Push Nottingham to the limit
By: Bob Nuse
HAMILTON This was a game that felt nothing like an opening-round tournament game.
The West Windsor-Plainsboro 13-year-old all-stars gave Nottingham all it could handle, taking a two-run lead into the seventh inning, before falling, 5-4, in eight innings on Sunday in their opening game of the District One 13-year-old Babe Ruth Tournament at Veterans Park.
"Sometimes games like this hurt so much because you know you’ve worked so hard," said WW-P manager Andy Rubenstein, whose team fell into the losers’ bracket, where it will meet either Hamilton or Ewing tonight at 8:30 p.m. "I guess you want to face a team like this right up front and find out what you’re made of."
Apparently, WW-P has the makings of a pretty good team. Because even though it lost, the rest of the field had to be impressed with the way WW-P played in taking Nottingham right to the wire.
Kyle Reed was outstanding on the mound, taking a no-hitter and a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning. Nottingham tied the score in the fifth after a leadoff single and a pair of errors, but WW-P came right back to score three times in the sixth. Zack Donohue singled, went to second on an error, third on a passed ball and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Reed. Ralph Aurora then singled and scored on a double by Dennis Cannon, who later scored on a base hit by Evan Smith.
"I thought Reed pitched a beautiful six innings," said Rubenstein of his starter, who gave way to Alex Campbell in the sixth. "Cannon had a great game with his bat. These kids are well schooled. They’re a smart team and they play the game the right way. We’re a thinking team. I like to say the kids play with their heads and are fueled by their hearts.
"They got that run in the fifth to tie the game and we came right back the next inning and scored three runs. We came out ready to compete right from the first pitch. This is a team that really likes to play baseball."
Nottingham inched closer with a run in the sixth, then scored twice in the seventh to force extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Nottingham was able to push across a run and win the game.
"Right now, the kids are really down about the loss," Rubenstein said. "But I think they can still feel good about the way they played. Against a team like Nottingham you really need to elevate your game, which I think we did. You could see the focus was there."
Now, WW-P will need to battle back through the losers’ bracket. It begins tonight against the winner of Monday’s Hamilton-Ewing game, then continues with six wins needed to secure a championship. Based on the way WW-P played on Sunday, that’s a goal that is certainly within reach.