Salem LL 12U All-Stars will have to battle through the loser’s bracket after falling to South Vineland in District 3 winner’s bracket game
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
MILLVILLE – Life in the District 3 Little League Tournament has been pretty good for the Salem 12U All-Stars up to this point, but the other shoe dropped Sunday and it caught them squarely in the sliding pad.
After four good showings, they laid one of those eggs that arise every now and then. Their bats produced hits but didn’t deliver in big situations, the defense let them down and they wound up losing to South Vineland 13-3 in the winner’s bracket of the district finals.
“It was like we talked about out on the field there, it was the worst effort we’ve put forward so far this tournament,” Salem manager Brian Dolbow said. “The boys didn’t really come to play today. They’re not going to make excuses about it and neither are the coaches. We weren’t ready to play.
“As coaches we were all surprised at the performance there on the field. Walks (10) and errors (five) just beat us up in some critical spots, which has not been happening so far in the tournament. We’ve been making the plays in the big spots and today we just didn’t do it.”
Salem will now play East Vineland Wednesday 5:45 p.m. at South Vineland to stave off elimination. South Vineland will play for the championship 7 p.m. Thursday at East Vineland.
“Now it’s a tougher path,” Dolbow said. “It’s going to be more difficult, for sure, and they know that, but we told them when we show up on Wednesday forget about what happened tonight, we’ve got a game to play and we’ll come ready.
“We battled back in all the games so far this season so it’s nothing we can’t do. It’s still there for us.”
The Salem All-Stars fell behind 2-0 and 6-0 and just couldn’t overcome it. And South Vineland pitcher Laivion Hubbard didn’t make it any easier for them. The right-hander turned back two big threats in the first two innings to set the tone.
Salem got its first two hitters of the game on base looking to answer South Vineland’s opening salvo with the heart of the order coming to the plate, then Hubbard struck out the side. They got their first two batters in scoring position in the second and then Hubbard struck out the side again. Hubbard struck out 10 before reaching his 85-pitch limit in the fifth.
“He’s very mentality tough and he’s good in adversity,” South Vineland manager Abraham Heredia said. “He’s been here before. He’s been in this kind of pressure. He’s great in pressure. That’s why he’s pitching this game.”
“I just love the game, think confident, saying I got this and get them out,” Hubbard said. “I prepare in practice for pressure situations.”
A playable two-out ground ball that got underneath an infielder’s glove scored two South Vineland runs in the first. A similar play in the third chased home two more in a four-run inning that pushed the lead to 6-0. Salem starting pitcher Gabe Parsons reached his 85-pitch limit at the end of the third inning.
Salem did get something going in the fifth. They scored three runs on RBI singles by Ben Parkell and Drew Sutton and Parkell scored when relief pitcher Isaac Torres threw Talyn Priore’s nubber in front of the plate up the line.
Torres avoided further damage by getting Parsons, who had homered in each of the last three games, to ground into the final out of the inning. And then South Vineland broke it open with six runs in the top of the sixth.
“When Gabe came up with two on I thought maybe if he pops one here it’s 7-6, we’re going to get in their heads a little bit and they’re going to start to say, ‘Oh oh, here we go,’” Dolbow said. “They know what we’ve done in this tournament; they’ve been watching our games.
“I was really hoping (for a bigger rally), but unfortunately we just didn’t come up with the big hits today. We stranded too many base runners, especially early in the game when we had a chance to keep it close.”
EAST VINELAND 4, MILLVILLE AMERICAN 2: East Vineland broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the fifth inning The go-ahead run scored on an error and Max Garton scored an insurance run on Luca Buono’s ground out. Carter Perkins went 2-for-2 from the leadoff spot. Brandon Daniels went the distance, throwing 81 pitches, giving up three hits and striking out eight.
Photo: South Vineland’s David Alvarez (55) slides into home with the first run of the third inning Sunday on a wild pitch. Salem pitcher Gabe Parsons awaits a throw back to the plate that never came.
DISTRICT 3 LITTLE LEAGUE FINALS
DOUBLE-LOSS ELIMINATION
Game 3
South Vineland 204 016 – 13 5 1
Salem All-Stars 000 030 – 3 7 5
WP: Laivion Hubbard (1-0). LP: Gabe Parsons (0-2). 2B: Dalton Sites (S).
Game 4
Millville American 010 100 – 2 3 2
East Vineland 020 02x – 4 4 1
WP: Brandon Daniels. LP: Lucas McCafferty. 2B: Aiden Fowler (M).
Wednesday’s game
At South Vineland
Salem vs. East Vineland, 5:45 p.m.
Thursday’s game
at East Vineland
South Vineland vs. Salem-East Vineland winner, 7 p.m.
Friday’s game
at East Vineland
If necessary, 7 p.m.
Riverview Sports News 