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General News: Minor Boys WIn District Title
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| Brendan O'Flaherty was the first to score for Cornwall. |
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| Colin Franke's hand was injured in this play at home. |
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| Chris McLaren got the out on second base. |
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| Scott Brusseler pitched in the fifth and sixth inning. |
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| Will Wright comes into second in the sixth inning. |
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| Jubilation erupts with victory. |
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| The 2008 District 19 Champions |
July 19, 2008
The Cornwall 9-10 baseball team won the District 19 championship game on Saturday, defeating Montgomery 5-4.
It was a tough game with the score tied two times and Cornwall battling back from a 4-3 deficit in the sixth inning.
The first player to score for Cornwall was Brendan O’Flaherty who tied up the score in the second inning at 1-1.
Montgomery added two more runs in the second inning and Cornwall came back with another run, making it 3-2.
In the third inning, Cornwall scored again to tie the game at 3-3. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Montgomery scored and made it 4-3.
Cornwall needed to score in the top of the sixth and final inning. With two outs, Alex Mack was hit by a pitch and got on first. Will Wriight hit a triple, sending Mack home and tying the score at 4-4. Matt Robinson hit a single and Wright scores to give Cornwall the lead at 5-4.
Montgomery had the last at bat and closing pitcher Scott Brusseler kept them scoreless, giving Cornwall the win.
Parent and Coach Chris Franke sent in this riveting report on the game:
Brusseler Closes Door: Cornwall earns “Wright” to State Tournament
Pitchers Will Wright and Scott Brusseler combined efforts to shut down a white-hot Montgomery team.
I’ll give you the box score, then we’ll walk through the game…Go get some Coffee, put down your news papers, (which have the wrong score, I guess their editors were asleep), and read about what really happened.
R H E
Cornwall 5 10 3
Montgomery 4 8 0
The team arrived at the field at 8:00, knowing that it was going to be HOT; knowing that Montgomery had just swept the losers bracket; knowing that they wanted some pay back; and knowing that this was Cornwall’s House – Pride was at stake!
We held batting practice, with Mike McLaren on the mound. Everyone was getting used to seeing the “lefty” release. You could see by the way we were fielding in batting practice that we are NOT a morning team and a wake-up call was in order. The wake-up call arrived when the boys were announced on the field, in their first Title Game.
“Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.” – Yogi Berra
Parents, friends, and sports fans of all ages were pouring into the Little League complex to watch the game, Hoping that the 10’s could duplicate what the 11’s had done a few days prior.
“Home of the Brave……”
The 1st: - Top
C-Mac started us off with a deep fly ball, which Kevin Hublin got a good jump on, and was able to catch. Scotty earned a walk on five pitches; maybe the Montgomery team was tired, too. They were playing in their 4th game in as many days. Alex Mack just missed one, popping out to Kenny Gray at short, which brought up Iron Will. After battling to a full count, Will earned a pass to first, setting the table for Matt. Unfortunately, Cornwall could not draw first blood.
Bottom – Montgomery’s speedy lead off, Chris Skermo, ripped one up the middle. I guess Matt was still focused on the last inning, and let the ball get through.
“There are three types of baseball players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens.” – Tommy Lasorda I was wondering, what just happened?
C-Mac fielded a sharply hit grounder, held the runner, and threw a strike to Alex – 1 Down. Colin Lennox took care of out number two, with a nice 4 – 3. Will gave Cullen Dana nothing to hit, issuing a pass to first. Then Donavon Murphy put Montgomery on the board with a sharp double. Down 1 – 0, Scotty settled under a deep fly ball in left for the final out of the inning.
The 2nd: - Top
Brenden “Smiling” O’Flaherty put Cornwall’s first hit in the books. Connor Marlow foul-tipped into the catcher’s glove for out #1. JB, true to All Star form, hit up the middle, and Colin Lennox was HBP. Bases Juiced, for C-Mac. Chris couldn’t catch up to Jennings, popping to Dana in foul territory – Cullen made a great catch! But, C-Mac got the RBI, as Brenden tagged up, and came home. Scott ripped a nice single into right center, too nice, as it got to the right fielder quickly, who threw Colin out at second, as JB was rounding third, coming home. No Run for JB, but Cornwall draws even 1 – 1.
Bottom 2 – Three Hits, and two runs later, Montgomery was up 3 to 1, with Dana poised to break it wide open. Will would have to pitch to Cullen, as there were two on. In true Iron Will form, he got Dana to fly out to Robby in Center for the third out. The damage was done, Montgomery was in the lead 3 – 1.
