9-10 All-Stars Clinch Championship

All hail the champions!

The Barrington Little League’s Major Division 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars capped a perfect four-game run through the Rhode Island District 2 Tournament Monday night, rapping out 10 hits and taking advantage of pitchers’ wildness to pin a 12-7 loss on Rumford at Sherwood Field in Barrington.

Colin Scorpio clubbed three hits – including a home run – and Cabot Maher struck out 5 batters in a 3.2-innings pitching stint as Barrington scored in every inning but the first while claiming the District 2 championship. Barrington will now advance to the four-team Rhode Island State Tournament beginning Saturday at Elmwood of Providence.

On Monday night, Barrington shrugged off an early 1-0 deficit to assume a 9-2 bulge in the fifth inning, but was forced to withstand two late comeback efforts by Rumford, which had advanced to the title round by winning four straight times in the tourney losers’ bracket after bowing in the opening round. Seven different Barrington players recorded hits in the contest -- paced by Scorpio and Will Panarello’s two-hit effort – while pitchers Maher, Panarello, Nico Salvaggio and Kevin Gower – limited Rumford to seven hits while notching eight strikeouts.

The remainder of Barrington’s roster includes Tucker Flint, Deven Connors, Bo Vanier, Ben Silvia, Scott Dickervitz, George Connelly, Cole Jarret, Manager Tom Gower and coaches Mike Panarello and Kevin Salvaggio.

Seemingly in control with a 9-2 advantage in the bottom of the fifth frame, Barrington nearly let Rumford back in the game. Two errors and a walk filled the bases with no outs, but Panarello nearly extricated himself from the major jam by whiffing the next two hitters.

However, Nate Pimental beat out an infield single to score one run, Alex Flowers blooped a two-run single to right field and Tyler Barros rifled a run-scoring single to left field to narrow the gap to 9-6 before Salvaggio came on and induced Mitchell Boyer to pop out ending the stanza.

Barrington added three insurance tallies in the top of the sixth inning – all with two outs – when Vanier and Silvia both drew bases-loaded walks and Connors raced home on a wild pitch. In all, Rumford pitchers Colby Paiva, Joey Rego and Nate Pimental teamed up to walk five batters – four of whom eventually scored – and uncorked six wild pitches, four of which produced runs.

Salvaggio sandwiched two walks around a hit batsman opening the bottom of the final chapter, but Gower came out of the bullpen to coerce three successive groundouts – the second of which resulted in a run – to end the game.

Rumford took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Ben Kalliher (two hits) beat out an infield roller, advanced on two wild pitches and later counted on Rego’s single. Barrington took the lead for good at 3-1 in the second frame when Connors sprinted home on a wild pitch, pinch-runner Dickervitz stole home when Rumford botched a rundown, and Silvia singled home Vanier.

Rumford got one back in its half of the same stanza when Paiva singled home pinch-runner Boyer, but Anthony Miller was cut down at the plate on the same play on a relay from Gower to Panarello to Flint to finish the frame. Scorpio opened the third inning by launching a Rego delivery over the center field fence and Maher doubled home Jarret later in the inning to create a 5-2 bulge.

Barrington generated two more runs in the fourth chapter when Panarello singled home Salvaggio and later slid home on a wild pitch. Gower’s double rescued Vanier in the fifth session and Gower later tallied on a wild pitch to give his club its 9-2 edge.

At the conclusion of the game, players on both teams received Little League medallions from Bob Walker, District 2 Administrator, and Barrington was offered the 2011 District 2 championship banner.

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