U-11 Baseballers take 4th place in Elk River Tourney!
Sunday, May 4th, 2008Saturday, May 3rd-Sunday, May 4th 2008 @ Elk River
Game 1: Park vs. St. Michael’s-Albertville
Park opened the new season with a 13-3 shellacking of St. Mike’s, despite missing star pitcher and slugger Daniel Foltz (broken collar bone).
Joey Jaramillo started for Park and pitched three strong innings, striking out 5. Joe Burnley relieved and struck out 6 batters in two innings.
Park took a 4-0 lead after two innings. Adam Petit led off the first with a single, and scored on an RBI single by Patrick Bordewick.
In the second, Joe Burnley tripled, Jaramillo beat out a bunt, Wes Johnson singled in one, and Casey Plender knocked in two with a clean single.
St. Mike’s (that’s the patron saint of comebacks) scored three runs in the top of the third to make the score 4-3 Park, and parent, Jim Clancy, exclaimed, “We’ve got a ball game!”
Hold on, Jim. Not so fast. Park scored the next 9 runs to win by the slaughter rule.
In the bottom of the third, Petit walked, stole second, Jacob Mattson reached on an error, Robbie Roethler knocked them both in with a double, Burnley drove in Roethler with a single, Kyle Nordstrom bunted for a base hit, and Burnley scored on a passed ball to make the score 8-3.
After Burnley struck out the side in the top of the fourth, Park scored three more times in their half. Kevin Clancy bunted for a hit, Plender singled, and Parker Bretl was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Unfortunately, Bretl hurt his wrist and will be out of action for a few days.
When play resumed, Petit walked to force in a run, and Roethler connected again, this time a 2-RBI double to make the score 11-3.
In the top of the 5th, Burnley again k’d three, then Park put the game away with two runs for a 10-run win. Nordstrom bunted for a single and went to second on an overthrow, Jaramillo knocked him in with a single, stole second, was bunted to third by Wes Johnson, and trotted home on a wild pitch to end the game.
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Game 2: Park vs. Cambrige-Isanti
Park lost a heart-breaker, 6-5, in second round action.
Kyle Nordstrom was the undisputed star of the game, and he started his fine game by throwing out a runner attempting to steal third base to end the first and get pitcher Jacob Mattson out of a jam.
In the second inning, Robbie Roethler doubled, Joe Burnley singled him home, then Nordstrom ripped a laser into deep left, and he circle the bases for a 2-run homer and a 3-0 Park lead.
Mattson, a crafty lefthander (aren’t they all?), ran out of gas in the third, was relieved by Burnley, but when the inning ended Cambridge led 4-3.
Pat Bordewick took the mound in the fourth and his defense helped him work out of trouble. Roethler threw a pea from center field to catcher Adam Petit who scooped the short-hop out of the dirt, and he tagged the runner out as the crowd went wild!
Park tied the score in the top of the fifth when Wes Johnson drove in Jaramillo, but Cambridge took the lead back with two runs, and Park trailed going to the 6th, 6-4.
Bordewick opened the inning with a single, Roethler reached on a fielder’s choice with Bordewick out at second, then Roethler stole second, third and home to cut the lead to one, 6-5. Park went down fighting, but couldn’t dent the plate again as the game ended with Park on the short end.
Despite the loss, coach Dave Aitkins, was impressed with his team’s performance.
“We hit well, pitched well, but sometimes, at this age, we have some ‘circus moments’ when we kick the ball around a little,” said Aitkins. “We’ll cut those down as the season progresses. I’m very excited about our team!”
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Game 3 vs. St. Anthony
Park wiped the sleep from their eyes for this 8am game, then won a fantastic battle, 8-6.
Joey Jaramillo pitched three solid innings, striking out 2, Joe Burnely threw a great inning, striking out 1, then Patrick Bordewick, the youngest player on the team, pitched the final two innings to preserve the win, striking out 2.
Trailing 1-0, Park took the lead in the bottom of the first. Pat Bordewick singled, Robbie Roethler singled, and Joe Burnley ripped a 2-run double.
Park added another in the third when Kevin Clancy scored on a Casey Plender single.