Top 3 – Alex started us off with a sharp double. Jennings got Will to ground out, which brought up Matt. Colin Franke came in to run for Alex: we were trying to steal a run with speed here. On a close play at the plate, Colin’s finger was crushed by the umpire as he jumped into position to make the call – There’s a good picture of Blue standing on his hand in the www.cornwall-on-hudson.com web site. We had lost Colin to injury, for the remainder of the game. Robby doubled, and Cornwall drew a bit closer, 3 – 2. Flats added a single, and we had two on, in scoring position. Kraffty and JB, tried everything they knew, but could not get it done against Jennings, as Montgomery preserved the 3 – 2 lead.
Bottom – 3: Time for Defense. Will strikes out two in the bottom, and serves up a 5 – 3, to keep Cornwall close.
Top 4: - Colin and C-Mac were retired for the first two outs….. two- out rally! Scotty recorded his second hit: a double to center. Alex scored Scotty, with a nice single, ending the day for Jennings. Will faced Dana for the first time as a batter; not a pitcher, and ripped one to first for the 3rd out…Wright went right? Will doesn’t hit to the right side of the field…. Cornwall draws even at 3 – 3.
Bottom 4- Where’s the ESPN Sport Center Film crew? – I hope they got this inning on film – Not the first couple of plays, because we put up a pair of E’s. With runners at First and Third, Montgomery tried to pull ahead with a double steal. Flats threw a perfect strike to C-Mac who laid a slap tag down, and came up throwing back to Brenden at home. The crowd went wild, as Cornwall cleared the bases of Montgomery runners. Colin and Alex cleaned up the third out with a 4 – 3.
Top 5 – Cullen Dana struck out Matt to start off the inning, and then issued walks to Brenden and Nick. He would bend, but not break; making a great play on Connor Love’s hit sharply up the middle. Cullen then K’d Colin for the third out.
Bottom 5 – Will had 1 batter left, and he made the most of it: getting Jennings to ground out to Colin. Enter the “Ice-Man” Scotty Brusseler, to face Cullen Dana. True to the game plan, Dana was not served anything to hit, and earned a pass to first. After two sharply hit balls, Montgomery recaptured the lead, 4 – 3, then Scotty dialed it in. The next two batters hit hard to C-Mac, which is like hitting into a black hole – Balls disappear into his glove, and appear in Alex’s before you know what happened. Montgomery had the lead, and the advantage, but they were in Cornwall – the game was not in the books just yet.
Top 6 – Last Chance for Cornwall, and we were at the top of the order. C-Mac hit a sharp line drive, but it was back to Dana for the first out. Scotty popped out to first, and we were down to our last out. The rest was really a blur…. I looked over to the young children outside of the fence, and they all had rally caps on: this filled me with the hope knowing that they would be gripped by this wonderful game.
Alex stepped in and was hit by a pitch, earning first base the hard and very painful way, bringing up Will. All day, Will was pushing the ball to the right side of the field…. He hasn’t done that all year. Wright slammed the ball Right - down the first base line, for a triple, tying up the game, 4 – 4. The rally caps were working.
Matt stepped up to the plate knowing that he was the First type of baseball player: not the player who watches, or wonders what happens; but the type that was going to make it happen. Make it happen Matt! He singled, bringing in Will to put Cornwall up 5 – 4. The crowd was going wild. Dana was flustered, and hit Flats, but settled in to get Kraffty, and end Cornwall’s hopes for an insurance run.
Bottom 6 – Scott would have to face the 9, 1, and 2 batters, the first of which grounded into a 1 – 3. Montgomery’s speedy lead off, Chris Skermo, hit a lazy ball to Colin, for the second out. Could the rally caps have really worked? Kenny Cummings kept Montgomeryin the game with a shot to left, bringing up Brett Jennings. Scotty gave Cornwall the District 19 championship on the next 3 strikes: the last of which was a foul tip that Flats held on to.
Hitting & Offense:
We recorded 10 hits today –
As a team we hit .370 with a total OBP of .500
There were 6 Singles, 3 Doubles, and 1 Triple
Hits were recorded by Scotty, Alex, Will, Brenden, JB, and of course, Matt!
For the tournament, we are batting .375, with an OBP of .580
Defense:
Will threw strikes 59% of the time, KO’d 2 Batters – Showing Cornwall Pride!
Scotty- Guts! 69% strikes, with 1 VERY important K
C-Mac, and Brenden – Nice double Play – This was a turning point in the game, and I think took the momentum away from Montgomery
CLICK ON ANY PHOTO FOR A LARGER VIEW.
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