Penney delivers for CALL
Epic title game ends on walk-off home run
BURRILLVILLE — The Cumberland American AllStars’ program has experienced great success in its recent history, including a pair of thrilling rides to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. What transpired at Richard Peck Field on Saturday night, most fans would agree, can and will be added to that list.
After CALL’s foe, Lincoln, knotted this R.I. Little League District 4 Major Division tour- nament title tilt at 7-7 with Elijah Moffat’s stunning grand slam homer in the top of the sixth, Scotty Penney ripped a two-run dinger over the leftfield fence in the back half to deliver a wildly-entertaining 9-7 walk-off triumph.
It came off of reliever Marcus Rodrigues, who had walked Jack LaRose to start the frame.
“I knew it was a 1-2 count, so I was just thinking, ‘Hit the ball!’” Penney said as his teammates surrounded their
conquering hero during what was undoubtedly his first-ever interview with the press. “I was worried because I only had one more strike. I didn’t know it was out (of the park). I thought I flew out.”
When asked if he’d ever before struck a home run in competitive play, he said, “No. I don’t know how I did it, but I’m glad I did.”
With the win, CALL accepted yet another District 4 championship banner, and now will ready itself for the state tournament, slated to begin at Johnston Memorial Park on Saturday. It closed its run through district action with a 5-0 slate.
To understand the pure joy of the moment, all one had to see was clean-up batter Joey Cote hugging, lifting and carrying Penney to the post-game meeting in right field.
“You know what? It’s just a team win,” stated CALL coach Tony Tarara while his elated troops hustled around the park’s interior waving their newest prize. “You have to credit Lincoln; I tip my hat to them. That’s one great team.
“After Moffat hit the ‘grannie,’ I went to my dugout and told the kids, ‘It’s our time! We can still do this!’ Scotty’s one of the most talented hitters on this team, and he was due. It was his first-ever Little League homer, and he did it at a time we really needed it to happen.
“These guys have a ton of grit but this is only the first step,” he continued. “We reached our first goal, so now we want to take the state championship and move on to regionals in Bristol (Conn.) We’ll see what happens.”
CALL had been comfortably ahead of Lincoln’s best through most of the contest, and – with one out in the top of the sixth – seemed destined to record a 7-3 victory.
Lincoln, however, had other ideas. Because righty starter LaRose had neared the 85-pitch maximum after that out, Coach Tarara replaced him with James Sukatos, and he promptly forced No. 9 hitter Gian Coppolino to ground out to first. Sukatos, though, walked both Rodrigues and Preston DeSousa before allowing Caden Specht a soft single to right.
Tarara then went back to the mound and placed the ball in his son Charlie’s right hand. On his next delivery, Moffat smoked his slam over the fence in right to knot it, causing most of the 300 in atten- dance to either gasp or scream approval.
That merely set up Penney’s heroics.
Penney finished 2-for-2 with a walk, the homer, two RBIs and a run scored, while Tarara went 2-for-3 with a wallop, walk, stolen bag, two RBI and a run; James Sukatos 1-for1 with a dinger; Andre Mastin 1-for2 with two passes and pair of runs; Cote 1-for-3 with a RBI and run; LaRose 1-for-2 with a blast, two RBI and run; and Andy Ray 2-for-2 with a run.
For Lincoln, Moffat closed at 1for-4 with four RBIs and a run; DeSousa 3-for-3 with a double two RBI and a run; Brady Mellen 2-for-3 with a run; and Jake Kye 1-for-2 with a run.
“Elijah’s just a gamer,” offered Lincoln coach Ken LaBrie of Moffat. “He’s got ice water in his veins. That’s one of the reasons we put him behind the plate (after starting in center). He’s tough as nails, a great player and even better kid.
“This is tough (to accept), but that was a great game.”
Lincoln, which had suffered a 12-2 “mercy-rule” defeat to CALL in the tourney opener, started quickly, as LaRose hit Rodrigues with the first pitch of the game, took third on DeSousa’s hit to right and scored on Specht’s single to left. Both DeSousa and Specht moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, but LaRose retired three straight to escape the jam.
CALL, though, tied it at 1 in the back half. Mastin walked, Tarara singled him to third and Cote’s sacrifice fly allowed him to race home. Starter Brady Mellen followed with a pair of two-out walk to juice the bases, but he struck out Dante Figueira to end it.
The “hosts” added a run in the second when leadoff Ray singled, sprinted to second on George Sukatos’ groundout and scored after Mastin reached on a two-base infield throwing miscue. They also tacked on three more in the third for the 5-1 advantage, courtesy of LaRose’s two-run bomb over the fence in right and James Sukatos’ solo crush.
LaBrie’s bunch fought back with a pair in the fourth after Mellen stroked a hit to right, Kye walked and Rodrigues was struck for the second time by LaRose. With the bags full, DeSousa drilled an opposite-field double to left to plate Mellen and Kye, but the hurler gunned down Rodrigues at the plate.
It nevertheless didn’t take long for CALL to bolster its lead to 7-3, as Mastin opened the fourth with a bloop hit to left and Tarara scorched a homer to right. It also threatened in the fifth, when George Sukatos beat out a fielder’s choice and Mastin and Tarara both walked, but Rodrigues whiffed two to skirt the issue.
Had CALL scored in that frame, the epic finish, perhaps, never would’ve happened.
The younger Tarara, despite a blown save, earned the win, after securing the final out in the sixth. LaRose seemed destined to record the triumph, as he yielded seven hits, three runs (all earned) and a walk with five strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
Rodrigues didn’t pitch poorly, having replaced Mellen after Sukatos’ blast in the third. He went 2.2 innings, scattering five hits and five passes with four whiffs. He did, however, surrender the two final dingers.
The elder Tarara indicated this, for the most part, is the same group he’s mentored since the boys were seven years old.
“I’ve had the majority of these kids for four or five years; that’s where it all started,” he said of the contingent, one that garnered the state 10-11 crown last summer in Wickford. “We play and work together during the off-season; champions are made during that time. It’s that work we put in that results in a win here (Saturday).
“We still have a lot more work to do, but we’re going to enjoy this for a day or so. This was incredible.”