The third inning was a great one for Park. Kyle Nordstrom threw out a runner at third with Wes Johnson applying the tag, then Park exploded for 5 runs in their half. Adam Petit walked, Jacob Mattson bunted Petit to second, Bordewick was hit by a pitch, Roethler singled in one, Burnley hit another 2-RBI double, and Nordstrom knocked in two more with a line drive single.
With an 8-1 lead, it looked like a blowout, but St. Anthony (the other patron saint of comebacks) tied the score in the 5th!
Park took the lead back with one in the bottom of the fifth when Petit singled, stole second, and was driven in by Bordewick.
With a slim one run lead, Bordewick climbed the mound in the 6th. Bordewick struck out the first batter, gave up a single, struck out the next batter, walked a batter, and, of course, struck out the last man to end the game with the tying and go-ahead runs on base!
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Game 4 vs. Cloquet
Cloquet came into the game having scored 47 runs in their first three tournament games (a shade under 16/game), but Park’s Conor Hannon and Jacob Mattson held the lumber company from up north to 6 runs, while scoring 2 against the eventual tournament champions.
Park took a 1-0 lead in the first. Adam Petit was hit by a pitch, Jacob Mattson and Pat Bordewick walked, and Joe Burnley drove in a run with a sac fly.
Cloquet scored four in the third to take a 4-1 lead, but Park chipped away with one in the top of the fourth. Robbie Roethler singled, stole second and third, and scored on another Burnley sac fly. Cloquet added single runs in the fourth and fifth, and Park threatened, but didn’t scored again.
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Game 5 vs. Cambridge-Isanti
Third Place Game
Park fell by a single run to Cambridge, 9-8, in the craziest game of the weekend.
Joey Jaramillo pitched great, as usual, with 4 strikeouts in 3 innings, Joe Burnley struck out 1 in 2 innings, and Patrick Bordewick kept the game close in one fine inning of relief.
Park got on the board in the bottom of the first when Adam Petit tripled and scored on a Robbie Roethler single. Cambridge scored two in the top of the second, but could have scored more if not for the stout right arm of Kyle Nordstrom who threw out a runner trying to steal third (why do they even try?).
Park took the lead back in the bottom half of the second. Nordstrom led off with a single, stole second and third (a catcher stealing bases?), scored on a Wes Johnson single, Johnson stole second, and scored on a Kevin Clancy RBI single.
The see-saw continued in the third as Cambridge scored three runs to take a 5-3 lead, but Park scored three of their own in their half. Pat Bordewick singled and stole second, Roethler singled, Joe Burnley doubled both runners home, Nordstrom sacrificed Burnley to third, and Joey Jaramillo drove him home with a single to give Park a 6-5 lead.
Guess what happened in the top of the fourth? Yep, Cambridge took the lead back with a three spot. Again, it could have been more but Pudge Nordstrom shot out another runner at third.
In the top of the fifth, with Bordewick pitching, Park turned an odd double play. Cambridge had runners on first and third, and sent their runner from first on a steal. Nordstrom faked a throw to second, then chucked down to third where the runner was trapped off base. Third baseman Wes Johnson chased the runner toward home where he threw to pitcher Bordewick who ran to cover home, who tagged the runner an eyelash before he scored. The ump asked to see the ball, Bordewick held open his glove to show him the egg, the ump yelled “out,” then Johnson, who had followed the runner home, plucked the ball from Bordewick’s glove and ran down the runner who had started the whole mess by trying to steal second (you following this?) and was by this time between third and home for the routine 2-5-1-5 double play!
In the top of the sixth, Cambridge scored their last run for a 9-6 lead going to the bottom half.
Jaramillo and Johnson both singled with both runners moving up a base on an overthrow, then each scored on a wild pitch to make the score 9-8. Unfortunately, that would be the final score in one of the most exciting games in the entire tournament!
All-in-all, a 4th place finish to start the season is excellent, and when Parker Bretl and Daniel Foltz get healthy, the U-11s will be fighting for trophies in the St. Louis Park Spring Slugfest!
“We’ve got a great bunch of hustling, high-quality ballplayers,” said coach Aitkins. “It’s going to be a fun year!”
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