Madison Junior LL Baseball Wins District 1 Opener

The Madison junior little league baseball team opened its District 1 tournament with a seesaw, 13-12 victory over Par-Troy East Sunday night at Dodge Field.

Johnny Costa was the winning pitcher for the Madison 13- and 14-year-olds, pitching the final two innings of the three-hour-long marathon and escaping a bases-loaded jam in the seventh.

Madison had taken a 13-11 lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, and Costa retired two of the first three hitters in the seventh. But Par-Troy East loaded the bases with a walk, and a dropped popup that scored a run to make it 13-12. Par-Troy's Ray Bernal walked to load the bases before Costa got Hayden Cerrato to hit a ground ball to second base for the final out.

An inning earlier, Madison had rallied from an 11-10 deficit by loading the bases with no out, and scoring on a wild pitch, a throwing error, and Jonathon Miller's RBI groundout, the last of which became the eventual winning run. The patient Madison hitters drew 14 walks from Par-Troy East pitchers, led by Nolan Collier and Zach Evans, who each walked three times.

Joeseph DiMieri, Ian Weber and Nick Russoniello all drove in a run apiece during Madison's five-run second inning. Par-Troy East responded with five of their own in the top of the third, keyed by a bases-loaded, three-RBI double by Ray Bernal to put the visitors up 7-5.

"It's stressful to be in command of a game, and then not," said Madison coach John Costa. "We kind of lost our rhythm, and we played a little sloppy. But we're young and improving."

After Madison tied the game at 7-7 in the fourth, they went ahead with three more scores in the fifth. Collier, Frank Iannarone and Evans drew back-to-back-to-back walks to load the bases with no out. Ryan Fassett singled in a run to put the home side up, 8-7. Costa then hit a line drive to right centerfield, scoring two more.

Par Troy-East took the lead right back, scoring four in the sixth to take an 11-10 lead, keyed by catcher Brandon Corey, who belted a bases-clearing double to put the visitors ahead for the last time.

"We fought today," John Costa said. "We maybe make some rookie mistakes, on a hot day, on a long day. It was a tough game, one where you felt like whoever was the home team was going to win."

The juniors play their second game of pool play in the four-team tournament Wednesday at home. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Dodge Field.

Par-Troy East   0  2  5  0  0  4  1  -  12
Madison               0  5  0  2  3  3  x  -  13

PAR-TROY EAST:
-John Bucciarelli 2-4, run scored, 2B
-Brandon Corey 2-4, run scored, 3 RBI, 2 doubles
-Ray Bernal 2-3, run scored, 4 RBI, double

MADISON:
-Johnny Costa 2-5, run scored, 2 RBI, double; 2 innings, 1 run, 2 hits
-Ian Weber 1-2, 2 runs scored, RBI, 2 steals
-Joeseph DiMieri 1-2, 2 runs scored, RBI