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GAME 2 Box Score: - Monticello, ARK.
Kelso, Washington 0 0 0 0 0 x x o 1 2
North Syracuse 2 5 0 6 x x x 13 11 1
NS Dan Brower (WP) and Gabe Levanti, Eric Hamilton (5)
WA Halkenin (LP), Pickett (3), Green (4)
NS - 2B Gabe Levanti and Patrick Wright
NS - HR Brandon Kapcinski
Dan Brower pitched a one hitter with 6 Strikeouts. Pat Wright had 3 hits and 5 RBI's. Gabe Levanti and Brett Charbonneau each had 2 hits for North Syracuse.
North Syracuse (2-0) will face Bryant, Arkansas (2-0) Sunday at 11:30 am CT.
By Tom Leo
Staff writer - Game 3: - Monticello, ARK.
Joe Bodnar said he had his mind made up. He was convinced Bryant, Ark., pitcher Hayden Daniel was going to give him a first-pitch fastball and he told himself he was going to swing.
With his team trailing, 4-2, in the top of the sixth inning, Bodnar got just what he wished for and delivered a three-run home run that was the biggest hit in North Syracuse’s 9-4 win Sunday over Bryant at the 13- to 15-year-old Babe Ruth World Series in Monticello, Ark.
“It was a fastball right down the middle,’’ Bodnar said by telephone moments after the game ended. “I wasn’t going to miss it.’’
The win improved North Syracuse’s record to 3-0 in pool play and guaranteed the team a berth in the playoffs that begin Wednesday.
North Syracuse plays Whitehall, Ark., the Southwest Regional champion at noon today (Monday) in its final pool game with a chance to earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Greenville, N.C., also is 3-0 in the American Division. If both finish pool play undefeated, the bye will come down to tiebreakers, which at this point, favor North Syracuse.
Bodnar, who came off the bench in his team’s first two games, had a perfect day at bat for North Syracuse. He walked and scored North Syracuse’s first run in the third inning. He was hit by a pitch in the fourth. His home run came in the sixth. He had a run-scoring single in his team’s four-run seventh inning that have him his fourth RBI on the day. He was named his team’s Player of the Game.
“It’s just awesome,’’ he said. “I can’t really put it into words.’’
Bryant, the Southern Arkansas state champion, also came into the game with a 2-0 record. Bryant took a 3-0 lead after two innings, mostly due to Cody Gogus’ two-run homer in the first inning off North Syracuse starting pitcher Alex Caruso.
A home run by North Syracuse’s Ryan O’Kane made it 3-2 in the fourth. Bryant added a run to make it 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
But in the sixth, Pat Wright was hit by a pitch and Eric Hamilton walked before Bodnar’s key blast with two outs. North Syracuse put the game away with four runs in the seventh, highlighted by Brandon Kapcinski’s two-run double.
Bodnar, Gabe Levanti and Nick Pilotti all had two hits for North Syracuse.
Kapcinski also starred on the mound, relieving Caruso with no outs and the bases loaded in the fourth inning. He allowed one of the inherited runners to score on a sacrifice fly. Kapcinski, who didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning, got the final out when Gogus grounded back to him with the bases loaded.
GAME 3 Box Score:
North Syracuse 9, Bryant, Ark. 4
NS 001 103 4 – 9-10-2
Bryant 210 100 0 – 4-5-2
Alex Caruso, Brandon Kapcinski (W, 4) and Gabe Levanti; Hayden Daniel (L), Zach Cambron (6), Riley Hall (7) and Blain Jackson, Josh Davis 5.
2B—Brandon Kapcinski (NS), HR—Cody Gogus (B), Ryan O’Kane (NS), Joe Bodnar (NS).
By Tom Leo
Staff writer - Game 4: - Monticello, ARK.
North Syracuse’s first goal was getting out of pool play and advancing to the championship round, Nick Pilotti said.
Pilotti was instrumental in making sure that happened during Monday’s 7-2 win by North Syracuse over White Hall, Ark., at the 13- to 15-year-old Babe Ruth World Series in Monticello, Ark.
Pilotti had a pair of doubles -- one that drove in three runs -- and pitched the final three innings as North Syracuse improved its record to 4-0 and earned a bye into the tournament semifinals at 8 p.m. Thursday. Its opponent is yet to be determined.
Pat Wright chipped in with an RBI double and two-run home run to help North Syracuse finish first in the American Division standings.
“This feels amazing,’’ said Pilotti by telephone after the game. “We came here thinking we could win, but the first order of business was getting out of pool play. We did that.’’
“Things have worked out just liked we planned,’’ North Syracuse manager Dom Caruso. “It’s been 100 degrees every day. The heat is tiring everybody out. But they’ve found a way to fight through it. They’re doing the little things it takes to win games.’’
