Sudbury Little League AAA Playoff Roundup

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was submitted by Maria Fraser.)

Playoff games for the week of June 4 to June 10

Sunday June 10

Orioles 9, White Sox 8
Orioles beat the White Sox 9-8 in a very tight game. Pitching was solid from both teams. For the Orioles, Jack Dorsey pitched 3 strong innings, Henry Stowell and Will Maillet also pitched well. White Sox’s Joe Akasik, Robert MacNamara, Griffin Brown were great on the mound. Orioles took an early lead but the White Sox fought back from a 7-2 deficit to take the lead at the top of the 6th. White Sox offense was led by Robert MacNamara’s 3RBI go ahead triple in the 5^th. Michael Hullen, Philip Cass, Liam Shaughnessy and David Griffith had key situational hits. Orioles’ offense was led by Jack Dorsey(4-4), Alex Kelly with a  game tying RBI, Ethan Hullinger drove in the winning run in the 6th with a double. Orioles defensive highlights included a great catch at 3rd by Andrew Brown, catcher Kathryn Kimble tagging out a runner trying to score and Will Maillet snagging a tough grounder, crawling to 1^st base for the out.

Brewers 6, Reds 3
Brewers scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 5^th to break a 3-3 tie to win the game. Jonah Gold with a walk, stole second. Ari Roth singled sharply to right to bring Gold home, and with alert base running advanced to 3rd. Chris Streilein walked and stole 2nd. John Dale’s double play brought Roth and Steilein home. Reds with a 3 to1 deficit, rallied with 2 runs in the bottom of the 5^th. Reds led offensively with Jackson Bleakley (2-3,2B),Liam McCarthy (2-3,2B) and Spencer Wallace (1-1,2BBs). Anil Lele struck out 6 batters in 2-2/3 IP, Peter Cannon pitched a scoreless inning to keep the game close with help from Anile Lele’s catch/double play. Brewers pitched strong: Will Dale (3 IP), John Dale (2 1/3 IP) and closer Jonah Krasnow (2/3^rd inning; 3 for 3 in last-inning save opportunities). Brewers had a host of strong defensive plays: Josh Brener made a great catch in center; Josh Jacobson threw out a runner stealing 2^nd; Jonah Krasnow made a diving catch at short.Chris Streilein, Jonah Gold, and Alden Young also played well.

Dodgers 12, Diamondbacks 6
(No summary)

Saturday June 9
White Sox 12, Tigers 5
White Sox battled with strong defense and timely hitting to beat the Tigers 12-5. Tigers started strong, taking 2 to 0 lead with power hitting by Ryan Lutz, Teddy Durant, Cole Ward and Will Houser. Nick Emerson and Jamie Sampson-Lizotte pitched a strong game on the way to a 1,2,3 bottom of the 5th and played solid defense was. Bottom of the 2^nd, Robert MacNamara’s hit 2RBI homerun. Andrew Vona and Charlie Desmarais pitched 3 innings each of 3 earned run ball. Joe Akisik went 3-4 (2RBI) and Phil Cass contributed with an 2-4 effort (1RBI). Noah Jacob made a leaping catch in right field to prevent the Tigers from scoring with bases loaded at the top of the 4^th and then went on to hit a 2-RBI triple in the bottom frame.

Mariners 22, Blue Jays 9
Mariners exploded for 21 runs after trailing 6-1 after 3 innings beating the Blue Jays 22-9. Backed by strong pitching from Jack Rothbart(2IP),Davis Donley(3IP,4K) and Brendan Kelleher(1IP,K), the Mariners led offensively with Matt Lucey(4 for 4), Davis Donley(3 for 4), Jack Rothbart(3for 4), Andrew Sifferlen(3 for 4), Trebor Bennett(3 for 4), Tino Tamburrini(2 for 3), and Jonah Sacher(2 for 3). Matt Lucey, Jonah Sacher, Ralph Babcock and Teddy Smith made great defensive plays in the field. Luke Geel's pitching (3IP,1R,2H,3K) and 3 fielding assists carried the Blue Jays to an early lead. Carter Hayden had a good day at the plate, chipping in with a double, 4RBIs and some head's up base running. Timothy Follmer, AJ Childs, and Will Fama had good plays in the field. Blue Jays attempted to rally in the last innings but were thwarted by the Mariner's great defense.

Diamondbacks 13, Astros 5
Astros were led offensively by Sam Gray who went 2-3; Michael Cavanaugh reached base three times; and Eric Feng went 1-2 with 2 RBI. Gray, Cavanaugh, and James Ewing pitched well in the final game of a great season for the Astros. Diamondbacks were led by strong pitching performances from Lucas Allen (3ip,7k's,3rs) and Jimmy O'Connor (3ip,6k's,0r). Offensively all Diamondbacks reached based with Ben Ohler, Nathan Baglin, Jack MacLean, Luke Furman, David Rowe, Brendan Meehan, O'Connor and Allen having hits and Jack Crawley with 2 runs scored. Tyler Greenfield made 2 strong plays on defense for the Diamondbacks.

