Southpaw Sports

• Bedford Jr. Legion wins the NH State Title in their first year and advances to Regionals in Bristol, CT.
  • Bedford opened with a 6-1 win vs. Rhode Island, Warwick Post #2 and then was eliminated in the next round in a 10-0 loss to Pawtucket Post #79. 
• Norwalk, CT 14's win the New England Regional and advance to the World Series in Quincy, Ma.
  • Norwalk is 3-1 in pool play after a thrilling 2-1 victory in 9 innings vs. Nederland, TX yesterday and a 12-0 win over Mont Vernon Babe Ruth from Skagit Valley, Washington today.
• GBR 14's finish 1-2 in the New England Regional @ Orange, CT.
• Goffstown Legion finishes 5th in NH
  
• Manchester North LL loses to Shelton, CT in the Regional final 2-1. Great run guys!
  

The Norwalk, CT 14 Yr. old's continued their amazing run and won the 14 Yr Old Babe Ruth World Series in Quincy, Mass. on Saturday afternoon. On Friday, 8/22, Norwalk avenged their only pool play loss by beating Youngstown, OH 7-6 in eight innings. Then on Saturday in the World Series final, Norwalk completed their run by beating Tallahassee, FL 5-3 after trailing 3-2 in the fourth inning. Congratulations to Manager Mark Kohler and the Norwalk 14 Yr Old Team.

Norwalk 14's advance to the single elimination bracket of the World Series with a 3-1 record in pool play. Norwalk gets a bye as the top seed out of the National division and will play next on Friday, August 22 @ 5:30pm in the winner's bracket final. Go New England!!! 

The Norwalk, CT 14 yr olds have advanced to bracket play in the Babe Ruth World Series being held at Adams Field in Quincy, Mass. Playing with virtually the same team that they brought to Goffstown, NH last year, the Norwalk team has won 3 of 4 games in pool play this week. Of course there is one big difference in this year's team from Norwalk, and that is the addition of Kevin Daniele. So far Kevin has hit 4 doubles, a home run, earned a victory on the mound, and won the Ron Tellefsen Award as Norwalk's player of the game in three of their four games at the World Series. Norwalk awaits the outcome of the Youngstown, OH (3-0) vs. Nederland, TX (2-1) game being played today at 2:30pm EDT to see just where they will fit into the bracket finals which begin tomorrow.

8/2/08 - 8/4/08

The Goffstown Babe Ruth 14 Yr Olds went to Orange, CT in hopes of securing a trip to the World Series in Quincy, Mass. later this month.  This group won it's second straight State Title and was hoping to improve on last year's Regional Runner-Up achievement.  Goffstown opened vs. Cranston, RI and even though this was just the second game of the tournament, the fans were treated to a game everyone was still talking about through the next day.  Goffstown lost the game 2-1 as both starting pitchers went the distance throwing more than 100 pitches each. Steve Lapatin (Cranston) and Ryan Smith (Goffstown) were tough and kept both offenses at bay.  Smith allowed 2 runs in the first inning and shut the door from there.  Goffstown could only muster 1 run and left the tying run on second base in the 7th inning. Goffstown's Jake Glauser hit a rocket down the left field line in the 7th but the game tying hit fell foul by about 2 feet.  The loss sent Goffstown to the loser's bracket to face Suburban Vermont who lost to Norwalk, CT. 

In game two, Alex Wageling threw 85 pitches over 7 strong innings, while striking out 8 and walking just 2 batters enroute to a 10-1 win to keep Goffstown alive.  This was a 2-1 game into the 6th inning before GBR struck for 3 runs, and then added 5 more runs in the top of the 7th to blow it open.  The win kept Goffstown alive to face Central Maine who lost a heart breaker the night before, 1-0 to the host team, Amity Babe Ruth from Orange, CT.

Game three started with a bang as Goffstown, who was visiting team for the third straight game, got to bat first against CM's Jordan Holt.  Jake Glauser walked to start things and was running on the pitch when Alex Wageling hit a wicked line drive to the left of the CM third baseman.  It looked like a sure first and third situation, but CM third baseman, Sam Dexter, had other ideas.  Dexter laid out and completely horizontal to the ground, snared the line drive, got to his feet and easily doubled Glauser off first base.  It was kind of how the tournament went for Goffstown who just couldn't buy hits in key situations.  This was exposed further as Ryan Beal one hopped the center field fence on the next pitch with a double that would have driven in both runners.  GBR ended up not scoring in the first inning and the momentum had shifted for the first time of the game, but not the last.  In the bottom of the inning, a very aggressive Central Maine lineup posted 4 runs on two hits, including a solo home run, and three walks.

