Allentown 11’s eliminated

Tobie’s boys finish 1-3

By: Kyle Moylan
   Going into the top of the sixth inning this past Saturday at home, the Allentown 11-year-olds were still very much alive for a spot in the final round of the District 12 Tournament.
   Unfortunately, for Allentown to advance it needed Bordentown to score more runs and then stage a dramatic comeback in the bottom of the inning.
   When Bordentown only scored one run in the sixth, it made winning more likely but advancing almost impossible for Allentown. That’s why you have to love Little League tiebreakers.
   "I tried to figure it all out, but I don’t do math," Allentown Coach Rich Tobie said.
   If Allentown had won (Bordentown was victorious 4-2), it would have forced a three-way tie. Since Bordentown, HTRBA and Allentown all would have been 1-1 in head-to-head play against each other, the next tiebreaker was runs allowed. Allentown needed to score enough against Bordentown to make sure HTRBA advanced on runs allowed. Allentown then could have grabbed the last playoff slot with a win based on head-to-head play against Bordentown. The only trouble was, Bordentown was the visitor and up 3-1 going into the sixth. So if it didn’t score at least three runs in the sixth, Allentown, as the home team, would win any game before it scored enough runs to advance. Unless, of course, it could get close enough to where a walk-off grand slam would’ve turned the trick.
   Got all that?
   "It’s just better to play the game and not think about all that," Tobie laughed.
   And not dwelling on all the crazy scenarios, Allentown played quite well. It was the second outstanding pitching outing in the tournament for Brandon Sherry, who allowed only two runs (one earned) in four innings of work. Sherry also pitched very well in a 3-1 loss to HTRBA.
   "Either of those games could have gone either way," noted Coach Adam Sherry. "The pitching was pretty solid for us."
   John Bardwil picked up Allentown’s win in a 14-4 victory against Cranbury. A 9-1 setback to Ewing was the only time Allentown couldn’t keep the opposition down.
   Allentown also had a decent offense, but Bordentown was making all the plays, including three nice catches in center field in the fifth. Good defensive plays by Bordentown also kept Allentown off the scoreboard in the first and fourth.
   In the third, Bardwil singled and scored on a single by Sherry. John Patrylow, who had doubled in the fourth, scored a run in the sixth on a double by Trevor Sullivan. Allentown ended up loading the bases in the sixth, so a blast would’ve forced calculators to come out to determine the advancing teams.
   The members of Allentown’s tournament team are John Bardwil, Pete Marsicano, Brian Tobie, Brandon Sherry, Alex Valentino, Jake Failla, John Patrylow, Ryan Shaw, Trevor Sullivan, Ed Rittenhouse, Tony Martone and Billy Polcari.
   "As far as I’m concerned, these guys all came through," Coach Tobie said. "They are all really good players and it was a pleasure to coach them."
   WASHINGTON
   After winning its first game 9-7 against Princeton, Washington lost its next three to finish 1-3 in pool play. Washington was defeated by Nottingham (10-0), West Windsor (11-0) and Sunnybrae (12-1).