Down four runs in the bottom of the fifth, Clairol rallied in the final frames for a walk-off 5-4 victory over Carpentry Unlimited to capture the Springdale Little League championship on June 14.
The title-game comeback served as a microcosm for Clairol’s season. The team, which had handily won the league championship the two prior seasons, started this spring with four straight losses then reeled off 16 wins before defeating first-half winner Carpentry.
Clairol may be the first “three-peat” champion in Springdale’s 60-year Little League history, according to the team’s manager Joe “Junie” Deleo, a Springdale coach for 47 years.
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The Springdale champs are scheduled to face Viking Construction, winners of the North Stamford Little League title, in the first round of the Stamford city “Tournament of Champions” at 5:45 p.m. Thursday, June 20, at Chestnut Hill Park on Chestnut Hill Road in North Stamford.
Carpentry controlled the game early with yet another strong pitching performance by lefty Matt Tiplady, who exhibited poise and control throughout. In his four-plus innings, he allowed only a few scattered hits without any walks and struck out five, including one with runners in scoring position to end the first.
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However, Clairol began its comeback as Tiplady neared his pitch-count limit in the fifth then stepped it up once he had been removed.
Joey Price, who started on the mound for Clairol, opened the rally with the second of his three hits on the night. Following an error that added a runner on base and a putout on a fielder’s choice, Ben Servedio doubled to right center to bring home Price for Clairol’s first run. Second baseman Calvin McKeever, down to his last strike, drove a high fastball deep into right center for a two-run double to make it 4-3.
Servedio, who relieved Price the previous inning and eventually notched the win, retired Carpentry on two strikeouts and a fine play by third baseman Jay Daniel to set up the team’s final at-bat.
Clairol right fielder Dave Marciczkiewicz dropped a perfect bunt to start the bottom of the sixth with a single. Following an out, Price ripped a shot to right to bring in the tying run from first. Carpentry intentional walked Jelani Jackson before center fielder Chris Price beat out an infield single to load the bases.
After the next batter struck out, McKeever stepped up and cracked a hard grounder through the right side of the infield to plate the winning run for Clairol.
Carpentry collected its first run when Joe Johnson, who had reached base on a deep double, scored on a double play in the third. In the fourth, infielder Pete Johnson drove in two on a single. Jack Hoch drove in the final Carpentry run in the fifth on a sharp single to left, scoring Tiplady who had leadoff with a single.
In other Springdale Major League action …
Abercrombie 18, RMS Construction 15 (8 innings) - June 8
Abercrombie, Burns, McKiernan & Co. Insurance outlasted RMS Construction in an 18-15 extra-inning slugfest.
Dylan Cocomo gave Abercrombie the final lead with a two-RBI single. John Fahan, Adrian Nunez and Jordan Nunez had multiple hits for the winners while added offense came from Andrea O'Connor, A.J. Rakoczy, Sebastian Delos Santos, Joe Nathanson and Matt O'Connor.
Erik Bannister led RMS with five hits, followed closely by Drew Papp’s four. Jay Nieves (two doubles), Javier Peters (triple), Todd Guttman and Matt Mattioli each had two hits. Anthony Karwaski made two great catches in right to keep the score close. Justin Palmer, Brian Wei and Ethan Wilburn turned fine defensive plays in the field.
Clairol 6, Boot Camp 3 - June 11
Clutch hitting and errorless ball helped Clairol kick Boot Camp 6-3 on June 11.
Clairol collected only five hits with Calvin McKeever pounding three, including a triple and two-out, two-RBI single. Tyler Gillman executed a perfect squeeze bunt and Chris Price added an RBI single.
Boot Camp’s Robert Smeriglio and Evan Field struck out nine in their pitching performance. Ben Nash, Ryan Lionetti (double) and Evan Field collected two hits each for Boot Camp while Max Goldfluss and Christian Tarzia chipped in with singles.
Instant Replay 7, Abercrombie 6 – June 11
Two-hit games for Sterling Gregg (three RBIs, run scored), Matt Jester (two RBIs, run) and Mike Smolak (RBI, two runs) helped Instant Replay edge Abercrombie, Burns, McKiernan & Co. Insurance 7-6 on June 11.
Jaden Dawkins, Dom Demasi, Ian Macari and Tyler Tuccinardi added singles while Anthony Possidento and Anthony Lueck each scored key runs for IR. Jay Lockwood and Brenden Mulvany played well defensively.
A.J. Rakoczy’s two-hit, two-RBI performance lead Abercrombie’s offense. Adrian Nunez had two hits and an RBI while Andrea O’ Connor had two RBIs and a hit. Matt O’Connor (RBI) and John Fahan added hits.
Clairol 10, Boot Camp 5 - June 12
Clairol’s bats awoke mid-game as relief pitcher Chris Price recovered from a shaky first inning of work to only allow two runs on two hits over the final five innings to beat Boot Camp 10-5 on June 12.
Joey Price led the winners with three hits and three runs scored. Tyler Gillman cracked a double and a single for Clairol while Calvin McKeever delivered a two-out RBI single. Jelani Jackson, Chris Price and Ben Servedio added key base hits.
Boot Camp had only four hits but capitalized on early wildness by Clairol pitchers. Robert Smeriglio, who made a great running catch in deep centerfield earlier, had an RBI single. Max Goldfluss (RBI double), Austin Byrnes and Jason Marchese added singles.
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Final league standings at http://springdalell.com/Standings.asp?org=springdalell.com
-- Compiled by Kevin McKeever, Write On Kevin! Communications
