Fairfield National Wins Tournament After Strawberry's Pep Talk

Darryl Strawberry, the former Mets and Yankees great, gave the 9-year-olds from Fairfield National a pep talk by teleconference 10 minutes before their game Saturday against Monroe in the finals of the Monroe tournament.

The pep talk must have fired up the players because Fairfield rolled to an 8-1 victory.

"One of our parents knows his agent," Fairfield head coach Brad Weinstein said of Strawberry.

Strawberry told Fairfield's young players, "The important thing is to stay loose and have fun," according to Weinstein.

Fairfield National wasted no time in overpowering Monroe. Pitcher, David Summers struck out three batters in the top of the first.

In the bottom of the opening inning, Fairfield's Caleb Reeves made it to first on an error when a wild throw got away from the first baseman, then continued running to second.

Owen Stanton followed with a single to center and Reeves came around to score for a quick 1-0 lead.

Monroe pitcher Zachary Chin got out of a bases-loaded jam to limit the damage.

Two Monroe batters got on base with walks in the top of the second, but Summers collected three more strikeouts to protect the lead.

Fairfield pushed across another run in the bottom half of the inning.

Jack Pierce beat a throw from third for an infield single to lead off the inning, then stole second and reached third on a passed ball.

Two batters later, Shamus Carolan hit a grounder to the third and Monroe's first baseman was unable to handle a throw in the dirt. Pierce scored and Carolan was safe at first.

After Summers retired Monroe in order in the top of the third, Fairfield broke open the game in the bottom of the inning.

Reeves laid down a bunt for an infield single and scored on Stanton's singled to center that made it 3-0.

Nick Parisi belted a double to the gap in left-center to drive in Stanton for a 4-0 lead. He then made it to third on a passed ball.

Brett Lauterbach drew a walk, then stole second, leaving runners on second and third with one out. Chris Saladin walked, loading the bases for Summers, who cleared the bases with a triple.

Matty Raab lashed an RBI single to left, which was misplayed by the Monroe outfielder, allowing Raab to reach second. He then stole third.

Just when it appeared that Fairfield would score an early knockout via the mercy rule that ends games when one team has a 10-run lead, Monroe pitcher Andrew Dafcik struck out the next batter to keep Fairfield's lead at 8-0.

Fairfield's pitchers had no problem making the lead stand up. Summers struck out nine and held Monroe hitless through four innings. Brett Lauterbach struck out two in the fifth and Fairfield took a no-hit shutout into the sixth.

Parisi came in to close things out, but got into trouble when he walked the first two batters. The lead runner reached second on a passed ball, then stole third.

With runners at the corners, Jared Kumar of Monroe got his team's only hit, an RBI single that barely made it out of the infield on the right side.

Monroe had runners on second and third with no outs, when Parisi got two batters to pop out. The next Monroe batter hit a grounder to second for the final out, and Fairfield's players jumped around in celebration.

Weinstein credited his team's strong pitching and timely hitting for the victory.

"I think this is a championship that's well-earned by our players," he said. "And we're proud to bring it home to Fairfield National Little League."