Penns Grove All-Stars aggressive on base paths, run to a walk-off win over North Vineland in District 3 LL Tournament opener, their first district win since 2011
DISTRICT 3 LL TOURNAMENT
Friday’s Games
East Vineland 4, Elmer 1 (comp. of susp. game)
Millville 9, Buena 3
Penns Grove 12, North Vineland 2
South Vineland 8, West Cumberland 6
Saturday’s Game
Pennsville at Penns Grove, 5 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Achillius Vong is a dangerous man, as much of a Shohei as a Little League all-star team can have.
At the plate. On the mound. And on the bases.
North Vineland didn’t give Vong much of a chance to hit in Friday night’s District 3 Little League Tournament opener and he didn’t pitch (that comes Saturday), but the rising seventh grader’s activity on the basepaths led directly to two runs in Penns Grove’s historic 12-2 walk-off win at the Carneys Point Rec Complex.
It was Penns Grove’s first win on the Road to Williamsport in 14 years. They had lost 29 district tournament games in a row. Their last win was a 4-3, eight-inning decision over South Vineland in the opening round of 2011 pool play.
“It feels good for me because these guys all put a ton of hard work in,” Penns Grove manager Steve Raymond said. “They’ve earned it. They definitely earned it.”
Vong walked and was hit by a pitch in his two plate appearances in the four-inning game. Each time he reached third he got North Vineland off its game with his long leads and threats to steal.
The first time, in the first inning, he came halfway down the line on every pitch and eventually forced North Vineland catcher Gianni Gordillo to make a throw that went off third baseman Damien Liberus’ glove into left field.
He did the same thing in the fourth inning. This time Gordillo ran him back to third, but left the plate uncovered and when the catcher tossed it back to the pitcher Vong broke for home and had it stolen easily. It was part of a nine-run inning that let Penns Grove walk it off.
“I like to get in their head; I want to get them rattled,” Vong said. “I want them to be scared of me and my team and once I get the chance I’m stealing home. I started doing it and then my coach got used to me doing it, so every time I get to third they tell me ‘Do your thing.’”
“He’s been playing baseball a long time and he’s a travel ball player, so he knows what to do out there,” Raymond said of his big first baseman. “He knows what he’s doing. (Third-base coach) Jeff (Robertson) will put the leash on him every once in a while to kind of reel him back in, but he basically can do what he wants because he knows what he’s doing.”
That aggressiveness on the basepaths isn’t just limited to Vong; it’s a trademark of this Penns Grove team. They scored their first six runs without the benefit of a hit and had only two hits in the game – a double by Tanner Raymond, the manager’s son, and two-run single by Nolan O’Brien, the son of Schalick baseball coach Sean O’Brien.
They kept the runs coming by reaching base in other ways, stealing bases and moving up on virtually every pitch that got away at the plate – and there were a lot of them.
“That’s why I put him (Robertson) there, because I know how aggressive he is,” Raymond said. “I play against him during the season, I know how he runs on the bases and that’s why I wanted to get him out there because he knows these kids well and he knows when to send them.
“We are going to be super aggressive on the bases. We told the boys if we call it and you get thrown out that’s on us, that’s not on you.”
Jimmy LaPalomento went the distance to get the win. He gave up one hit – a two-run single by Anthony Ebner in the third inning – walked three and struck out 11.
“We got a great version of Jimmy tonight, a great version,” Raymond said. “That’s all I could ask for what I got out him. Playing against him through the season sometimes he can get wild, but I couldn’t ask for anything more out of him. He pitched a beautiful game.”
“I just like to throw strikes, throw fast and set them down,” LaPalomento said.
EAST VINELAND 4, ELMER 1
VINELAND – Elmer returned to complete the final four innings of Thursday’s suspended game looking to make something happen and erase a one-run overnight deficit, but just couldn’t get anything going.
Manager Bob Baldissero brought starter Grayson Bingham back to pitch the resumption and he put up zeroes until the fifth when East Vineland scored on a double and one-out single. East Vineland extended the lead to 4-0 in the sixth.
Bingham allowed only three hits in five innings-plus (87 pitches). Brandon D’Agostino didn’t allow a hit in his wrap-up inning.
Elmer scored its run in the sixth when Cayden Becker hit a leadoff double, went to second on an error and scored on Penn Aulffo’s grounder to second.
| PENNS GROVE 12, NORTH VINELAND 2 | ||||
| North Vineland | 002 0- | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Penns Grove | 300 9- | 12 | 2 | 1 |
| EAST VINELAND 4, ELMER 1 | ||||
| East Vineland | 100 012 0- | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Elmer | 000 000 1- | 1 | 5 | 2 |
District 3 standings
| AMERICAN DIVISION | NATIONAL DIVISION | ||
| Penns Grove | 1-0 | East Vineland | 1-0 |
| Millville | 1-0 | South Vineland | 1-0 |
| Pennsville | 0-0 | Elmer | 0-1 |
| Buena | 0-1 | West Cumberland | 0-1 |
| North Vineland | 0-1 |
Photo: Penns Grove pitcher Jimmy LaPalomento delivers a pitch during his team’s 12-2 win over North Vineland.
Riverview Sports News 