Elmer powers past Pennsville for first tournament win; East Vineland shakes up standings by blanking Franklin Twp.
| AMERICAN | REC | RUNS | NATIONAL | REC | RUNS |
| c-E. Vineland | 3-1 | 38-20 | x-S. Vineland | 2-0 | 14-6 |
| a-Franklin Twp. | 2-1 | 25-15 | x-Buena | 2-0 | 25-1 |
| b-Woodstown | 2-1 | 24-19 | S. Cumberland | 1-2 | 23-15 |
| Elmer | 1-2 | 18-25 | N. Vineland | 0-3 | 3-43 |
| Pennsville | 0-3 | 24-50 |
| Top two in each division advance to double-loss finals; a-owns tiebreaker on Woodstown, b-owns tiebreaker on East Vineland, c-owns tiebreaker on Franklin Twp.; x-clinched playoff spot |
TUESDAY’S GAMES
East Vineland 2, Franklin Twp. 0
Elmer 10, Pennsville 6
South Vineland 4, South Cumberland 3
Buena 14, North Vineland 0
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Franklin Twp. at Elmer, 7 p.m.
Woodstown at Pennsville, 7 p.m.
South Vineland at Buena, 7 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – It hasn’t been a good tournament for either of the two teams playing on McLaughlin Field Tuesday night, but at least somebody was going to go home with something to hang their batting helmets on.
Fortune favored the Elmer All-Stars on this night. Roman Allen homered and drove in four runs and Elmer looked like a team that was starting to put it together in a 10-6 win over host Pennsville in a battle of teams that fell off the division chase in the District 3 Little League Tournament.
“Finally,” Elmer manager Ray Harding said. “It took a little bit, but we’re kind of clicking a little bit. They figured it out.
“Yesterday, the first inning was bad. Today, it was not as bad. It’s good to get a win. It should’ve been us last night, but that’s all right. You live and learn. Figure it out.”
The winners banged out their tournament-high 16 hits in the game, 10 from the first four spots in the lineup. Allen went 3-for-3 and each of his hits drove in at least one run. He capped the night with a two-run homer in the fifth punctuated with an exaggerated bat flip that almost went as high as the ball when it left the bat.
“I was looking to hit a home run,” he said. “My uncle in center field said if I hit one I’d get like 20 dollars. (Uncle said it would’ve been 100 if the slugger hit his truck). That was probably one of my best one. I knew it was going right off the bat.”
And that’s probably why he launched the bat about as high into the sky as he did after he hit it. The bat came down about halfway up the third base line.
“That’s the first time I’ve done that,” he said. “I watch a lot of videos and stuff of baseball. I see other people do it and it’s pretty cool.”
“It could’ve been a lot worse,” Harding said. “I’ve seen some crazy bat flips. I don’t want to say by him, but, you know.”
Allen described getting a win in the tournament as “pretty cool.”
“We were struggling the last few games, so it’s pretty nice to win a game,” he said.
Taking an aggressive approach at the plate that included first-pitch swinging on Pennsville starter Lachlen Tighe, Elmer scored three runs in the first inning to answer Pennsville’s three-run breakout in the top of the inning and tacked on five more in the third.
Their seven batters in the first inning saw only 11 pitches. The first four all had hits with Allen delivering an RBI double, Brody Emigholz an RBI single and Connor Harding a sacrifice fly.
Mirocco Pierce-Stevenson got the five-run eruption in the third going with a leadoff double down the left-field line. Before the inning was over, Cash Williams, Allen, Harding and Sam Tighe all had RBI singles and Emigholz drove in a run with a ground out.
Pennsville took advantage of Elmer starter Williams’ early wildness to score its three runs in the first. They had one hit – Tyler Colony’s leadoff single – three walks and two hit batsmen. They scored three more in the fifth with Colomy and Mason Seaver producing hits.
Both teams play their final tournament games at home Wednesday. The games have been pushed back to 7 p.m. in hopes of escaping the worst of the day’s high temperatures.
| Pennsville | 300 | 030- | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Elmer | 305 | 02- | 10 | 16 | 3 |
WP: Cash Williams. LP: Lachlen Tighe. 2B: Luca Codamo (P), Roman Allen (E), Mirocco Pierce-Stevenson (E). HR: Roman Allen (E)
EV scrambles the standings
FRANKLINVILLE – Jace Oliveri hit his fifth homer of the tournament and pitched a three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts as East Vineland blanked Franklin Twp. 2-0 to throw the District 3 American Division standings into an uproar.
With the win, East Vineland completed its pool play 3-1 and tied in the loss column with Franklin Twp. and Woodstown, both of whom play their final pool games Wednesday. If the teams finish in a three-way tie at 3-1, the run-ratio will determine which two teams that advance from the pool to the double-loss district finals.
Going into the final day, Franklin Twp. has allowed 15 runs in three games, Woodstown has allowed 19 in three games and East Vineland has allowed 20 in four games. That means, if Franklin Twp. beats Elmer and holds it to four runs or less, Woodstown would have to hold Pennsville to one run or less to overtake East Vineland even though they beat the Cumberland County team head-to-head.
“At this level it’s hard to hold teams to one run or less,” said Woodstown manager Dave Murnane, whose team was idle Tuesday night. “All it takes is an error here, a string of a couple batters hitting the ball there, and you have given up three. Any team can do that. However, we have the team that can definitely step up defensively between our pitching and gloves in the field. First things first, we have to win.
“Elmer certainly earned my respect on Monday. They have 9, 10 players who are solid at the plate. It wouldn’t surprise me if they score a little. If they get pitching anything is possible. I wouldn’t count us out yet.”
Led by the most dynamic player in the tournament, East Vineland did what it had to do. All it can do now is wait for the final day’s results to come in.
Oliveri gave his team a 1-0 lead with a one-out solo homer in the home first and then made it stand from the mound as he battled with Luke Hudson in an old-fashioned pitching duel.
Oliveri gave up three singles, walked one and faced just five batters over the minimum as his defense, manager Dan Lonzi said, “was darned near perfect behind him.” Hudson, meanwhile, also gave up three hits and struck out nine, but walked four.
East Vineland added an unearned insurance run in the fifth when Carter Suarez scored on a dropped third strike passed ball that would’ve been the third out of the inning. Oliveri then struck out the side in order in the sixth to close out the game.
“It was huge,” Lonzi said. “Not all the kids are real dedicated ballplayers like Jace is, so for them to be around somebody like him, somebody who is so dedicated, I think elevates our whole league and, really, regionally he’s elevated things. The kids are trying to live up to him and play well for him and kind of match his level of play. To bring pride to my kids and our league and for himself was just tremendous.
“And to go 3-1, we went 0-3 two years ago, we went 2-2 and missed it with run differential last year. This year we have a chance to move on. We don’t know if we’re going to, but I think we have a good chance to. Everybody’s just so happy to be part of this ride that they’re on. The whole run that they’ve had right now has been something to watch. ”
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 or the 13-14 loser in their second game July 18.
| Franklin Twp. | 000 | 000- | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| East Vineland | 100 | 01x- | 2 | 3 | 1 |
WP: Jace Oliveri. LP: Luke Hudson. HR: Jace Oliveri (EV).
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
Riverview Sports News 