third RBI of the Series to make it 9-8 Hamilton/Northern Burlington.
“He had some good swings and clutch hits,’’ Bayless said of Byra. “Adrian has been with me a long time and he’s very dependable.’’
Things started off bleak for Hamilton/Northern Burlington as the Wisconsin team put up five firstinning runs to take a 5-1 lead, and it grew to 8-1 after three in the third.
“This is a game that meant everything because we knew we had to bounce back from Saturday,’’ said Jayden Jennings. “We had energy the entire time and once we got a guy on we
were all up and screaming.’’
It worked as HNB had a classic World Series rally.
TOURNEY TOPICS: Connor Collora returned to the mound for the first time since the Southern New Jersey State Tournament and worked 1.2 innings and allowed just one hit to stem the Wisconsin rally. …Saw on social media, Rick Dell, the former St. Anthony star, TCNJ baseball coach and current General Manager of Baseball Development in Asia was hoping to send a team from China to the Series, but the pandemic prevented it. …Anderson and Bonilla also had two hits for HNB. …Pool play ends on Tuesday for Hamilton and Thursday starts the singleelimination playoffs.