HTRBA’s Dan Leon smiles as he rounds first base after hitting a grand slam against Nottingham LL. Photo by John Blaine.
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
July 1: Mike Septak was going to take Noali Ortiz’s word for it.
With Ortiz running on fumes on a brutally hot day, he needed to get three outs while allowing a maximum of three runs to clinch a huge District 12 Little League victory for HTRBA.
Ortiz did it with a run to spare, gutting it out to the end in pitching the Mercerville Maulers to a 10-8 win over Nottingham at Van Horn Field today. HTRBA advances to Tuesday’s 8 p.m. winner’s bracket final against Lawrence, which also had to hold for 12-11 win over Bordentown in the day’s first game.
The tripleheader wrapped up with Sunnybrae being eliminated by Robbinsville, 10-0.
“We were gonna let (Ortiz) reach his pitch count (of 85), and he ended up three shy,” Septak said.
HTRBA pitcher Noali Ortiz delivers to the plate. Photo by John Blaine
And what gave him the confidence to stick with his hurler?
“We asked him if he wanted to come out,” Septak said. “And he said ‘No, I want to go back in.’”
Nottingham, which deserves a ton of credit for battling back, nearly pulled it off. Trailing 10-6, Jake Pope (4 hits, 3 runs) led off with a double and Christian Finacchio (2 hits, 2 runs, 3 RBI) hit a run-scoring single. Ryan White then got called out on a razor close play that could have gone either way.
Deacon Bowne (2 hits, 2 RBI) followed with an RBI single to make it 10-8, bringing the tying run to the plate. Ortiz took a breath, got a line drive to right field and a squibber in front of the plate that catcher Dan Leon grabbed and threw to first to end it.
It was only fitting Leon was in on the final play, since his bat carried the brunt of HTRBA’s load. The 11-year-old went 4-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored, serving notice the defending 12-year-old champs are not giving up their title without a battle.
HTRBA celebrates at the plate after Dan Leon’s Grand Slam. Photo by John Blaine.
“To beat Nottingham is huge,” Septak said just prior to being doused with ice water by his players. “They always play us tough, every team we play is tough. We just have it in these kids’ minds that we’re a six- inning team. We gotta play six. We just battled, and the team with the less mistakes today was going to win the game.”
After Nottingham took a 1-0 lead on an unearned run in the first, HTRBA took advantage of some little hits for a big inning.
Tim Griegel and Mikey Septak led off with bloop singles and Cole Pukala got an infield single to load he bases. Brandon Rigas then squibbed a ball that no one could make a play on, and the game was tied.
Justin Allen followed with a fielder’s choice RBI and, little did anyone realize at the time, but the Maulers had the lead for good. Ortiz followed with an RBI single to make it 3-1. After Chris Babkowski walked, Leon put one over the left field fence for his first homer of the year.
“I wasn’t really trying to hit a home run, but usually when I don’t it just happens,” said the slugger, who also earned an ice water bath. “I just tried to put the ball in play. I was really excited when it went out.”
HTRBA got some key insurance in the fourth when Ortiz led off with his second hit of the day from the leadoff spot.
“I just try to get on any way I can; walks or base hits,” said Ortiz, the lone returnee from last year’s team, who will turn 12 on Tuesday.
Babkowski followed with the first of his two hits and Leon delivered an RBI single. Babkowski scored on a wild pitch, and Griegel’s fielder’s choice RBI made it 10-1.
Nottingham pitcher Danny Graziano delivers to the plate against HTRBA. Photo by John Blaine.
Nottingham started its comeback in the fourth when Aiden Chulamanis hit a leadoff single and Gennaro Salzano reached on an error. Ortiz then got two outs before Pope hit an RBI single, Finacchio had a two-run single, Ryan White rapped an RBI double and Bowne had a run-scoring single.
Nottingham looked to keep the momentum going in the fifth when Dan Graziano singled and reached third with no outs. But Ortiz got a strikeout, pop-up and fly ball to escape. That set up the tense sixth, when Ortiz showed what he was made of.
“I’ve been saying since the beginning we’re a six-inning team,” Septak said. “We can’t let up, we gotta play for 18 outs. It’s hot, but it’s hot for both sides.”
Should HTRBA defeat Lawrence Tuesday, it will not play again until Saturday, and will have two opportunities to win one game. Conversely, Nottingham must now win on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
“I’m happy with the progress but Tuesday’s gonna be another game for us and we re-set every day,” Septak said. “We’ll have different kids out in the field. Today’s lineup was different than the first game’s lineup.”
So far, each lineup has done the job.
