Wood, Shelton rally past Southington South for crown
SOUTHINGTON — On Friday Jonny Wood proved what the Little League experience is all about and the special moments it can produce.
Trailing by a run in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Section 2 Little League championship game, with a runner on first and no outs, Shelton manager Sean Thompson asked pinch-hitter Wood if he wanted to bunt.
“No,” Wood said. “I can get it done.”
Wood hit an RBI double to tie the score. Three batters later with the bases loaded, Gianni Piscioniere drew a walk-off walk, scoring Wood for a 6-5 win over Southington South at Carl Vederame Field in Recreation Park.
Shelton advances to the Connecticut Little League State Final in Waterford from July 27-31.
Wood’s combination of tears of joy and a smile told the story.
“I’m very happy right now, this was one of my best games, very exciting,” Wood said. “I just have to thank my teammates for this win. They played so hard and we never gave up. On the bench we kept saying to each other just hit the ball and take it one inning at a time.
“As soon as the ball went off my bat I knew it was going to be a hit. To see us get a run and tie the game, it felt great.”
The game was close until the fourth inning.
Southington South scored four runs highlighted by a Tyler Poutouves two-run home run to give Southington South a 5-1 lead. In the fourth inning Jonny Rodrigues and Joey Rodrigues scored for Shelton off errors and cut the lead to 5-3.
Shelton’s Nick Sabin had an RBI double in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 5-4, setting up the sixth-inning heroics.
“That was quite the game, our guys never gave up,” Thomspon said. Normally an assistant coach for the team, he was subbing one game for manager Mark Dicicco who was recovering from heat exhaustion. “This was our toughest game of the season.
“We’ve been beating teams handily and earlier in the tournament we beat Southington South 11-1. Their pitching was the difference today.”
Other top players for Shelton included Nick Clericuzio who had two hits, was hit by a pitch and scored two runs and Joey Rodrigues had a hit and scored two runs.
Saywer Trudeau went five innings for Southigton South, striking out six and allowing seven hits.