Salem Little Leaguers eliminated from regional after bats go cold
Aug. 9—Andrew Sullivan silenced Salem's bats to propel Canton, Mass., to a 5-0 victory over the locals in the 11-12-year-old Little League Baseball New England Regional semifinals on Wednesday in Bristol, Connecticut.
Sullivan hurled a two-hitter with three walks and seven strikeouts for Canton, which will play Maine state champion Gray/New Gloucester in the regional final tonight (7) on ESPN.
Salem, making its first regional appearance since 1994, opened the tournament with a 3-0 loss to Gray/New Gloucester then defeated St. Johnsbury, Vermont, 12-1, on Sunday to reach the semifinal.
"Our bats went cold," Salem coach Steve Quinn said. "I don't know why, but we didn't hit. (Sullivan) must've been pitching great because we didn't put the bat on the ball."
Canton loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the second inning and plated three runs before Salem starting pitcher Rowan Briggs ended the frame with a strikeout. Canton added to its lead with a Will Casey RBI single up the middle in the fourth and Ryan Roberts' RBI single to left field in the fifth.
Salem had runners on third base in the second and fifth innings. Mason Wiles (2-for-2) led off the second inning with an infield single and reached third after a Matty Barry sacrifice bunt and a Nate Makiej ground out.
Nico Cardinale got on base in the fifth inning on a one-out fielder's choice and reached third on Wiles' two-out single.
Sullivan induced a groundout to end both threats.
"We had our opportunities but we didn't capitalize when we needed to," Quinn said. "They (Canton) did a great job of pitching, of keeping us off balance and getting the job done when they needed to."
Quinn's son, Jack, reached base with a one-out walk in the sixth for Salem but Sullivan closed out the game with a groundout and a strikeout.
Briggs allowed four earned runs on eight hits and two walks and struck out eight batters over 4 1/3 innings.
Cardinale, who relieved Briggs in the fifth inning after Briggs reached the 85-pitch limit, allowed one hit and struck out three over the final 1 2/3 innings.
Briggs pitched fantastic on Wednesday and was a great leader for the team during the season, Quinn said.
Salem advanced to the regional by defeating New Hampshire District 2 champion Portsmouth in the best-of-three state championship series last month. Salem won Game 1, 5-4, and lost Game 2, 3-1, both in eight innings, and won the deciding Game 3 by a 13-6 score.
Quinn said he hopes his players remember their time at the regional for the rest of their lives.
He will see seven of his Little Leaguers again tonight when the Salem Rams middle school level football team practices. Quinn coaches in the Rams program.
"This team worked hard and busted their butts to get here and, I hope they're going to be talking about this when they're my age and the experience they've had here," Quinn said.
