By: Sean Moylan
The greatest run in the history of Bordentown Little League baseball did not end with a whimper. It ended with three bangs.
After falling behind 5-0 in Monday’s Section 3 championship game versus Jackson at Chambersburg’s Catherine Ford Field, Marshall Harden and Cullen Carter hit back-to-back homers in a three-run fourth and then Patrick Donohue homered in the fifth. Nonetheless, a powerful Jackson squad still had just enough gas in its tank to nip Bordentown, 5-4, and win the Section 3 title.
Donohue, who was coming off a sensational 2-0 pitching performance versus Brielle-Mannasquan, earned the start and pitched well as he fanned four, walked just one and gave up four hits in three frames of work. Unfortunately, Bordentown, which is a team known for its phenomenal defense, made three errors which led to three of the five runs Donohue surrendered being unearned.
Ryan McGowan came in to toss two scoreless frames of relief, which enabled Bordentown to hold Jackson and mount its furious comeback. He gave up just two hits and struck out a batter. McGowan went 2-for-3 at the plate and tried to start a sixth-inning rally with a one-out hit to left. Donohue, a tough competitor, also had two base knocks and swiped a base. Alec Tripodi had a double.
After Jackson scored four in the bottom of the third, Harden and Carter cracked back-to-back jacks to lead off the fourth and chase starter Keith Jennings from the contest. Zach "Home Run" Mesday was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a McGowan single. Both runners advanced a base on a passed ball and Mesday scored on a sac fly by Mike Kendall.
On defense, Connor Young made a nice catch in left field.
500 strong came out to cheer for Bordentown, including the players and coaches from Bordentown’s successful 10 and 11 year-old Little League all-star squads. Charlie Rad, Bordentown’s number one fan, led the crowd in several loud cheers. Although Bordentown outhit Jackson 8-6 and dominated the final few innings, Russ Harden’s great squad fell a little short of its goal of winning a Section 3 title.
Because of heavy rains most of the day, many thought the game wouldn’t even be played. But by late Monday afternoon, the rain stopped and the crew at Chambersburg did a good job of getting the field ready for play.
Bordentown could have actually won the title on Sunday. Instead, Jackson starter Jake Harlinski hurled a terrific game and beat Bordentown, 15-1. However, if they played the contest by last year’s rules it would have probably been just a four- or five-run game.
Harden started for Bordentown and looked great while striking out nine batters in just four innings. He gave up a run in the first on an RBI double, but then he pitched around a pair of errors to escape the second frame unscathed. In the third he surrendered a two-run homer to Harlinski, but even then there was a mix-up on that play.
"I knew who could hit home runs. It was just a missed call," said Bordentown manager Russ Harden, who calls his son’s pitches.
Harden kept Jackson off the scoreboard in the fourth with a clutch strikeout. However, after walking the leadoff hitter in the fifth, Harden had reached the 85 pitch maximum and had to be lifted. While Mesday and Tripodi gave everything they had on the mound, the hard-hitting Jackson club came alive and scored 13 runs in the final two frames.
"Once we got punched in the mouth, no one had any fight left in them for anything," said Harden, whose club was flat for the first time since the last game of District 12 Pool play versus Nottingham. Happily, Bordentown got its energy back and played well in the finale.
Donohue actually had a pretty good game on Sunday with a double to left the third and he singled up the middle in the sixth.
Nick "Hoover" Hammell reached on a force play at second and later came around to score Bordentown’s lone run on a sixth-inning error. McGowan smacked a hard single to right in the second.
Nevertheless, it’s been Bordentown baseball’s most successful summer ever. The 12’s won their first District 12 baseball title ever and came within a run of winning Section 3. Bordentown was the second best club out of 77 Section 3 baseball teams. And that’s not too shabby.
Reserves Chris Limani and Sunni Singh did a good job throughout the tournament. And Chris Hammell was a terrific assistant coach for Harden, who is the best manager in Bordentown Little League baseball history.
TOURNAMENT
The 2007 Bordentown 12-year-old Little league all-star baseball team will forever be known as a championship club with great heart.
And no Bordentown player ever displayed more heart and pure determination than Pat Donohue did in pitching Bordentown to a 2-0 win over Brielle-Mannasquan last Thursday at Chambersburg’s Catherine Ford Field. The victory propelled Bordentown into a Section 3 championship game versus Jackson this past Sunday.
"It’s really cool, we’re the first people in Bordentown (baseball) to do it," said Donohue of reaching the Sectional finals.
Donohue struck out 11 batters, gave up just three hits and issued no walks during his complete game shutout. Even after the contest, Donohue, a perfectionist on the hill who has been playing baseball since he was 6, was still going over certain pitches in his head.
"I was mixing it up. Part of it was I knew I couldn’t leave my off speed pitches up," said Donohue, who was still a little bothered by a hanging change up he threw for a Brielle-Mannasquan hit early in the game.
It was a tight game all the way, but in the third inning Bordentown’s Cullen Carter broke a scoreless deadlock with a two-out home run to dead center.
"I got out of my slump and started hitting. It was a fastball high and in," said Carter, who had been pulling off the ball. Carter’s homer almost didn’t even happen.
"I gave him (Carter) the take sign on 2-0 and he hit it out," smiled Bordentown manager Russ Harden, who was happy to see Carter end his mini-slump. "He puts the work in the cage and he listens to Chris (Hammell) and I."
Previously, Carter had a couple of multiple home run games in District 12 pool play. And everyone in Bordentown loves Cullen Carter, including Donohue.
"After Cullen hit that home run, I was confident we’d win," said Donohue, who threw just 69 pitches. "I was pretty happy. I knew all I needed was just one run."
Zach "Home Run" Mesday (1-for-3) scored an insurance run for Bordentown in the top of the sixth on an Alec Tripodi base hit. But this was Donohue and Carter’s showcase.
"He (Donohue) made it easy. When he has all his pitches working, a lot can happen," said Harden, who felt Donohue couldn’t have been any better.

