By Mike White
Staff Writer
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The Jackson Bombers 13-year-old baseball team capped its summer season by spending nearly a week squaring off against top-notch competition from around the United States in a tournament at the State University of New York at Oneonta.
Jackson finished the eight-game event with an overall mark of 3-5. Coaches Kevin Johnson, George Guarino and Ray Bellino felt the trip was a great opportunity for the Bombers to test their mettle in a top-flight tournament. In addition, the kids had the chance to spend time at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
"The whole coaching staff was real pleased with the way this team performed on this trip," Johnson said. "We faced off against a number of real solid teams. We ended up playing the top seed in the event two times. We lost to them twice by a single run. We beat one of the teams that eventually advanced to the championship game. It was a very productive week of baseball for us."
Jackson notched victories over teams from Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts, but it was in a few of the losses that most of the learning took place, Johnson said.
In the seventh game of the tournament, Jackson squared off against the Virginia Vipers. The Bombers suffered a heartbreaking 5-4 loss in 11 innings. All games were scheduled for six innings, but the setback proved to be one of Jackson’s best outings, along with being highlighted as one of the most exciting games of the entire tournament.
"It was just an amazing game," said Johnson, whose team had lost to the Vipers 1-0 earlier in the event. "We made so many amazing defensive plays and worked out of so many trouble spots in that game, it was incredible. White had people coming from all around to catch the last few innings of that game. Even though it was a disappointing loss, the kids got a great deal from it."
In the opening game of the event, Jackson posted a 6-5 win over the Lancaster Road Dogs, a team that eventually made it to the finals.
The Bombers scored three runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to rally for the win. In the sixth inning, Craig Turner led off with a single and later scored on Ryan Guarino’s RBI triple. Guarino scored the game-winning run on a passed ball.
Brendon Stilwell singled to open the fifth inning and came around to score on Ed Jennings’ RBI double. Jennings scored on an error and Corey Johnson walked and later scored on a passed ball.
Stilwell, Kevin Scattergood and Rob Burke all tossed two innings to combine for the win.
"It was a nice feeling to get that first game under our belts," Johnson said. "It gave us a little momentum and confidence heading into the rest of the week. We lost to the top team by one run twice, and knocked off a team that went to the championship game. What more can I say, we were right there with some of the best teams in the tournament."
The opening-game win was followed by losses to Lower Bucks County (5-3), Virginia (1-0), New Jersey (12-0) and the California Storm (9-2).
Jackson then knocked off the Valley Stream Hawks, 9-7. Scattergood and Burke each poked two hits to spark a pair of four-run innings for the Bombers.
Jackson used a three-run first inning en route to a 5-3 victory over the Massachusetts Thunder in the final game of the tournament.
Turner, Scattergood and Guarino all singled in the opening frame to stake Jackson an early cushion.
Burke, Jennings and Steve Spino all combined to get the win.
Scattergood led the team in batting average for the event, getting six hits in 17 at-bats for a .353 mark. He also had a .450 on-base percentage and drove in four runs.
Guarino was 6-for-19 (.316) and led the team with three extra base hits and seven RBIs. Stilwell had an on-base percentage of over .400.
"We had a number of guys put forth great efforts," Johnson said.
Other team members include Joe Abarno, Eric Bellino, Roger Cooney and Ken Passarelli.
"We got contributions from everybody," Johnson said. "I think it was a good experience for our guys."