District play ends for E.W. baseball 10’s

By: Sean Moylan
   Had Sunday’s District 12 game between Florence and the East Windsor 10-year-old Little League All-Star baseball team been held on a 15 degree cooler day, it probably would have been far more closer contest.
   Florence used a big 10-run fourth inning to defeat East Windsor, 13-3 (by the 10-run mercy rule), at the East Windsor PAL Complex.
   Although the top of Florence’s batting order gave him some problems, East Windsor’s Grayson Petti had pitched very well entering the bottom of the fourth. He had picked up a couple of key strikeouts and he had used some excellent defense by second baseman Derek Navarro, shortstop Jonathan Lugo and first baseman Mark Ozoroski to hold Florence to just three runs over the first three frames.
   But with the temperature in the mid 90’s a lot of the players began showing signs of fatigue midway through Sunday’s game. Playing as hard as he could, Petti was all but exhausted by the fourth and he gave up a leadoff double and then walked the next batter. It was then, with the score knotted at 3-3, that East Windsor manager Jerry Petti made the decision to take his talented son out of the contest.
   "He (Petti) ran out of gas. He got tired and couldn’t get the ball over the plate," noted Petti. Florence’s hitters seemed very happy to see Petti go and they exploded for 10 runs in the frame to win the contest.
   In the first few frames, Hightstown put together some minor threats but could not plate a run.
   Catcher Peter Schinteler put down a nice one-out bunt single in the first but he was left stranded on base. Then in the third, Robbie Cohen, pinch-hitting for talented center fielder Luke Seitzer-Magsaden, walked and stole second.
   Trailing 3-0, East Windsor took a much more aggressive approach in the top of the fourth. Petti led off with a walk and then Ozoroski followed a single. And when the ball got loose on the play, Petti didn’t hesitate to take off and score East Windsor’s first run. Ozoroski then scored on Patrick McNulty’s RBI single. The next two East Windsor batters made outs, but McNulty made his way to third with a steal and Matt Conchar, pinch-hitting for right fielder Kevin Risch, walked. Then with Tommy Haddock at the plate, East Windsor pulled off a nifty double steal and McNulty scored the tying run on the play. The play was very well-executed with Haddock, the batter, playing a huge role in its success.
   Following the contest Petti was proud of many of the things his kids did on the field and commented, "Our defense was pretty good."
   East Windsor also got strong play from third baseman Daniel Petak and Kyle Carlisi throughout the tournament. And Julio Lugo and Larry Haddock were Petti’s stellar assistants.
   Unfortunately, East Windsor ended up going 0-4 in pool play. In last Saturday’s opener at Sunnybrae, Ewing slipped past East Windsor, 9-5. On Tuesday Bordentown beat East Windsor, 14-1, at Washington. And on Wednesday, Washington defeated East Windsor, 14-0, at Nottingham.