By Tony Piscotta, Special Writer
HAMILTON SQUARE — The West Windsor Little League 12-year-old baseball team will have to wait at least one more night to win its first District 12 championship since 2010, but if nothing else this team has proved it will not go away quietly.
The winner’s bracket champions fell behind early after Nottingham scored five runs in the second inning, but pitchers Ian Muni and Jack Dileo kept the defending champs off the board the rest of the way.
While West Windsor’s late comeback fell short, the 5-3 loss showed they can play with the perennial champs and should have given the team confidence heading into a winner-take-all rematch that was scheduled for Thursday at Nottingham’s James Reed Field.
”I think they’ll be fine. They’ll be up for tomorrow,” West Windsor manager Sean Bluni said after the loss. “A couple of kids were upset there at the end but I feel good about them. They’re going to come out and they’re going to play hard. It was a close game. They played hard so they feel good about it. I know we’re going to come out and play well tomorrow and I know they will too. I expect another game like this.”
The game was the second meeting between the two teams as West Windsor defeated Nottingham, 7-6, earlier in the tournament to send Nottingham into the elimination bracket.
Ironically, in that game West Windsor scored all seven runs of its runs in the bottom of the second inning and then held off a furious charge from Nottingham; which scored four runs in the sixth before WW got the final out.
This time it would be the top of the second that did in West Windsor as Nottingham scored all five of its runs in that inning.
West Windsor lefty Muni pitched five innings the first time the two teams met and shut Nottingham down and it looked like it would be much the same when he set down Nottingham in order in the first.
West Windsor took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the inning. Jude Ferri, who walked twice and singled in three plate appearances and made a couple of highlight reel plays at shortstop, drew a leadoff walk but then was erased on Luke Potts’ fielder’s choice. Potts went to second on a wild pitch and scored when Jack Dileo laced a single through the box and into centerfield.
Any excitement was short-lived as Nottingham’s first two batters Jacob Sloss and Spencer Conti had back-to-back doubles to tie the game. Before the inning ended Nottingham would send ten batters to the plate, and belt out six hits — highlighted by Justin Brunow’s long two-run home run to center.
But unlike last year, when Nottingham rolled to victory in the 11-year-old tournament, West Windsor would regain its composure and get back into the game.
”Since before the tournament started that’s what we’ve really been trying to work with the kids on,” said Bluni. “Last year that’s what happened. Nottingham had a big inning and it knocked us out. We tried to take that big inning and make it a little bit smaller. Instead of giving up 10 runs make it five, instead of 12 give up two. That’s what we’ve had the kids focus on and I’m really proud of the way they kept their heads.”
Chief among those was Muni, who allowed one hit the rest of the way before reaching the 85-pitch limit at the end of the fifth and struck out six while walking two batters. Dileo worked a scoreless sixth.
”Ian Muni, our pitcher, really bore down. He got through that inning and then he was strong the rest of the way. We’ve been preaching that to the kids all summer,” Bluni said.
While Nottingham’s Sloss was equally tough, allowing three hits with four strikeouts and three walks over five innings, West Windsor scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to make things interesting.
Dileo was hit by a pitch to start the inning and William Raeter lined an opposite field home run over the fence in right field.
”I was thinking I needed to get a hit and just get on base to help the team out and get runners on base to score runs,” Raeter said.
In the fifth, Ferri reached on a leadoff single and West Windsor got a bad break on Luke Potts’ bouncer to first. Nottingham shortstop C.J. Pittaro made a diving play to keep the ball from going to the outfield but was well off the base yet Ferri was called out at second. Another controversial call went against West Windsor for the second out and a fly ball to left ended the threat.
While the fifth inning definitely played a part in the outcome, Raeter was focused on the strong game that Muni pitched.
”He pitched a phenomenal game,” said the West Windsor left fielder. “I thought that in that inning if some of the plays would have went our way we could have won but his pitching was strong.”
Raeter was not surprised the game was close because the two teams are evenly-matched and he expected more of the same in the final.
”I thought it would come down to a close game like this just because we’re both so good,” he said. “We’re going to come back and we’re going to try and hit better. We’re going to field and we’re going to get good pitching and try to play a good game.”
Added Bluni: “We know they’re really strong and I’ve been telling my kids for the last few days that they are as good of a team as there is. It’s going to be a close game and it’s going to be a play here a play there. A break here a break there. It’s not going to be a blow out win for either team so that’s just what we expected.”
Which is how it should be in a championship game.