Wyoma Tournament Over For 9-Year-Old All-Stars

The Marblehead 9-Year-Old All-Stars played strong baseball in the Wyoma Tournament, which was held at Gowdy Memorial Playground in Lynn between July 8 and Aug. 2.

The boys compiled a 6-1 record, outscoring their opponents 70-23, which landed them in a three-way tie for first place. Also finishing the tournament with 6-1 records were Wakefield and the host team, the Wyoma Blue.

Little League Tournament Rules define a certain process for determining which teams will move into the playoffs during these sorts of ties. The first step is to compare the team's head-to-head matches. In this instance, each of the team's one loss came against one of the other, so this makes this ruling impossible.

The second process, used if the head-to-head scale fails, is Runs-Allowed-Ratio (RAR). This is determined by dividing a team's runs allowed during the tournament by the number of innings they played on defense. (Example: Marblehead allowed 23 runs in 39 defensive innings so their RAR is .589).

This ratio was calculated for the three deadlocked teams and with only 13 runs allowed in 28 defensive innings, Wakefield was the first team to advance into the playoffs with an RAR of .464. Wyoma had the worst RAR (1.1) of the three teams, allowing 44 runs in 40 defensive innings played.

Unfortunately for Marblehead, according to the Little League Tournament Rulebook, once one team is advanced using the RAR the two remaining teams are once again scaled on the first tie-breaker, which is head-to-head play. Wyoma happened to be the only team to defeat Marblehead during the tournament, which propelled the host team into the playoffs and left the Marblehead All-Stars out.

"While I'm disappointed that we will not be in the final four, I am pleased at how well our boys performed," said Coach Mark Cohen after hearing the tiebreaker results. "Overall, I thought the tournament was well run and a great experience for our 9's."

In each game of the tournament, there seemed to be another player stepping into the spotlight and contributing when his team needed it.

In the team's first game, against the boys from Swampscott on July 7, the star was Eli Cohen. Cohen controlled the game from the mound, striking out 10 batters as his team took a 10-0 "mercy rule" victory in just five innings. Backing up Cohen's dominance on the mound was Jacob Garfield at the plate. Garfield went 3 for 3 in the game, knocking in four of Marblehead's 10 runs.

Their next opponent was Nahant on July 10, and this time it was a group of boys who starred for the local team. Jake Miller, Chris Gally, Charlie Young, Charlie Kahn and Ryan Dombal combined to pitch a 9-2 win for Marblehead. Young led the group with four strikeouts in two innings of work from the mound. Following him were Gally (3 Ks), Miller (2 Ks), Dombal (2 Ks) and Kahn (1 K), who each threw one inning. Cohen took care of the offense this time around, batting 2 for 3 with 2 singles, 2 RBI and a walk.

In Marblehead's third game, a 12-3 win over Winthrop on July 15, Dombal was the standout on the mound. He pitched two scoreless innings in which he struck out five of the seven batters he faced. Young was the game's offensive star, scoring two runs and batting in two more. In the first inning, he knocked a ball into right-field that he turned into an RBI-triple. Dombal also hit well in the game, contributing two-RBI and scoring once himself.

Reading was next on the schedule for Marblehead, and once again Cohen took control of the game from the mound. He pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only a single hit to Reading's first batter. He gathered seven strikeouts in the team's 16-2 victory. The bats were less of a factor in the win, as Reading walked 10 batters in the fifth and sixth inning, resulting in 11 of Marblehead's 16 runs.

Marblehead's next game was against the Wyoma Blue on July 21, and this game proved to be the match that cost them the tournament. Scoring runs for the local team were Cohen, Miller, Kahn and Jacob Bornstein, but Wyoma went on defeat Marblehead 12-4. Dombal had the hit of the game for Marblehead, as he blasted a hit deep into the Wyoma outfield for two RBIs in the fourth inning.

The next contest for Marblehead was important as they faced undefeated Wakefield on July 24. Chris Gally led the local offense to their 4-2 victory, contributing two RBIs on a double and a single. Cohen once again pitched three solid innings in the win, striking out six. He was relieved by Miller, who pitched three innings and struck out two hitters.

Marblehead closed out the Wyoma Tournament on their highest note, earning a 15-2 "mercy rule" win over the Lynnfield Blue in just four innings of play. The team once again used the tandem approach from the mound, as Spencer Perkins, Dombal, Gally and Kahn each pitched an inning in the win. Dombal was strong in the second inning, striking out three of the four batters that he faced. Perkins led the offense with two hits, two runs and four RBI. He earned three of his RBI on a base clearing triple in the second inning, which put the game well out of Lynnfield's reach.

Aidan Burke also tallied three RBIs in the game, in his best offensive showing of the tournament. He nearly recorded the team's only homerun, as he rounded the bases only to be caught at home plate in what proved to be the game's final out.

After all was said and done, Cohen racked up a team-high of 27 strikeouts in 14 innings of pitching. Dombal, who only pitched four innings, followed Cohen with 10 strikeouts of his own. Garfield and Miller led the offense with seven hits each. They also recorded five and six-RBI respectively.

Team Manager Greg Dombal said, "On behalf of Marblehead baseball and our 9- year- old team, I wanted to thank Wyoma Little League for running the tournament. It gave us a great chance to play and we truly enjoyed the opportunity."

The 2010 Marblehead Nine-Year-Old All-Stars are: Jacob Bornstein, Aidan Burke, Eli Cohen, Ryan Dombal, Chris Gally, Jacob Garfield, Charlie Kahn, Jake Miller, Hayden Rausch, Tom Woodfin and Charlie Young. They were coached by Greg Dombal, Mark Cohen, Bruce Woodfin, Larry Rausch and Drew Gally.