ROCK. TWP. BABE RUTH BASEBALL
Cards repeat as Series champs
by taking 2 of 3 from Orioles
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ROCKAWAY TWP. - The Cardinals won their second straight Rockaway Township Babe Ruth League World Series title by making the most of their three hits in a 4-2 victory over the Orioles in the third and deciding game played at Oak Meadows Field on Thursday, June 24.
The Cards won the first game of the best-of-three series, 6-1, on Monday, June 21, and the Orioles forced the third and deciding game by beating the Cards, 9-3, in Game 2 on Tuesday, June 22. Both games were played at Oak Meadows.
Tom Shuey and Bob Tiefenbacher managed the Cards and Robert Sihlanick was the manager of the Orioles.
The championship game started off with a bang when Cards' leadoff hitter Michael Sweeney led off the game with a long triple and later scored on a groundout by Ryan Tiefenbacher.
John-Lucas Duffy singled in the first and Nick Opalewski singled in the second inning for the only other hits by the Cardinals.
The Orioles, who got six hits off three Cardinal pitchers, took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third when Tim Cole singled, stole second and scored on a single by Matt Szkola. Szkola later scored the O's second run of the inning when Robert Sihlanick reached on an error.
The Orioles other four hits came when Sihlanick and Michael DeMaio singled in the first inning; Jared Huston doubled in the fifth; and Jonathan Galante doubled in the sixth.
The Cards tied it at 2-2 in the fourth without getting a hit. Mike Morris walked, went to second on a groundout, stole third and scored when Opalewski grounded out.
The winning runs were also scored without benefit of a base hit as Michael Sweeney, Josh Boylan, Tiefenbacher and Duffy all drew walks to lead off the top of the fifth inning. Sweeney scored what proved to be the winning run on Duffy's walk and, after Boylan was forced at home for the first out of the inning, Opalewski became the fifth Cardinal draw a walk in the inning when he forced in Tiefenbacher with an insurance run.
The Orioles' last scoring chance came in the bottom of the sixth when they had runners on second and third and one out. Christian Shuey was brought in to pitch and walked the first batter to load the bases but then struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam. He also struck out the side in the seventh for the save.
Winning pitcher Tiefenbacher, who started but reached his maximum innings count for the three-game set and was relieved by Josh Boylan to start the fifth, worked four innings and gave up two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out two.
Gary Basile pitched the sixth and seventh in relief of Orioles' starter Szkola and struck out all six Cardinals he faced.
Basile's Bases-Loaded Triple Keys Orioles' Victory
Hits were still at a premium in Game 2 as Basile got the only hit of the Orioles' big five-run third inning, a bases-loaded triple that drove in Galante, who had reached on an error, and Andrew Wichman and Sihlanick, who had walked to load the bases.
A.J. Trillo and Jared Huston followed with walks to reload the bases and Mike DeMaio drew the fifth walk of the inning to force in Basile with the fourth run. The fifth and final run of the inning came when Trillo scored on a wild pitch to give the Cards a 7-1 lead.
Earlier, the Orioles took a 2-0 first-inning lead when Sihlanick singled, stole second and scored when Basile reached on an error. Basile stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch for the second run.
The Cards got one run back in their half of the first when Michael Sweeney singled, stole second and scored on a single by Duffy.
After the Orioles' big inning, the Cards scored twice in the fourth when Morris led off with a single, Opalewski walked, and David Petrozziello reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Laughlin drew a walk to force in Morris and Michael Sweeney followed with a sacrifice fly to deep right field to bring in Opalewski and cut the Orioles' lead to 7-3.
The Orioles increased their lead to 9-3 with a two-run fifth when Basile singled, stole second and came in on Trillo's single and Trillo later scored on a wild pitch.
The game was halted due to darkness with the Orioles batting in the top of the sixth, an inning in which they had added three more runs to their total.
Wichman got the win for the Orioles, working five innings and allowing three runs on four hits. Boylan, MIchael Sweeney and Ryan Sweeney pitched for the Cardinals.
Cards' Big Inning Decides Series Opener
In the series opener, the teams were tied going into the seventh when the Cards erupted for five runs to seal the victory.
The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth when Basil walked and, on a hit-and-run with Huston batting, reached third when Huston beat out an infield hit and continued on to score on an error on the play.
The Cards' run was also unearned as Ryan Sweeney beat out a bunt single and went to third on an error, from where he scored when Duffy reached on an error.
Leadoff hitter Michael Sweeney was the first batter in the Cards' big seventh inning and he singled and took second when Tiefenbacher reached on an error. Following a double steal, Sweeny scored what proved to be the winning run when Shuey grounded out. Ryan Sweeney reached on an error that allowed Tiefenbacher to score and, after Sweeney stole second and third, he was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a passed ball.
Duffy and Boylan followed with walks and Duffy scored on a single by Morris with Boylan going to third and Morris taking second on the throw to the plate in an attempt to get Duffy. Opalewski followed with a single to bring in Boylan and Morris continued around to score on the play when Opalewski's hit was mishandled.
Shuey got the win in relief, working four solid innings where he allowed no runs on three hits while striking out nine and walking two. Tiefenbacher started and worked three scoreless innings, giving up one hit while striking out three and walking but one. Duffy relieved to start the fourth and gave up a hit and a walk and an unearned run.
Sihlanick went the distance for the Orioles, allowing five runs (all unearned) on five hits while striking out six.
Notes: For the first time, the Rockaway Township Babe Ruth League and Lakeland Babe Ruth League combined teams to create a 17-team, three division league ... Rockaway Borough (13-3) won the Rockaway National Division with the Orioles second with an 11-7-1 record ... the Lakers, Wharton, Mets and Giants rounded out the six-team division ... The Cardinals won the Rockaway American Division with a 10-7-1 record with Mendham (9-6-1) the runnerup and the Cubs, Yankees, A's and Astros completing the six-team division ... Five Denville teams - Richards & Summers, Nappi Plumbing, Denville Dairy, the Denville VFW and Gearhart Chevrolet - formed their own five-team division that was won by Richards & Summers (13-3-2) with Nappi Plumbing second with a 13-4 record ... four post-season playoff tournaments were set up with the Cards beating the Yankees, two games to none, and the Orioles beating the Lakers, two games to none, that led to their Rockaway Township World Series meeting ... Rockaway Boro defeated Nappi Plumbing in the Lakeland vs. Denville playoffs and a scheduled championship game between Rockaway Boro and the Cardinals was cancelled because of other All-Star and vacation commitments by the players involved ...