Monday’s game was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when North Syracuse scored five runs. Gabe Levanti’s single drove in Brett Charbonneau with the game’s first run. Pilotti later came up with the bases loaded and crushed a low fastball from White Hall starting pitcher Hunter Hale into deep right field that cleared the bases.
“That got us all fired up,’’ Pilotti said. “Everybody just started hitting after that.’’
Wright then doubled to right-center field to score Pilotti and give North Syracuse a 5-0 lead.
White Hall scored twice in the fourth to make it 5-2, but Wright’s two-run homer to center following another Pilotti double in the fifth put the game away.
On the mound, Pilotti allowed one hit in three innings, with three strikeouts. Ryan O’Kane went the first four, allowing two runs and six hits, with five strikeouts.
Dan Brower will pitch in the semifinals Thursday, Caruso said. If North Syracuse wins, O’Kane likely will start in the championship game, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday.
GAME 4 Box Score:
North Syracuse 7, White Hall, Ark. 2
White Hall 000 200 0 – 2-7-1
N. Syracuse 005 020 x – 7-7-0
Hunter Hale (L), Jeremy Sprinkle (6) and Landon Reed, Zak Gober (6); Ryan O’Kane (W), Nick Pilotti (5) and Nick Pilotti, Gabe Levanti (5).
2B—Chris Smith (W), Nick Pilotti 2 (NS), Pat Wright (NS). HR—Pat Wright (NS).
North Syracuse reaches Babe Ruth World Series championship game - Game 5: - Monticello, ARK.
North Syracuse defeated Greenville, N.C., 11-3, Thursday night in a semifinal game at the 13- to-15-year-old Babe Ruth World Series in Monticello, Ark.
The championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, when North Syracuse meets Saginaw Valley, Mich., an 8-2 winner Thursday over Bryant, Ark. The starting time of the game was moved up a half hour.
North Syracuse scored nine times in the fourth inning to rally from a 3-1 deficit against Greenville, which had won four of its five games coming into the contest.
Nick Pilotti started the fourth inning with a double to center field, only North Syracuse’s third hit at the time against Greenville starting pitcher Jarrett Ozimek. Pat Wright reached on an infield error. After the runners advanced to second and third on Ryan O’Kane’s sacrifice bunt, Eric Hamilton tied the game, 3-3, with a two-run double.
There was plenty more to come.
Brett Charbonneau was hit by a pitch before Joe Bodnar delivered a run-scoring single to make it 4-3. Pinch-hitter Matt DiPaulo got an infield single to load the bases. Gabe Levanti walked to force in a run and give North Syracuse a 5-3 lead.
Alex Caruso singled in two runs to make it 7-3. Pilotti drove in another run on an infield out. Wright then hit a long home run to center field to make the score 10-3.
“That’s the way it is with this team,’’ North Syracuse manager Dom Caruso said. “One guy gets a hit to start the rally, and everybody starts hitting.’’
North Syracuse added its final run in the bottom of the sixth when Levanti doubled and advanced on two wild pitches.
Levanti, Caruso and Charbonneau had two hits each to lead North Syracuse’s 11-hit attack. Caruso, Wright and Hamilton each had two RBI.
Dan Brower pitched all seven innings for North Syracuse, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out four and walked two.
Brower, who was named the Player of Game, struggled only in the third inning, when he allowed all three runs with the help of both his walks, an error and an infield hit that could have been an error charged on Brower. He threw 33 pitches in the inning.
"We were going to take him out,’’ Caruso said. “But he settled down and did a nice job after that.’’
A nine-run inning can have a calming influence on a pitcher, Caruso said.
Ryan O’Kane, who already has two of North Syracuse’s five consecutive wins in this tournament, will start on the mound this evening in the championship game. Saginaw Valley’s record in the tournament is 4-1.
“We’re in the finals,’’ Caruso said. “We’ve got one more game left to get this done.’’
Game 5 Box Score:
North Syracuse 11, Greenville, N.C. 3
Greenville 003 000 0 – 3-5-4
N. Syracuse 100 901 x – 11-11-2.
Jarett Ozimek (L), Jehnal House (4), Johnson Little (5) and Aaron Clark; Dan Brower (W) and Gabe Levanti.
2B—Kyle Cross (G), Dalton Britt (G), Nick Pilotti (NS0, Eric Hamilton (NS), Gabe Levanti (NS). HR: Pat Wright (NS).
North Syracuse rallies on Nick Pilotti's three-run HR in seventh inning to win Babe Ruth World Series
Published: Friday, August 27, 2010, 9:04 PM Updated: Saturday, August 28, 2010, 8:23 AM
 AP Photo / Brian ChilsonNorth Syracuse's Eric Hamilton hits a solo home run against Saginaw Valley in early action of the Babe Ruth League World Series Friday in Monticello, Ark.
