The Spotswood Lightning 11-year-old all-star team had beaten a tough squad from South Brunswick 3-0 less than a week before seeing them again on Sunday in the championship game of the East Brunswick Little League tournament.
However, Coach John Berner said that his team realized that the previous game held no bearing on the outcome of Sunday’s final match-up.
"We played them several times this year, and they beat us three times," he said. "We managed to beat them the last time, but we knew Sunday’s game would be a battle."
And a battle it was, with the South Brunswick squad pulling out an extra-inning victory to claim the title.
"Our team was scratching, kicking and biting, but we came up one run short," Berner said.
The Lightning got on the board first in the top of the first when Willie Beard hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Michael Hohman, who had walked to lead off the inning.
South Brunswick tied the game up in the bottom of the third, on a walk, a hit, and an error.
The game remained tied at one until the top of the sixth, when Spotswood went to work again. Sean McSorley led off the inning with a hit, which was followed by a Garret Andren single. Both runners then advanced on a fielder’s choice from Kyle Winant. Conor Wantuch then laid down a bunt base hit to score McSorley from third, and give the Lightning a 2-1 lead.
That lead was short-lived, however, as the South Brunswick squad came right back in their half of the inning to score on back-to-back doubles.
The score remained tied at 2-2 until the bottom of the eighth inning, when South Brunswick loaded the bases with one out. Spotswood brought their infield in to try to cut off the run at the plate, but their strategy was thwarted when the South Brunswick batter hit a long fly ball to center field, scoring the winning run.
"As soon as he hit the ball, we knew it was over," Berner said. "But we played hard and gave it our best. It was a well-played, exciting game between two very good teams who share the utmost respect for one another."
Sunday’s game marks the second time the Lightning have lost a championship game in extra innings. They recently fell to Woodbridge in the ninth inning of the Clara Barton championship final.
"We have been a hit, bounce or a break away," Berner said.
Nevertheless, the Lightning walk away from Sunday’s game knowing they had a successful season, in which they demonstrated enough resilience to fight their way out of the loser’s brackets of two separate tournaments on their way to competing for a league title.
"We’re very proud of the way our kids played throughout the tournaments," Berner said. The remainder of the team included infielders Michael Turitto and outfielders Kyle Kolbasowski, David Bull and Lee Snure.