Gone in a Flash: Mother Nature Halts West Essex

LIVINGSTON—The West Essex 14U baseball team was just a few outs away from securing a victory over Livingston Friday night in the first round of the Suburban League playoffs at Heritage Middle School.

Then Mother Nature stepped in.

After fifth-seeded West Essex scored twice to take a 10-9 lead in the top of the sixth inning, the sound of thunder and a flash of lightning stopped the game with one out in the bottom of the frame.

As darkness settled in, there was a brief discussion with the umpires before the game was halted, reverting the score back to the last complete inning—the fifth—and provided fourth-seeded Livingston a 9-8 victory.

"It is what it is," West Essex coach Tom Carragher said. "I can't control Mother Nature."

While Livingston advances to face either Cranford or Springfield on Monday, West Essex ended its season at 7-8-1.

After twice beating West Essex during the regular season, including an 11-1 thumping this week, Livingston bolted to a 5-0 lead after the first inning on Friday.

But West Essex answered with five runs in the second inning to tie the score. West Essex also led 7-6 and 8-7 before taking a 10-9 lead on a two-run triple by Jack Limongelli in the sixth.

When Tony Lipari opened the bottom of the sixth by striking out Brian Sorrentino, it appeared the Knights were in good shape.

But that's when weather got in the way.

"Third time was definitely a charm for us. I'm glad we didn't lie down and just come out flat," Carragher said. "The kids came out with a lot of heart, a lot of energy, a lot of passion. They wanted to come out and win, especially against a team that beat us up. Being down five runs in the first, they never gave up and fought until the end.''

The Knights' five-run second was highlighted by Lenny Mendola's opposite-field double and a Max Schmulewitz RBI infield hit. Two other runs scored on overthrows.

Livingston forged ahead again in the bottom of the second to grab a 6-5 edge, but West Essex went back ahead 7-6 in the third on a two-run inside-the-park homer by James Panzarino.

Livingston answered with another run in the bottom of the frame to tie the game. But an Adam Farkas groundout scored Joe Gonella, who led off the fourth with a single, to give West Essex an 8-7 lead in the fourth.

Livingston scored single runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth before Limongelli's triple into the right-center field gap to give the Knights the lead again in the top of the sixth inning.

As it turned out, Livingston's Omarie Beaubian's RBI double in the fifth was the game-winning hit. Beaubian was later thrown out trying to score from third on a wild pitch when West Essex catcher Mike Ceasar threw to Lipari, who made the tag.

"We had a great season, I'm proud of all these guys, I had a lot of fun and I hope they learned a lot from me," said Carragher, who will be a junior at Penn State. "I played here two years ago and I wanted to give something back."