Princeton makes plays to edge Sunnybrae

Keeps alive chance of reaching district baseball Final Nine

By: Bob Nuse
   HAMILTON — Billy Ray didn’t want the District 12 Little League Tournament to end without seeing his Princeton 12-year-old team put forth its best effort.
   He got his wish on Sunday.
   Thanks to some great pitching from Mike Dunlap, timely hitting from Michael Ray, and good defense from more than one source, Princeton topped Sunnybrae, 2-1, to stay alive in Pool B of the District 12 tournament.
   "We needed this win," said Ray, whose team improved to 1-2 in pool play. "We’ve been playing well, even though the scores don’t reflect it. This was a game we needed to win."
   Princeton had opened the tournament with an 11-2 loss to Florence, then dropped a 13-3 decision to Cranbury-Plainsboro on Saturday. In order to keep their hopes alive to advance to the Final Nine, Princeton needed a win over a Sunnybrae team that had beaten C-P, 14-1 on Friday.
   With the win, Princeton headed into Monday’s game against winless Chambersburg knowing that a win could very well land it in the top three of Pool B, earning a spot in the Final Nine.
   "For myself and Rick (Hrabchak, the Princeton coach), this is the end of our 12s experience," Ray said. "To have a meaningful game, this is the best way to go out. We’re in a position now where we have a chance to control things ourselves."
   Princeton was in that position for a variety of reasons.
   One was the pitching of Dunlap, who gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, then kept Sunnybrae off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Dunlap allowed just five more hits the way, striking out two and not walking a batter.
   "I just want to thank my coaches and teammates for backing me up," Dunlap said. "I don’t really walk or strike out a lot of people. I just try to get outs. I didn’t feel any pressure. They backed me up. I threw a lot of fastballs today."
   While Dunlap was keeping Sunnybrae off the scoreboard, Michael Ray got Princeton on the board. He delivered a two-out single in the second inning that scored Clay Censits for the first run, then had an infield single in the fourth that again scored Censits to give Princeton the lead.
   "I had been in a slump my past few games and I felt pretty good because I had two hits," the manager’s son said. "So I’m pretty happy. On the last one, it was a close play and he was almost there first.
   "It’s cool because we’re in districts and it’s my last year and now we have a chance to move on."
   Even with the pitching and hitting heroics, Princeton needed a nifty defensive play to end the game. With two outs in the top of the sixth and Sunnybrae runners at first and third, Alex Kim’s head’s up play stopped a double-steal attempt for the final out.
   The Sunnybrae runner on first broke for second, Kim then fired to Censits at first base when the runner stopped between first and second. When the runner on third broke for home, Censits fired back to Kim, who had held his ground at the plate. The runner stopped and headed back to third, with Kim firing a strike to George Blinick, who applied the tag to end the game.
   "I was just hoping not to make an error," Kim said. "Our first baseman made a nice play. And then when the runner started going back, I just threw it down to third and George made a great tag."
   And Princeton’s hopes of advancing out of Pool B lived on for another day. A couple of clutch hits, some nice defense and most of all, a great pitching effort, will do that for you.
   "Sunnybrae can hit," Ray said. "Mike has been in twice already and he’s not used to pitching in relief. I had him in relief and he got hit early. He has a starter’s mentality and it showed today. The first kid hit a home run and then look what he did after that. He shuts down Sunnybrae the rest of the way. That is impressive. The first hitter was their only run."
   And there was nearly a second run, but some good defense nipped that run in the bud.
   "I had called for Alex to throw him out at second if he went," Ray said. "And they knew my catcher has a great arm. We work on that a lot and we executed the play well. That’s a great way to end the game."
   And vaulted Princeton into position to have one more chance to play a meaningful game.
   "We have a shot," Ray said. "We’re very comfortable with that."