By Ishaan Parikh
The Hillsborough Raiders 11-and-under gold team spilt two nailbiters Saturday, and failed to advance in the U.S. Amateur Baseball League’s “World Series.”
The Raiders played the Northern Burlington Bulldogs and won in walkoff fashion, 5-4, in the 6th inning. The team then lost to Jackson Wolf Pack, 8-7, also in the 6th inning.
Due to run differentials the Raiders did not qualify for the final playoffs. Northern Burlington won the championship, 8-1, over Jackson on Sunday.
The Raiders upped their season mark to 15-4- 1.
The Raiders won the American Central division title on June 5 by defeating the Franklin Warriors, 9-4, in 11 innings.
The Raiders finished the regular league season with a 6-2-1 record. They defeated the Bridgewater Panthers in the semifinal in the bottom of the 6th inning to advance to the USABL championship.
The Hillsborough Raiders used four pitchers win the title game against the Franklin Warriors. Starter Ronak Parikh pitched 3 innings followed by Matthew Westcott with three. In extra innings, Andrew Drinkwater threw 3 innings followed by Owen Bartolomeo’s two.
The Raiders got on the board early with a RBI ground out by Matthew Westcott. Logan Eilbacher led of the top of the 2nd with a solo home run to left field. The Raiders plated two more runs in the inning, with an RBI by Adam Movshin and a base hit by Nathan Kepnis to score Tommy Porowski to increase the lead to 4-0.
The Raider defense backed up the strong pitching. Lance Eilbacher recorded eight of the final nine outs at second base. The outfield defense of Jack O’Donnell, Nathan Kepnis, Ronak Parikh, Matthew Westcott and Owen Bartolomeo helped keep the Franklin offense off the board until the 6th inning when the Warriors came back with a single by Trevor Moncrease and a home run by Omar Carreras to tie the game 4-4.
The teams fought for another 4 innings to no outcome. In the top of the 11th, Owen Bartolomeo singled to center field, stole second and third bases and scored on Matthew Westcott’s sacrifice fly to center field for the go-ahead run.
Later in the inning, Andrew Drinkwater singled home Matthew and Logan Eilbacher was intentionally walked. This brought JT Losch to the plate and his hit to the center field to cleared the bases for three runs.
The Raiders improved the season record to 14-3- 1. The Hillsborough Raiders and Franklin Warriors showed great sportsmanship throughout the game. Players from both teams did a fantastic job.
The Raiders are coached by Glen Eilbacher, Chris Wescott and Jeff Losch.
The team was scheduled to play the Monmouth Nationals in the Hillsborough Memorial Day tourney finals on Wednesday, June 15.