Dodgers 8, Pirates 7
(no summary)

Friday June 8
Reds 7, Braves 6
Reds jumped out to an early lead and led 7-3 going into the final inning when the Brewers came roaring back to make the score 7-6 with runners on 2^nd & 3^rd. Jackson Bleakley (3 IP,7Ks) got the final out on a strikeout to end the game. Nico Andolina (3IP,H,0BBs,4Ks) pitched 3 nearly flawless innings. On offense the Reds were led by Jackson Bleakley (2-4,2R), Peter Cannon (2-4,R), Colby Cataldo (1-1,2BBs), Spencer Wallace (1-2,2RBI) and Max Scribner (1-3,2B). Braves’ Nicholas Bettenhauser (2 2/3 IP,3K), Adam Bradford (3IP,6K’s), Jack Folz (1/3 IP). On offense the Braves were led by, Adam Bradford (3-3,2R),Nicholas Bettenhauser (2-3,2R),Sam Anderson (2-3), Ryan Richards (1-3,R),Emma Fraser (1-2), Johnny Oblak (1-3) and Kylie Oblak (1-2).

'Mariners 8, Athletics 2
Teddy Smith(3IP,6Ks,0R) and Matt Lucey(3IP,2R) aided by great defense from Jack Rothbart, Davis Donley and Matt Lucey, allowed only 2 runs as the Mariners beat the A’s. Mariners’ offense was led by Matt Lucey(2H), Teddy Smith(2H), Brendan Kelleher(2H), Jack Rothbart(2H), Davis Donley(1H,1RBI), Brett Ciccolo(1H,RBI), Tino Tamburrini(1H,1RBI), and Ryan Saklad(1H,1RBI). The Athletics had strong pitching performances by Parks Marilla(3IP,3Ks) and Matt Allor(2IP,3Ks).Their offense was led by Drew Nobile(double and RBI), Parks Marilla(single and RBI), Blake Banikian and Matt Allor.

Tuesday June 5
Orioles 3, Twins 2
Orioles and Twins played a very close game for 6 innings but the Orioles took the win. Twins struck early in the 1^st with a well hit double by Sean Carney (2-3,R) and a towering homerun by Ben Winters (2-3,HR,2RBI). Shane George (1-1,BB), Max Boone (BB), Michael Mackinnon (1-3) all reached base to threaten the Orioles lead. Both teams had great pitching. Orioles’ Jack Dorsey (6K's) Will Maillet (4K's) and Henry Stowell (1K). Sean Carney, Shane George and Jack Urdang combined to hold the Orioles to 7 hits, 4 walks while striking out 11. Twins made a huge defensive play in the bottom of the 1^st when Zac Roth relayed a throw to Carney who fired a bullet to Urdang at3rd to tag out the runner. Eamon O'Malley, Jimmy Mackinnon, Spencer George all played strong defense. Catcher Stephen Kossuth held the Orioles to only 3 stolen bases in the first three innings and made a key play at 1^st in the 5th to halt a late Orioles rally. Orioles hitting was led by Will Maillet (2 key hits) and Ethan Hullinger (clutch double). Jason Mead walked to bring in the winning run. Henry Stowell pitched well to close out the game.

Brewers 10, Rockies 6
Brewers beat the Rockies in a hard fought game that was closer than the score indicated. Will Dale had a home run (over the fence),a bases loaded double, totaling 6RBIs, pitched 3 innings, giving up 1 run. John Dale (1B,2B) and pitched 3 strong innings, Jonah Krasnow (1B, RBI) also fueled the offense. Jonah Gold, Ari Roth, Alden Young, and Will Hardwick made good defensive plays. Rockies’ Simon Perry hit a 3 run home run, Keith Lucier went 2 for 3 and drove in 2 runs, and Matt Joachim went 2 for 2, driving in the remaining run. Emmet Klein, Quinn Meyerson, Ethan Sussman, and Johan Schoener each contributed hits. Joachim threw three strong innings (2R,2H,1BB,5Ks).

Blue Jays 4, Rays 0
(no summary)

The AL and NL Championships will be played on Friday, June 15, at 6:45 p.m. The overall champion will be determined Saturday, June 16, at 11:30 a.m.

Final Four:
Orioles vs. Mariners (AL)
Brewers vs. Dodgers (NL)

AAA All-Star Ceremony will take place Sunday, 10 a.m. at Lower Featherland Center and All-Star games will be played following the ceremony.