Candelario, Perkins hit and pitch East Vineland All-Stars to 13-3 victory over Penns Grove in District 3 LL Tournament opener
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Jim Smith is confident his East Vineland Little League All-Stars have all the ingredients to be a dominant team in the District 3 LL Tournament and have a nice run up the line.
Decorum, of course, prevents him from actually saying it, but you can’t help think the manager fully believes it.
East Vineland wasted no time putting those pieces on display Thursday, pounding 14 hits overall – eight for extra bases – regularly stealing or taking the extra base and holding their hosts to three hits in a 13-3 Opening Night win over Penns Grove.
“I’ve got a lot of strong bats on the team, a lot of speed on the team and pitching depth,” Smith said. “We’ve got a 1-2-3 (rotation); I think we only saw the 1-2.
“Our bats are really what jumped out for everything. I was getting hits through my entire lineup and that’s what we work on. And baserunning, too.”
Carter Perkins and Enzo Candelario led the way on the mound and at the plate. Candelario went 4-for-4 with two homers and two ground-rule doubles. Perkins had two doubles, a first-pitch leadoff triple and scored four runs. And they combined for the three-hitter with 10 strikeouts off the mound.
Perkins opened the game with a triple on the first pitch and stole home under the nose of the pitcher and catcher. He doubled in the third, stole third and scored when the toss back to the pitcher got away. His speed also created runs in the fifth and sixth.
Candelario hit ground-rule doubles in the first and sixth innings and launched long solo homers in the third and fifth. He now has 40 homers this summer between rec ball, travel ball and the tournament with a goal of hitting 50 for the year.
“They (Perkins and Candelario) were on the team I played in the (league) championship,” Smith said. “We won the first game, but lost the second and third. I tried to pitch around them and there is no pitching around them.”
“I felt good today,” Candelario said. “I made hard contact with the ball. When I go to the plate I look to get a hard hit.”
“He just hits bombs,” said Perkins.
“Give all the credit in the world to that team,” Penns Grove manager B.J. Painter said. “They’re stacked, especially the first half of that lineup. And you can’t say enough about 33 (Candelario). We couldn’t get away from him on either side of the ball. I knew they were coming with three really good players and they absolutely lived up to it today.”
The winners opened a 5-0 lead in the third, but the Killer Ps – Carneys Point, Penns Grove and Pedricktown – scored three in the home half of the inning when Zac Dordell drew a bases-loaded walk to end Candelario’s day on the mound and Bryce Painter greeted Perkins with a two-run single.
They looked to have something going with one out in the sixth, but Perkins got out of it with a game-ending double play started by Candelario.
“I knew we could hang with these guys,” Painter said. “Unfortunately the next inning when we were on offense we had a four-pitch inning that was one of those that takes a little bit of air out of the sails.“We’re going to use this as a learning experience. We’ve got another game Monday (against West Cumberland at the Carneys Point Rec Park) and we’re going to come out ready to play.”
Cover photo: East Vineland’s Enzo Candelario hit two homers and a pair of doubles, pitched the first 2 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and started the game-ending double play Thursday night.
East Vineland 13, Penns Grove 3
| East Vineland | 212 | 152– | 13 | 14 | 3 |
| Penns Grove | 003 | 000– | 3 | 3 | 4 |
District 3 LL Tournament
| AMERICAN DIV. | W | L | RF-RA | NATIONAL DIV. | W | L | RF-RA |
| Buena | 1 | 0 | 12-0 | East Vineland | 1 | 0 | 13-3 |
| Elmer | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | Millville American | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| Pennsville | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | West Cumberland | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| South Vineland | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | Penns Grove | 0 | 1 | 3-13 |
| Bridgeton | 0 | 1 | 0-12 |
THURSDAY’S GAMES
East Vineland 13, Penns Grove 3
Buena 12, Bridgeton 0
FRIDAY’S GAMES
South Vineland at Elmer, 5:45 p.m.
Millville American at West Cumberland, 5:45 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Buena at Pennsville, 5 p.m.
Riverview Sports News 