New City Americans Win Opener in 11-Year-Olds District Baseball Tournament

The New City Little-League 10-11-year-old All Stars made a thrilling comeback against Suffern with a win in extra innings in the opening of the District 18 tournament in West Nyack.

After falling behind early in the game, New City fought its way back to tie it up in the bottom of the sixth and force the game into extra innings.  Then, after one and a half excellent defensive 1,2,3 innings, #5 James Pietrangelo slugged a walk-off triple into right field to bring home the winning run to end the game 6-5.  Pietrangelo had an excellent night all around, as he was also the winning pitcher.  He came in for the top of the eighth, fielding two balls for outs and striking out one to retire the side in order.

The starting pitcher for New City, #2 Vince Maraia, had a solid performance, though he had some trouble finding the zone with two strikes and five walks in two innings pitched.  With the score 4-0 in the top of the third, he was relieved by #15 Daniel Meehan.  Meehan had a good performance, striking out two, walking five, and allowing only one run in five innings pitched.  Maraia's major contribution to the game was on the offensive end, where he led his team in scoring with a series of excellent at bats.  He finished the game with two important RBIs, one of which put them on the board while the other was off a sacrifice fly to tie it in the sixth, and a steal on home.

After falling behind in the second, New City began its comeback in the third, when Meehan singled to left field with the bases loaded to put New City on the board.  Suffern then got the run back in the fourth when Meehan threw a ball in the dirt and a runner scored.  There were almost two on the play, however Meehan made a nice throw into the  catcher, #18 Liam McCullough, for an out at the plate.

New City scored again to bring it within one in the bottom of the fifth.  #14 Michael Owens singled to left center field to bring home one run and close the gap to three.  Maraia then scored on a ball in the dirt and so did Meehan on one to follow.  New City then held Suffern in the top of the sixth to put them in a position to tie it in the bottom of the inning.  With the bases loaded and one out, Maraia popped one deep into center field, which brought home the tying run of the game.

Both teams had excellent defensive innings to keep the game tied as they battled it out in extra innings.  Finally, it was New City's Pietrangelo who slugged the ball deep into right field for a walk-off triple to easily bring home the winning run.

The players congratulated each other amidst cheers from the crowd and left the field exuberant about their win.  Despite a rocky start, the New City players earned their title of All Star by maintaining their composure and not giving up to come back for the win.  "I'm proud of the boys," said Manager Tony Ronda.  "They fell behind early, but forced it into extra innings and pulled it off."

New City American continues on today at 4 p.m. in West Nyack, where they will face Ramapo.