Little League World Series: Jackson's Holbrook Stays Alive As Cartnick Homers Twice In Inning

WILLIAMSPORT, PA -- Chris Cartnick's nickname is Diesel, because the Little League all-star from Jackson has hit so many home runs this summer as the Holbrook Little League team worked its way from the District 18 tournament to the Little League World Series.

He had four home runs in the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament. In the New Jersey state championship game, he had a two-run home run as part of a three-RBI outing. In the Section 3 tournament, he had three home runs and eight RBI in one game. And those are just some of the highlights.

It may be time to revise that nickname. "The Crusher" might more appropriate after the way Cartnick crushed two home runs in Holbrook's 8-run fourth inning and nearly had a third in Holbrook's 15-5 victory over Michigan in the elimination bracket of the Little League World Series on Saturday. Holbrook next plays on Monday at 3 p.m. against the loser of Sunday's game between North Carolina, the Southeast Region champions, and California, the West champion.

The Holbrook team, dubbed "The Boys of Summer" by their fans, had to fight off nerves and an inning that could best be described as crazy before the Jackson bats simply exploded in a fourth inning that served notice the Jersey boys were not going quietly from the World Series.

Holbrook fell behind 2-0 in the bottom of the first after a couple of strange plays. First, an obstruction call against R.J. Vashey after he collided with Michigan runner Drew Hill on a bunt play, and an errant throw to first base on that same play put Hill on third and Matthew Greene, who laid down the bunt, on second. After a pop-up and a walk to Joseph Wisniewski loaded the bases for Michigan, Jack Jones blooped a ball into short left field that appeared to be ready to fall in for a single. But John Grano made a tremendous diving catch for the second out of the inning then hopped up and fired home to J.R. Osmond to hold Hill at third. Osmond then turned and fired to first base, but there was no one from Holbrook on the bag and the ball bounded down the line into right field, allowing Hill and Greene to score. A pep talk from manager Rob Grano seemed to settle the team down, and Holbrook got out of the inning without further damage.

"Two runs isn't that much," Cartnick said after the game about how the team reacted to trailing.

Holbrook responded in the top of the second. With Anthony Abbonizio batting, Garrett Drew scored on a wild pitch, and Abbonizio then singled to center on the next pitch, scoring Mike Arent. In a hint of what was to come, Holbrook proceeded to load the bases for Cartnick, who cracked a double to the wall that scored Abbonizio and Grano and moved Ryan Kinsman, who had walked, to third. J.R. Osmond then hit a ground ball to the Michigan shortstop, but a hard-charging Cartnick beat the flip attempt from the shortstop to the third baseman, sliding in under the tag and scoring Kinsman in the process to give Holbrook a 5-2 lead.

Michigan responded in the bottom of the second inning with three runs to make it 5-5, and Holbrook scored in the top of the third when the aggressive-running Garrett Drew scored on a single by Chris Andrews.

That's where the seesaw scoring stopped, however.

>> PLAY-BY-PLAY: Little League World Series: Jackson's Holbrook Wins 15-5 Over Michigan

Dean Daddio, who came on as a substitute in left field for Grano, caught a pair of tricky pop-ups for the first two outs in the bottom of the third, then came on to pitch after a pair of walks and a pitch-count maximum to induce a pop-up to Cartnick for the final out of the inning.

That's when Holbrook displayed the offense that had gotten it to Williamsport in the first place, and that started with Cartnick, who opened the inning by smacking a 1-0 offering over the fence and the hedge in center field at Lamade Stadium. Holbrook proceeded to hit, walk and score its way through the order and leading 12-5 with Kinsman on second and Tai Mann, who had been hit by a pitch, on first, Cartnick came up to bat again. This time, he fouled off two pitches before getting hold of an 0-2 fastball and sending it up onto the hill at Lamade for a 15-5 lead. Holbrook then shut down Michigan in the bottom of the inning to win by 10-run rule.

Cartnick said his double and his first home run had come on curveballs, but the second time around, with the 0-2 count, he was expecting a fastball.

"He left it right down the middle," said Cartnick, who is 11 for 18 with seven home runs and batting .611 since the beginning of the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament, "and I just crushed it."

Rebounding with a big victory after losing to Connecticut on Thursday is similar to how Holbrook responded after its loss to Manchester in the District 18 tournament before going on to win the district, the section, the state and Mid-Atlantic Region tournaments.

"This group is a very unique group," Cartnick said. "We've been together so long we have confidence with everyone. We have a lot of trust in each other."

They'll be relying on that trust and some more big hitting to go on another run and hopefully win that World Series title.

Photos courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball