Early loss make title run more difficult
By: Bob Nuse
HAMILTON In the Babe Ruth 15-year-old District One Tournament, West Windsor-Plainsboro won four straight games to earn a championship.
If WW-P wants to capture the Southern New Jersey State Tournament championship, it will need to take a different route.
WW-P spotted Pennsville a 6-0 lead and dropped a 7-6 decision in its opening game on Friday night at Veterans Park in Hamilton. That meant the team needed to come out of the losers’ bracket and win seven straight games to capture the tournament title.
WW-P got the first two of the seven it needed over the weekend, topping Bayshore, 11-2, on Saturday and then Haddon Township, 13-3, on Sunday.
"We have to work on being focused every game no matter who we play," said Zach Donohue, who had two hits on Saturday and one on Sunday in helping WW-P to its two wins. "The whole day after we lost, we couldn’t believe what happened. We had that game and now we have a tough road ahead. But we’re up for the challenge.
"We’ve looked at every angle of this tournament and how it could go and we really feel like we can do this. I know the odds are against us, but we definitely feel like it is a possibility."
After a tough loss in the tournament’s first game, WW-P bounced back nicely to post a pair of relatively easy wins. On Saturday, pitchers Drew Trachtenberg and Chet Otis combined to hold Bayshore in check, while the offense produced six runs in the first two innings to set the tone.
Donohue, Alex Campbell, Ralph Aurora and Ryan Phelan finished with two hits apiece in a balanced offense.
On Sunday, WW-P scored four times in the first and four more times in the second to open an 8-0 lead and coast to a 13-3 win over Haddon Township. Evan Smith tossed four innings and allowed just one run on four hits.
The offense got started quickly and never let up. Aurora was on base four times and scored a pair of runs. Phelan, Will Edmonds and Donohue scored two runs apiece for WW-P, which received a 3-for-3 day from Dennis Cannon and two hits apiece from Aurora, Phelan and Campbell.
"We have a lot of depth in our lineup," said Smith, who benefited from the offensive output to earn the win on the mound. "Everyone is a good hitter and can play solid defense. And we have a lot of pitching depth. It’s tough losing that first game, but you get to play more baseball and we just have to go out there and play. We just need to go out there and win.
"Our offense helps us save some pitchers because we’ve been able to score so many runs."
WW-P was scheduled to resume play in the tournament Monday night against Atlantic Shore; with a win it would face the winner of the game between Southampton and Gibbsboro-Voorhees tonight at 6.
Eventually, WW-P would like another shot at Pennsville, which plays tournament host Nottingham in the winners’ bracket final tonight at 8:30. But to get there, it’ll need to keep on winning. So far, WW-P has looked pretty good doing it with players filling in and playing whatever role is needed.
"We’ve got a number of players that can play multiple positions and allow us to go deep into our pitching," WW-P manager Ted Phelan said. "It’s a good problem to have. During the districts we tried to minimize the changes. But now we have the flexibility and the ability to get guys in off the bench that can really swing the bats. It’s nice to see Jared (Rubenstein) get up and get a base hit off the bench. We’re emphasizing that when you get your opportunity, you have to make the most of it.
"Guys have stepped up and done well."
If they can do that five more times, WW-P will have completed the ultimate comeback in the tournament.
"We have a lot of pitchers," Donohue said. "Everybody on this team, if we need them to they can go out there and throw strikes. And that’s what we need."