Burlington 10s Baseball Fall to Dedham, Still Alive

The Burlington 10-year-old Cal Ripken baseball team lost 3-0 Tuesday to Dedham, its first loss of the state tournament, but will look to rebound in the double-elimination tourney Wednesday against Quincy.

"[Quincy is] a good team. They've always had a pretty good program," Burlington manager Bill Waisnor said.

Burlington received stellar pitching from Cam Impemba and John Ghio as the youngsters combined for four strikeouts. 

"Our pitching staff is pretty rock solid," Waisnor said. "They were just firing fastballs."

Impemba allowed one run in three innings of work, and Ghio allowed two runs in three innings on the hill.

Burlington fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, but Impemba escaped a jam with a strikeout and a routine grounder to end the inning without any more damage done.

"It was a close game and Dedham is a good team," Waisnor said after the game. "Well fought on both sides. I'm proud of our boys."

Waisnor's crew had a tough time solving the 1-2 punch of Dedham pitchers Alex Cherry and Shawn Nosky. Burlington threatened in the fifth inning, down 2-0, with a lead-off double by catcher Jared Smith, but couldn't find a way to get him home.

"We just couldn't get the bats going, couldn't get the ball to drop," Waisnor said. "A couple more timely hits and we could force a couple of balls through the infield, we might have come out on top."