Ledyard Exits Cal Ripken Tourney

Note: Ledyard mom Jennifer Boudah has been providing detailed reports of Ledyard's progress in the 9-year-old Cal Ripken tournament. Below is her report, plus summaries from the first two games.

The Ledyard U9 Travel Team lost Monday night to a hard-hitting South Meriden team, 7-3, ending their run for a state Cal Ripken Tournament title. 

It was a well played game, and like all of them, a pleasure to watch. Here are some highlights:

Pitching:

Cade Walters (3 innings, 7 strikeouts)

Riley Gagnon (2 innings, 1 strikeout)

Hitting:

Andrew Boudah:  2-3, stole home for Ledyard's first run

Cade Walters:  1-3

Brayden Grim:  reached base twice with walks (scored our second run on Brendan Thornton's triple)

Brendan Thornton:  1-3 with a huge RBI triple (scored on Elliot Smith's single)

Elliot Smith:  2-3, with an RBI single to score our third run

The Ledyard boys again played an excellent defensive game, with six ground-outs in key situations.  Their defense included a double play by Andrew Boudah and Matt Thornton (Boudah caught a line drive at third, then fired to first to double off the runner).

Sunday 6-5 over Hebron

The boys won Sunday morning against Hebron, 6-5, advancing to the next bracket against South Meriden Monday at 5:30 pm. Sunday's game was close throughout, and exciting until the very end, proving that the game is never over until the last out!

Ledyard jumped ahead 3-0 in the first three innings, before Hebron scored two runs in the fourth and three runs in the top of the 6^th to move ahead 5-3.

Ledyard pitching 

Cade Walters (3 innings, 6 strikeouts, allowed 2 hits, 0 walks)

Jake Sylvia (2+ innings, 4 strikeouts, allowed 2 hits, 4 walks)

Riley Gagnon (relieved Sylvia in top of the 6^th, allowed 2 hits)

Ledyard highlights:

• 1^st inning:  After Brayden Grim was hit by a pitch and stole second, Cade Walters grounded out in a close play at first base, advancing Grim to third.  Andrew Boudah then hit into a 5-3 ground-out that scored Grim and earned him his first of three RBI for the day.  Cody Jones hit a tremendous triple and Brendan Thornton hit a single to score Jones for Ledyard’s second run.
• 2^nd inning:  Elliot Smith and Matt Thornton started the team off with back-to-back singles, then advanced to second and third on a double steal.  John Gebhard hit a line drive to Hebron’s short stop for the first out.  After a strikeout by the Hebron pitcher, and a pop up to third base, the inning ended with two runners left on base.
• 3^rd inning:  Boudah led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a Hebron overthrow.  Jones and Grim followed with singles, advancing and scoring Boudah for Ledyard’s third run.  The inning ended with a force out at second, a long fly out to right field by Smith, and a ground out.
• 4^th inning:  Hebron scored two runs off Ledyard, while Ledyard batters went scoreless in the bottom of the inning.
• 5^th inning:  With Ledyard ahead 3-2, Hebron had a runner on first base after a lead-off single.  Pitcher Jake Sylvia followed up with two strikeouts.  In a brilliant play, catcher John Gebhard picked off the runner trying to steal second with a spectacular throw to Grim to end the inning.
• 6^th inning:  Ledyard pitchers struggled in the top of the sixth, allowing three Hebron runs and forcing a bottom half of the inning.  Again, Smith led off the inning with a single and stole second base.  Matt Thornton and John Gebhard then each drew walks to load the bases with no outs.  Grim hit a grounder, allowing a force out at third base, but scoring Smith to make the score 5-4 with one out.  With runners on first and second, Cade Walters hit a grounder to allow a force out at second base, while advancing Gebhard to third.  Walters then stole second, putting the winning run in scoring position.  Boudah came up to bat with Ledyard down by one run, two outs, and runners on second and third.  He hit a sharp grounder to left field, getting past Hebron's short stop, to score both base runners and lift the team to a 6-5 victory.

Bethel takes opener

In their first taste of Cal Ripken 9-year-old State Tournament play on Saturday, the District 6 champs suffered their first loss, falling 6-0 to host Bethel (District 4) after going undefeated in the District championship. 

The local team struggled offensively against Bethel pitching, but played hard until the very end and made many critical defensive plays.

Bethel had nine hits and seven walks while pitching a no-hitter against Ledyard, combining for 12 strikeouts.

Ledyard Highlights:

• Cade Walters pitched three innings, striking out five and fielding a great 1-3 ground-out.
• Over the course of the game, Andrew Boudah (third base) and Brayden Grim (short stop) played flawless defensive ball. 
• In the bottom of the 2nd, Boudah fielded a tough bunt down the third base line, getting the dribbler and firing to first base for the out. 
• In the bottom of the fourth, when Bethel put the ball in play six times off pitcher Riley Gagnon, Boudah fielded a sharp grounder to get the lead runner out at second base.  On the next two consecutive plays, Grim fielded hard grounders, again forcing out the lead runners to end the inning.  Because of the great defensive plays, Bethel was held to only two runs in the inning.
• In the bottom of the fifth inning, Bethel had the bases loaded twice, but Ledyard again held them to only two runs, as 1)  Cade Walters caught a long fly ball to center field, 2)  Boudah successfully fielded a ground ball and threw out a runner at home plate, and 3)  catcher John Gebhard caught a tough foul ball pop up for the third out.

Although they are done with baseball for the season, the kids, parents and coaches are all looking forward to family vacations, summer camps, and other activities.  Many of them play additional sports like football, soccer or fall baseball, so they will be back on the field soon.

Congratulations to all on a memorable season!