After the first inning both pitchers battled and allowed virtually nothing for offense other than some scattered hits.  Beal allowed a single run in the third inning and just kept getting better as the game went on.  CM's Holt was a strike throwing machine who had thrown just 62 pitches through 6 scoreless innings.  Goffstown came to bat in the top of the 7th inning, down 5-0, facing elimination, and with the bottom of the order coming up.  This is where Goffstown dug deep and tested their resolve and somehow turned the tables, scoring five runs to tie the game.  After working a couple of walks to put runners on first and second, Jake Glauser hit a hard grounder towards the middle. CM's shortstop, Travis St. Pierre fielded the ball and rushed the throw to second base as the runner was already at the bag, and threw it in to shallow right center field.  Dan Belleville scored from second, Tim Roy went to third and Glauser reached first.  Two batters later, Ryan Beal singled up the middle, just under the CM second baseman's glove, to drive in two runs.  With two outs and the bases loaded, Dylan Bisceglia came up and dropped a 2-run single down the left field line to tie the game.  Wow! What a come back with the tournament on the line.  Beal returned to the mound in the 7th and got two quick outs before allowing a walk.  CM tried to steal second to get the runner in scoring position but GBR catcher, Dan Belleville, would have none of it as he fired a strike to SS Glauser who tagged the runner out to send the game into extra innings.

In the 8th inning Goffstown went down without a run after getting two runners on base and they sent ace, Ryan Smith, to the mound to shut down CM.  Smith, working one just one day's rest, shut CM down 1-2-3.  GBR also went down 1-2-3 in the 9th inning.  CM answered in the 9th with a two out runner who advanced to second base.  With the winning run on second base, and two outs, Smith delivered a 3-1 pitch to the CM's Sam Dexter who had a couple hits on the day.  The right handed batter delivered an apparent game-winning single in front of Goffstown right fielder, Tim Roy.  Roy grabbed the line drive on a big hop and came up throwing to the plate.  The throw bounced on the thick grass just a few feet in front of home plate and catcher, Dan Belleville, grabbed the throw, hugging the ball to his chest with his glove, bare hand, and both arms as the runner slid into him at home plate.  The umpire asked to see the ball, Belleville showed the ball clutched tightly in his bare hand, and the umpire called the runner out.  Another outstanding play in this 5-0 game that turned into a game for the ages with the amazing comeback, numerous fine defensive plays, and pitchers willing themselves through the opposing line ups.  After another quiet inning at bat in the 10th inning, the stage was set for CM with their clean up hitter leading off.  Central Maine got a lead off walk and sacrificed him over to second. The next batter worked a 3-1 count and then was intentionally walked to set up the force play. The next CM batter bunted to move the runners over and when Smith couldn't pick up the ball clean, all three runners were safe.  The next CM batter did just what GBR hoped for by hitting the ball on the ground.  Unfortunately the ball hit off home plate and bounced high as it headed for the hole between third and short.  By the time the ball bounced out to shortstop Jake Glauser he had no play and the speedy runner on third base scored without a throw.  Central Maine advanced to play again that same evening against Plymouth, Mass. who had just upset Cranston, RI.

Goffstown battled in all three games, fell short in two one-run games, and just couldn't get the hits when they needed them, and when they hit the ball on the button it was usually met with a strong defensive play by the opponent.  This is a good team, a good group of players, coaches, and parents.  They have a tournament record of 16-4 over the last two summers and are known for playing baseball into August each year.  This year's squad was managed by Tony Shaw along with coaches, Steve Macek, and John Allard.  Knowing what I do about this group I wouldn't be surprised to see them going after a three-peat for the NH State Title next year, and try to bring GBR it's first ever trip to the Babe Ruth World Series in 2009.

8/6/08:

Goffstown Legion finished 5th out of 8 teams while qualifying for their first State tournament this year.  Goffstown lost to Portsmouth in the first game on Friday morning.  24 hours later they bounced back to beat Exeter behind the pitching and hitting of Kory Kiro. Sunday, Post 16 was bounced from the tournament with a loss to Rochester. Goffstown finished with a 13-7 record in District B and an overall record of 14-9 including the tournament.