Fairfield American Beaten By Cumberland National In New England Regionals

In its first appearance in the New England Regionals, the Fairfield American 12-year-old All-Stars ran into the type of dominant pitching that it did not see during the state championship run.

Hard-throwing Tyler Calabro allowed only three hits, as Cumberland National, the Rhode Island state champion, blanked Fairfield American, 2-0, Friday night at the Giamatti Little League Center.

Donte Baldelli, the younger brother of former major leaguer and current minor leaguer Rocco Baldelli, snapped a scoreless tie with a two-run single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth inning.

It was the first loss of the postseason for Fairfield American, which came into the regionals with a record of 15-0. Calabro shut down a team that had been averaging 12 runs per game.

In a terrible display of poor sportsmanship, Fairfield American manager Chris Daley blew off the media following the game. Little League rules prohibit players on losing teams from speaking with the media, so there were no comments available from the Fairfielders.

While the loss hurt, it doesn't kill Fairfield American's chances of reaching the Little League World Series in Williamsport. After pool play, the top four teams advance to the single-elimination semifinals.

Fairfield American will look to bounce back on Saturday (8 p.m.) against Shelburne Little League, the Vermont state champion, and can reach the final four by winning two of its next three games. Vermont did not play on Friday.

While Daley may have acted like a sore loser, the Fairfield American squad had nothing to be ashamed about. With the stakes raised, Calabro and Fairfield American's Nick Nardone hooked up in a spectacular pitchers'  duel.

Nardone also allowed only three hits - all to Baldelli, who is 17 years younger than his more famous sibling.

"(Nardone) was throwing a lot of curveballs, so I just tried to sit on those," said Baldelli, who didn't know where Rocco was on Friday night.

"Rocco sent us a text right before the game wishing us luck," Cumberland National manager John Brodeur said. "He is  very good to us."

By design, Calabro was not made aware of the fact that he was facing a potent offense that had reached double figures in runs 11 times in the postseason.

Calabro, who walked none and struck out nine, gave up singles to Nardone in the first, Nate Klein in the second and Connor Daley in the fourth.

"We had prepped them a little bit, but we obviously didn't want to put them in awe," Brodeur said. "We didn't want them to think they were playing the Yankees or Red Sox. That's a tremendous team. That was probably the favorite coming in  here and probably are still the favorite.

"It was a great game today, (the game) could have gone either way. That kid Nardone, we tip our hat to that kid because he pitched a great game."

Through the early part of the contest, Nardone matched Calabro pitch for pitch, finishing with eight stikeouts and two walks. He also went the distance.

Fairfield American stranded a runner at third with one out in the second and had another chance in the fourth, as  Nardone reached second on a throwing error by Cumberland National shortstop Josh Brodeur to open the inning.

After Jack Quinn struck out, Nardone tried to steal, but was thown out by Calabro. It turned out to be a big play because Daley slapped a solid single to right field that likely would have plated Nardone from second.

The way Calabro and Nardone were dealing, it appeared that one run would be enough for the first team that could push one across the plate.

Nate Paine led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk and stole second one out later. Nardone bore down to strike out Ryan O'Neill, but Brodeur reached on third baseman Klein's error to extend the inning.

Brodeur took off for second, deliberately trying to get himself in a rundown, but Fairfield American wisely didn't bite, and Brodeur waltzed into the base.

Nardone tried to get a glove on Baldelli's drive  up the middle, but it was hit too hard, and the damage had been done for Fairfield American.