East Vineland slams Pennsville in District 3 LL Tournament behind 2 Oliveri homers; Woodstown hangs on to edge Elmer to remain in hunt for Final Four spot
| AMERICAN | REC | RUNS | NATIONAL | REC | RUNS |
| a-Franklin Twp. | 2-0 | 25-13 | S. Vineland | 1-0 | 10-3 |
| b-Woodstown | 2-1 | 24-19 | Buena | 1-0 | 11-1 |
| East Vineland | 2-1 | 36-20 | S. Cumberland | 1-1 | 20-11 |
| Pennsville | 0-2 | 18-40 | N. Vineland | 0-2 | 3-29 |
| Elmer | 0-2 | 8-19 |
MONDAY’S GAMES
East Vineland 21, Pennsville 10
Woodstown 9, Elmer 8
South Cumberland 19, North Vineland 0
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – Hitters want to hit. East Vineland’s Jace Oliveri wanted to hit in the first inning, even if it meant giving up a free base. He got his chance after a little bit of a question and it couldn’t have turned out better for him.
For the Pennsville All-Stars, they’d no doubt have preferred Oliveri took one for the team.
After drawing a walk in his first at-bat of the inning, the 12-year-old EV shortstop unloaded a grand slam to cap an 11-run first inning that carried his team to a 21-10 win over Pennsville in the District 3 Little League Tournament Monday night.
The slam, the first of two homers the rising eighth-grader hit in the game, was impressive enough, but it was the circumstances that brought it about that made it especially noteworthy.
The first pitch he saw from Pennsville’s second pitcher of the inning came in high and tight and hit up on the handle of the bat. The plate umpire initially said the ball hit Oliveri on the hand and was prepared to give him first base, but the slugger immediate turned and said it hit the bat. He was convincing enough to get the call overturned and two pitches later he launched his slam into the second row of cars beyond the right centerfield fence.
“It actually hit the bat; it hit like right there (above the top hand),” Oliveri said positioning his hands on an imaginary bat. “I didn’t think he was going to say yes, honestly, and I’m like, all right, I’ll just take the base, fine. (Then when he homered) it felt really nice. It felt like a gift … from God. I really wanted to hit today. I’ve been working on my swing a lot … and I wanted to see how it would work out.”
East Vineland manager Dan Lonzi thought his slugger was hit by the pitch because of the dull sound it make.
“I didn’t hear a metal sound, but my hearing’s not that great, either,” he said. “And I’ll tell you what, he’s an honest kid so if he comes in and says it doesn’t hit the bat, I believe it. He’s a true hitter. He wants it.”
From the other dugout, Pennsville manager Vinnie Cascaden said he should’ve argued more for the hit batsman.
It was just one of the things that went wrong for the game’s hosts in the first inning. East Vineland sent 14 batters to the plate. Ten straight batters reached safely after the initial out. There were three hits in the inning, including Oliveri’s slam, six walks and two hit batsmen.
The next time Oliveri came to the plate Pennsville chose to pitch to him with a base open, a development that surprised both the hitter and his coach, and he sent a three-run homer over the centerfield fence to make it 15-0. Pennsville paid him the ultimate respect when he batted in the fifth, intentionally walking him with the bases loaded to take them deeper over the run-rule threshold (17-6).
If you’re scoring at home, that’s 2-for-2, two homers, four runs scored and eight RBIs.
“I just felt real good today,” Oliveri said. “I came in feeling a little bit tired and whenever that happens usually something gets me going and keeps me rolling.”
“Obviously you didn’t have your normal warmup,” Lonzi, standing nearby, interjected. “But when you hit the game, it was you.”
In three tournament games so far Oliveri is 5-for-7 with 15 RBIs, seven runs scored and four home runs. He hit seven home runs during his EVLL season. He is scheduled to start on the mound in Tuesday’s showdown with undefeated Franklin Twp. that could go a long way towards determining the American Division’s two championship round qualifiers.
An East Vineland win Tuesday would leave three teams with one loss and open the door for the qualifiers to be determined by tournament’s run ratio. A Franklin Twp. win would set the stage for Woodstown to clinch the second playoff spot with a win at Pennsville Wednesday.
“He’s the complete package,” Lonzi said. “Not only is he a leader on the field, he pitches, he plays a mean shortstop, he’s a power hitter and he’s a leader in the clubhouse. They all look up to him, they really do. We go as he goes. Even personality-wise: If he’s upbeat, they’re upbeat.”
Cascaden said he considered putting Oliveri on in the third inning with a base open, but while the coaches discussed it, Oliveri he already had a pitch thrown to him and they decided to let fate run its course.