The third time was the charm for the North Syracuse Babe Ruth baseball all-stars, which finally won the ultimate prize.
After going winless in the World Series as 13 year olds, and finishing tied for fifth last year as 14 year olds, North Syracuse won the 13- to 15-year-old Babe Ruth World Series championship Friday night with a 7-4 victory over Saginaw Valley, Mich., in Monticello, Ark.
North Syracuse is the first team from Central New York to compete in three consecutive World Series. The Onondaga Babe Ruth Classic League all-stars won the 16-year-old World Series in 2003.
“We tried to do this for three years,’’ said North Syracuse center fielder Nick Pilotti, who was the hero with a three-run home run that lifted his team from a 4-3 deficit to a 6-4 lead in the top of the seventh inning. “We finally did it. I can’t describe what I’m feeling.’’
Pilotti actually was asked to bunt after Gabe Levanti singled and Alex Caruso walked to lead off the top of the seventh off Saginaw Valley starting pitcher Luke Scharich, who was then relieved in favor of A.J. McInnis. After taking a strike and fouling off a pitch, North Syracuse manager Dom Caruso gave Pilotti the swing-away sign. He crushed an outside curveball from McInnis over the center-field fence.
“I should have executed and got the bunt down, but I’m glad I didn’t,’’ Pilotti said. “I was looking for a curveball because I was behind in the count. I crushed it.’’
Photo gallery from the game
“Oh my God, when Nick hit that home run, everyone just got so excited,’’ said winning pitcher Ryan O’Kane, who struck out five and walked two in seven innings. “After Nick’s home run, we knew we were going to win it.’’
Dom Caruso has managed some of these players since Little League. As 12 year olds, they qualified for the Pony League World Series in California but didn’t attend because the team had made previous arrangements to compete in a tournament in Cooperstown, where it finished second out of 96 teams.
Next came three consecutive trips to the Babe Ruth World Series. To qualify, teams have to win a district title, a state championship and a regional title. North Syracuse won the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship to earn its way to Arkansas.
“This is so unbelievable, it hasn’t sunk in yet,’’ Dom Caruso said. “There’s just no quit in this team. Before we came to bat in the seventh inning, the guys on the bench were telling each other there was no way we were going to lose this game.’’
North Syracuse fell behind 2-0 in the first inning as Saginaw Valley collected four hits off O’Kane, including RBI singles from Grant Bridgewater and Zach Olszewski.
Eric Hamilton homered for North Syracuse in the top of the second. A run-scoring two-out triple from O’Kane and an RBI-double from Pilotti gave North Syracuse a 3-2 lead in the third.
That lead lasted until the top of the fifth, when Saginaw Valley’s Ryan Jankowski touched O’Kane for a two-run homer that gave his team a 4-3 advantage.
Scharich had retired 12 of 14 North Syracuse batters entering the seventh inning. He was removed from the mound after Levanti and Caruso got on base to lead off the inning.
That brought up Pilotti, who homered to come through with what was undoubtedly the biggest clutch hit of the tournament. North Syracuse added its final run on an infield error later in the inning.
O’Kane was named the tournament’s Most Valuable player after winning his third game in three starts. North Syracuse went undefeated in six games in the tournament.
“I wasn’t tired,’’ O’Kane said. “I was helped out by some nice defensive plays behind me.’’
Dom Caruso said he never once thought about removing O’Kane from the mound.
“When he does have problems, it’s usually early in the game and he settles down. That’s what happened tonight,’’ Caruso said. “We knew he’d battle through it.’’
O’Kane was joined on the All-Tournament team by Levanti and Pat Wright. Pilotti finished with three hits. Eric Hamilton had two – a home run and a double.
Championship team members included Tyler Bliss, Joe Bodnar, Dan Brower, Caruso, Brett Charbonneau, Matt DiPaulo, Hamilton, Brandon Kapcinski, Levanti, O’Kane, Pilotti, Wright and Dan Zimmerman.
“This is the greatest group of guys I’ve ever been around,’’ Dom Caruso said. “Absolutely, the greatest.’’
North Syracuse 7, Saginaw Valley, Mich. 4
N. Syracuse.......... 012 000 4 – 7-9-2
Saginaw Valley...... 200 020 0 – 4-9-1
Ryan O’Kane (W) and Gabe Levanti; Luke Scharich (L), A.J. McInnis (7), Connor Foley (7) and Zach Olszewski, Brandon Vittinow (7).
2B—Alex Caruso (NS), Eric Hamilton (NS), Nick Pilotti (NS). 3B—Ryan O’Kane (NS). HR—Ryan Jankowski (SV), Eric Hamilton (NS), Nick Pilotti (NS).
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