Lawrence Little League Game Roundup

Editor's Note: The following game summaries were submitted by Lawrence Little League Baseball and Softball team managers. The season started on April 14 with .

Boys Baseball American Division

April 21: Lawrence PBA, 11 vs. Lawrence FOP, 8

Jake Bennett and Edward Coplin had two hits each and John Caccavale and Adam Levinsky one each for Lawrence PBA.  Edward Coplin pitched 2⅔ innings, striking out four; Spencer McClendon and Jake Bennett pitched in relief.  PBA took a 5-1 lead into the third inning, but FOP came back to tie the score at 5-5 in the top of the third.  PBA added five runs in the bottom of the third, held FOP to three runs in the top of the fourth, and held on for the win.

Garrett Maloney had two hits and three RBIs and Ben Cohen, Matthew Stout, and Liam Keane one hit each for Lawrence FOP, while Zachary Hoarn, Garrett Maloney, and Ben Cohen shared the pitching duties.

April 24: Miele, 9 vs. Lawrence FOP, 6

Miele defeated Lawrence FOP, 9-6 for its second victory of the season. John Halligan led the way with two hits and two runs scored. Eli Kooistra and Muku Tuppil both walked and scored twice. Kooistra also pitched three innings and struck out five for Miele.

Chappy Turner doubled twice and scored two runs while Liam Keane had a single and a run scored for Lawrence FOP.

April 28: Lawrence PBA, 8 vs. Lawrence FOP 8 (Tie)

Lawrence PBA scored in the top of the fifth inning to tie the score at 8-8, then hung on in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to a diving catch by first baseman Spencer McClendon as time ran out. Peter Teti went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, while Adam Levinsky had two hits and Jake Bennett, Spencer McClendon, Will Kocsis, and Chris Nevius one hit each.  Pitching duties were shared by Edward Coplin (three strikeouts), John Caccavale (two strikeouts), and Will Kocsis (four strikeouts).

Lawrence FOP took a 3-1 lead into the third inning, but PBA came back with three runs of its own to go ahead 4-3.  FOP responded with two more runs to go ahead 5-4 and the teams each scored three runs in the fourth, setting the stage for the fifth inning dramatics.  Chapman Turner had two hits for FOP and Ben Cohen one.  Cohen also pitched 3⅔ strong innings, striking out five.  He was relieved by Garrett Maloney who struck out three in his 1⅓ innings.

Boys Baseball National Division

April 25: Lukoil of Lawrenceville, 2 vs. Carroll’s Christmas Tree Farm, 0

Ryan Kaelblein pitched a complete game shutout scattering three hits while striking out seven. His shutout was protected when Carlie Christoffersen ran down a double in the gap, threw a strike to the cut-off man, Matt Gunton, who in turn threw perfectly to Steven Sikora at the plate for the put out.  Ryan Monaghan and Steven Sikora each stole home for the only two runs of the game.

For Carroll’s, Jason Nalbone had two doubles and combined with Kyle Smith, Jason Greaux, and Trevor Delcampe to strike out eight batters and only give up two hits. Joey Baffuto made several nice plays on defense.

April 28: Miele, 11 vs. Candela’s, 11 (Tie)

Miele, trailing by eight runs, came from behind to tie Candela's, 11-11. Muku Tuppil, Colby Davis, Jeff Tamasi and John Halligan all scored twice in the comeback. Halligan also pitched two strong innings in relief for Miele.

Matt Kildea, Pate Jessup, and Matthew Rotman scored and had key hits for Candela's. Jessup struck out five in three innings off the mound.

April 28: Lukoil of Lawrenceville, 14 vs. Brook Metal Products, 5

Matt Gunton pitched 5⅓ innings striking out 10 and collecting the win.  Brandon West got the last two outs to close it out.  What started out as a close, well-played game lost some of its suspense when Lukoil scored seven runs in the sixth while batting around.  The power was supplied by a homerun from Matt Gunton, triples by Steven Sikora and Ryan Kaelblein, and a double by Justin Featherston. 

For Brook Metal Products, Ryan Castoral pitched 4⅓ innings while striking out eight in the loss.  Liam Smith had two hits including a triple, and Sean McLaughlin scored two runs and had two hits including a double.

Girls Softball

April 27: Poulson and Van Hise, 12 vs. West End, 13

Poulson and Van Hise lost a heartbreaker, 13-12, to West End. Megan Kiernan led Poulson and Van Hise with a double, single and two runs scored. Kinsey Ratzman, Katie Smith and Gianna Oakley also reached base and scored twice.

Nay-Nay Lewis contributed two hits and scored three runs in the victory for West End. Tatiyana Star scored three times as well.