To their credit, Pennsville didn’t roll over after East Vineland opened the big lead and did all they could to avoid getting run ruled until a six-run fifth finally put it away. When it was 15-0, Pennsville got four in the third to extend the game. When it was 15-4, they got two more in the fourth to keep it under the 10-run threshold.
Even after East Vineland stretched the lead to 21-6 in the fifth, Pennsville kept scoring, with Connor McGovern delivering a three-run homer. McGovern had two extra-bases in the game for Pennsville. Mason Seaver, Drew LaPalomento and Luca Codamo all had a pair of hits as well.
“We always instruct them to play the full six innings,” Cascaden said. “We want to be out here six innings. It’s fun hitting the baseball.
“We as coaches instill in them to keep playing, keep going, don’t have our heads down, keep chanting, keep being themselves. This is how they played all season, even when we were playing each other in our Little League games, that’s all they do all year.”
| East Vineland | (11)13 | 06- | 21 | 8 | 2 |
| Pennsville | 004 | 24- | 10 | 10 | 3 |
WOODSTOWN 9, ELMER 8: Woodstown opened a big lead early, then had to hold off a spirited Elmer rally to win a one-run game and keep their hopes alive for one of the two American spots in the Final Four.
The winners jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning behind Grant West’s two-run triple and RBI singles by Xander Shimp, Logan Roback and Ryan Garton and extended it to 8-1 in the third on a two-run single by West and a bases-loaded passed ball.
But then their bats went silent until the sixth when West walked, stole second and third, and rode home with what wound up being the winning run on Pax Arno’s fielder’s choice grounder to third. West went 2-for-2 with two runs and three RBIs in the game.
Meanwhile, Elmer started mounting a comeback. Cash Williams’ two-run single and a run-scoring single by Roman Allen drew them within 8-4 in the third inning. Kip Trembley’s run-scoring ground out and Sam Tighe’s steal of home made it 8-6 in the fourth.
“When it got to 8-4 I could feel it tightening up a little bit,” Woodstown manager Dave Murnane said.
Tighe’s two-run double with one out in the sixth got Elmer within 9-8. The throw to get Tighe at third was in time, but the ball got knocked out of third baseman’s glove, but on appeal Tighe was ruled out for a head-first slide into the bag. Arno then made a nice play on Trembley’s grounder to second to get the final out of the game.
“I saw it but I didn’t realize it at first that it was a head first slide,” Murnane said. “I appealed because everybody said ‘head-first slide.’ That set up the last play. (Trembley) hit a heater to Pax Arno. He snatched it out of the air and made the final out. It was pretty hairy there. I guess the sixth inning was the inning of the Arnos.”
The win left Woodstown tied with East Vineland for second in the American Division. EV plays division-leading Franklin Twp. Tuesday. An EV win would leave three teams with one loss and open the possibility for the division to be decided by the standings’ run-ratio. With one game left on their respective pool play schedules, Woodstown has allowed one less run than EV. A Franklin Twp. win would set the stage for Woodstown to earn a playoff spot Wednesday with a win over Pennsville and Franklin win over Elmer.
“I think from the standpoint of going into Wednesday hopefully being able to control our own destiny, I feel good about that,” Murnane said.
The four-team district finals start July 6. The district champion will open Section 4 tournament play against the District 15 winner July 17 in Hammonton, then play either the District 16 winner of the 13-14 loser in their second game July 18.
| Woodstown | 503 | 001- | 9 | 10 | 2 |
| Elmer | 013 | 202- | 8 | 10 | 2 |
REMAINING POOL PLAY SCHEDULE
(All games 5:45 p.m. unless noted)
Tuesday’s games
East Vineland at Franklin Twp.
Elmer at Pennsville
South Vineland at South Cumberland
North Vineland at Buena
Wednesday’s games
Franklin Twp. at Elmer, 7 p.m.
Woodstown at Pennsville, 7 p.m.
South Cumberland at Buena, 7 p.m.
DISTRICT FINALS
July 6
at Buena LL
Game 1: American 1 vs. National 2
Game 2: National 1 vs. American 2, 8 p.m.
July 7
at North Vineland LL
Game 3: Winner G1 vs. Winner G2
Game 4: Loser G1 vs. Loser G2, 8 p.m.
July 9
at Pennsville LL
Game 5: Loser G3 vs. Winner G4, 7 p.m.
July 10
at South Vineland LL
Game 6: Winner G3 vs. Winner G5, 7 p.m.
July 11
at South Vineland LL
If necessary, 7 p.m.
Winner advances to Section IV Tournament at Hammonton, July 17
