Bordentown 11’s hoping to follow the 12’s lead

By: Sean Moylan
   After the Bordentown 11-year-olds defeated host Allentown, 4-2, on Saturday to finish pool play 3-1 and clinch a spot in the District 12 Little League final round, Austin Goeke had a Nostradamus moment.
   "The 12-year-olds are going to win tonight and become the first Bordentown team to ever win a District title," Goeke said.
   Bordentown’s 12-year-olds did win a district title that night, sweeping a doubleheader from Nottingham. But Goeke didn’t stop there with his predictions.
   Which Bordentown will be the second one to ever win a District 12 title, Austin?
   "We’ll be the second one," Goeke smiled.
   Goeke had reason to smile after the way he pitched. Bordentown needed a great game from him and he delivered. If Bordentown had lost and given up more than six runs, it would have been eliminated based on various Little League tiebreakers.
   "We were just concerned about winning the game," Bordentown Manager Pat Welsh said. "We knew it wouldn’t come down to a tiebreaker (runs allowed) if we just went out and won the game. Just winning the game was our focus."
   And thanks to Goeke and Nick Callahan, Bordentown did that. Because of Goeke’s pitch count, Callahan needed to get the final two outs to complete the win.
   "He (Goeke) was setting up his pitches and working to (the catcher’s) glove," Welsh said. "We also have outstanding defense." Cole Clauser had an especially good defensive game in center field.
   The Bordentown offense is also pretty good. Zack Gakeler singled in a run in the first and doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Goeke in the fifth. Cody Chorba had two hits and a run scored. Tyler Revay had a single and RBI.
   After dropping its opener versus Ewing, Bordentown won its next three games.
   Bordentown started its run with a 15-0 win over Cranbury-Plainsboro at HTRBA on July 11.
   "Austin Goeke threw a four-inning no-hitter," noted Pat Welsh. Tommy Walters powered Bordentown’s big attack by hitting his first homer of the tournament.
   Bordentown followed up that big win with a 5-0 victory over HTRBA at Bordentown last Thursday. Zack Gakeler had seven strikeouts and earned the win. Austin Papp closed the game out and fanned two. Gakeler also doubled and knocked in a run while Papp smacked out a couple of hits and knocked in a run. Goeke and Revay each had a hit and drove in a run for the winners.
   On Tuesday night, Bordentown and West Windsor hooked up in the opener of the second round of the District 12 Tournament. The game, however, was suspended after six innings with the score knotted at 3-3 because of a rule that no inning can start after 11p.m.
   "Gakeler started and then Papp came in the game," said Welsh, who planned on using Callahan to pitch the remainder of the contest, which was set to resume yesterday (Wednesday).
   Bordentown’s schedule for the rest of the week will be determined by the result of last night’s game.