Ewing able to overcome Bizenov blasts
By: Justin Feil
HAMILTON The sight of David Bizenov on deck in the bottom of the sixth must have put a little fear in the Ewing 12-year-old all-star baseball team.
Bizenov, who has made an out just once so far in the District 12 Little League Tournament on a sacrifice fly that still scored a run, may be the most feared hitter in the West Windsor 12-year-old all-star baseball team lineup but he’s far from the only hitter.
"One to 12, we can hit," said WW manager Scott Demouth. "We just have to work on defense more."
Bizenov and the West Windsor offense provided what would seem to be enough runs against most teams, but in the most competitive pool in District 12, it wasn’t quite enough to overcome another strong offensive team in a 13-9 loss to Ewing in Pool B play Sunday.
Bizenov did everything he could to give West Windsor a chance. After surrendering three runs in the first inning, he got two of them back himself in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run blast.
"I just tried to hold back and I was able to get a good swing on it," said the WW clean-up hitter, who drove a curveball over the left-field fence for his squad’s first runs of the game.
Ewing pushed its lead to 5-2 in the top of the third, but WW answered with an unearned run. Ewing avoided any further damage by intentionally walking Bizenov and then getting the third out. Bizenov’s defense delivered a scoreless fourth with a nifty 2-3-6 double play in which Chris Baxter fielded a potential sacrifice bunt, fired to Adam Charnin-Aker at first base for one out and Charnin-Aker threw a strike across the diamond to shortstop Ryan Demouth, covering third, for the final out. That play carried over to the bottom half of the inning when West Windsor’s bottom half of the lineup showed just how potent its offense is.
Jesse Carnegie came off the bench for a leadoff ground rule double over the fence before No. 7 hitter Joe Rosa beat out a base hit. Carnegie scored on a double steal and with one out, West Windsor’s final substitute, Phil Charles, nailed a two-run home run to give his team a 6-5 lead.
The top of the fifth was a turning point. It began innocently with a groundout, but Ewing then walked and singled for two runners. A dribbler loaded the bases and another slow roller scored two when the throw went over Baxter’s head. A wild pitch scored a third run in the inning and the fourth run scored when Ewing escaped a pick-off.
"The big one was the fifth," Scott Demouth said. "We had the lead, and we had them doubting themselves a little bit. But then we gave up four runs. That kind of lost a little bit of our momentum."
West Windsor’s only answer in the bottom of the fifth inning was Bizenov, who slammed his second home run of the game, this one to center field. He appeared to actually be fooled by the pitch somewhat, but muscled it over.
"It felt good," Bizenov said, adding of his two-dinger day, "I did it once in the (regular) season. I just waited on it. It was a slow fastball. He just left it over the plate."
West Windsor could not find any more offense until the bottom of the sixth, and by then they trailed, 13-7, after Ewing scored four more times in the top half of the inning.
"They’re just a good team," said Bizenov, who pitched the first five innings. "They kept getting hits and played solid D’. We were close. We just couldn’t hold it at the end."
West Windsor managed to creep a little closer when Joe Rosa led off the sixth with a triple to right and Neal DeVincenzo singled him home. Baxter singled and Demouth walked. With the bases loaded, Charnin-Aker drove home one run with a sacrifice fly but Ewing threw out a runner behind the play to end the game with Bizenov due to bat next.
"We did that a couple times," the elder Demouth said of running into an out. "We also had some good base running. We made two mistakes and they hurt. That last one hurt because it was the last out, but giving up eight runs in the last two innings, that’s what really hurt us. That’s what lost the game."
It was quite a contrast defensively from the shutout that West Windsor recorded in its tournament opener. But offensively, it was further proof that they can hit with the best teams in the district. Offensively, they did enough to beat Ewing.
"We gave it away the last two innings," Demouth said. "We had them 6-5 and they scored four runs without getting a ball out of the infield. We misplayed a few and we had a few errors.
"We were right there with them. They’re one of the best teams in the district. We showed we can play with them. Now we have to win our next two and get another crack at them."
West Windsor will have to defeat Washington Township 8 p.m. tonight at Washington and West End on Wednesday at Ward Field to advance to the Final Nine. That would give them another opportunity to take on Ewing.
"I’d like to try to beat them again," said Bizenov.
Ewing may not share that hope of a rematch. West Windsor opponents know they’ll have their work cut out on the defensive side, whether they focus on Bizenov or not.
"I have a lot of guys who had multiple home runs this year," Demouth said. "Even at the top of the order, we have some pop in what’s supposed to be the smaller guys. They can pitch around David, but they can’t pitch around everybody."
Not with so many proven hitters in the West Windsor 12-year-old all-star lineup.