The Nanuet Cubs were the road team when they traveled to Haverstraw to play the East Ramapo Cubs in the Tournament of Champions. Nanuet exploded with a 7-run rally in the final inning to take the lead and win by a final score of 10-9 Tuesday night at the Haverstraw Little League Leo Lader's Post 130 American Legion Memorial Field.
It looked outright awful for the Nanuet Cubs early in the game. They trailed 7-0 after the second inning and whispers of the mercy rule could be heard around the Nanuet cheering section.
Nanuet’s pitching settled down and only allowed two runs over the final four innings. Nanuet found themselves trailing 9-3 going into their final at bats.
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“I’m always telling the kids that there is no clock in baseball.,” said Nanuet Coach Tom Di Benedetto. “We’ve had a few 6- or-7 run innings in the past and we can hit. It was just a matter of getting the hits before the final out.”
Chris Bucci came up to bat to lead off the sixth with his team trailing by six and in desperate need of a spark. Bucci delivered and got himself on to start the rally.
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“I was really nervous going up to the plate," Bucci said. "I knew I need to get this started and didn’t want to let my teammates down. They all came through and did a great job.”
Nanuet was had put a few runs on the board but was still in need of a big hit. The bases were loaded with no outs in a 9-5 game when Sean Gick came up to bat. Gick ripped a double down the left field line, clearing the bases and giving Nanuet new life.
“The team had already scored a couple of runs and I wanted to continue it," Gick said. "It felt really good to get a hit in a big moment for my team.”
Nanuet took the lead a short while later, but the high powered East Ramapo offense still had last licks coming their way.
Steven Lanoce took the mound with three outs to earn and the season on his shoulders. Lanoce looked confident on the mound but walked the first batter which drew coach Di Benedetto and the Nanuet infielders to the mound for a quick meeting.
“They just told me to stay calm, have fun and do what I always do,” said Lanoce.
Whatever they said to Lanoce worked. He retired the next batter he faced for the first out of the inning. With one out and a runner on first, Lanoce got the next batter to ground out. The runner from first advanced to second on the play but was a bit overexcited. He rounded the bag and slipped on the his way back to second and was caught in a rundown that ended the game.
“I was definitely scared after the first walk,” said Lanoce. “I wanted to get it done for my team and I’m so happy I was able to.”
That Nanuet Cubs move on to face the Pearl River Giants on Thursday.
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