By Rich Fisher, The Packet Group
For Sean Clancy, it’s not about the result, but the way it was achieved.
Even though Princeton Little League’s 12-year-old All-Stars began the District 12 Tournament with two straight losses, Clancy felt they were winners in the most important aspect of the game.
”The part you can always control is going out and giving a 100 percent effort,” the manager said after Tuesday night’s 10-0 loss to West Windsor. “You can’t always control the way the ball bounces. That’s what makes baseball a fun game.
”But effort is what you can control and these kids have never disappointed me with their effort. Only one of them is my son, but I’d take them all home as my son. They’re really great kids.
”They’re hard workers, real smart kids, very supportive of each other. They never complain about who has to sit or who doesn’t have to sit. If somebody makes a mistake, nobody’s on them. If somebody hits a home run everybody’s happy for them.”
That cohesiveness nearly led to a stunning upset in Monday night’s opener, when HTRBA was forced to go extra innings before taking a 7-6 win on its home field.
Alex Deutsch homered in the game while Mike Clancy reached base three times as Princeton rallied from a 6-3 deficit. In the last inning, trailing by one run, Brian Gursky stole third and Steve Majeski dropped a squeeze bunt to score him.
”They played really well in a very exciting game,” Sean Clancy said. “They never gave in, they had a good approach to their at-bats.”
The skipper felt the same way about Tuesday’s game, although the result was a bit more one-sided.
”I think we had some good approaches tonight,” he said afterward. “We identified the change of speed, some kids made good contact on tough pitches. It just didn’t work out.”
Jeff Gleason opened the game with a leadoff double but was stranded at third. Jack Buyske appeared to have a hit before West Windsor’s Matt Duplak robbed him with a great catch in rightfield. Zach Tesone reached base twice on walks.
Princeton will complete Pool C play tonight against Cranbury-Plainsboro at Grover Field, and will try to serve as spoilers.
”I always stress to the kids to take one game at time,” Clancy said. “They’ll be ready for tonight. There’s no quit in them.”
