SERIES OPENER
Parsippany-Troy East falls in first game of LLWS, must win on Saturday to survive
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — ParTroy East’s Little League team has been in this situation before, when the Parsippany, N.J., club lost the first game of the New Jersey state tournament and fought its way back in the loser’s bracket. It may be the Little League World Series, but after dropping a 5-2 decision to San Antonio, Tex., in their opening game at Lamade Field Friday, the PTE kids are confident they will bounce back.
“Our coach told us in the locker room that the loss showed us we could hang with any team in the U.S. right now,” said PTE’s Bener Uygun, who will be on the mound Saturday night when PTE tries to stave off elimination against Gresham, Ore.
“You’ve got another shot tomorrow,” said manager Mike Ruggiero. “It’s one day at a time, that’s all it is. Climb back in this thing. This is the best place to play a Little League game. Can’t hang your head because you lose a World Series game.”
The Mid-Atlantic champs didn’t hang their heads Friday, not even while committing three errors that led to four unearned runs.
PTE had its chance. With his team down 4-0, Uygun got the top of the fourth started with a double down the third base line and, after an RBI single by Anthony Scannelli and a basesloaded walk to D.J. Pico, the New Jersey team had one of its best hitters at the plate in Emil Matti.
The bases were full with two outs when Matti swung at a first-pitch fastball and hit a hard grounder that handcuffed shortstop Zach Sanchez. Sanchez bobbled the ball but was able to get the force at second to end the inning.
Matti was upset at himself for swinging at the first pitch, but he was looking for a fastball after driving one into the right field gap to start the game.
“We were one hit away from tying the game,” Ruggiero said. “They never quit and like I tell them, every game, we always have an inning. And we were having our inning. It just got cut short.”
San Antonio had been picked by many as the top U.S. team here, but the PTE kids weren’t awed by Texas starter Tyler Vitt, getting to him before the righthander was lifted in the fourth for pitch count reasons.
Matti (three innings, one earned run) pitched well after giving up a leadoff home run to Jordan Cardenas, but PTE hurt itself with the three errors.
“We hit (Vitt),” Ruggiero said. “I’m confident my guys would hit. It was just the defense today, the mistakes, we couldn’t overcome them. Take those unearned runs away it’s a whole different game.”
The Par-Troy East kids feel they lose only when they beat themselves, and that was certainly the case Friday.
“We’re upset because that’s not the best we could play,” said Ruggiero’s son, Dan, who made a couple of outstanding plays at second. “We made a lot of errors and didn’t hit well. We didn’t swing at the right pitches. We didn’t come out ready to play. We knew we can play better.”
Uygun threw 20 pitches in relief as Ruggiero used four pitchers. He thinks that will help him in the second game.
“I know what it’s like to pitch in the World Series now,” he said.
Ruggiero also knows what to expect from a team that has been resilient all summer long.
“They scored five on us, four unearned. T hey rea l ly on ly scored one,” he said. “We held them but we’ve got to play sharper. We’ve got to play better ball.”