In every sport, there is an immeasurable quantity known as pressure. And all the repetitions and going over the specifics of what should be done in certain situations can help prepare an athlete for the situations they may encounter. But the pressure that builds during the game is very difficult to replicate — especially for 11- and 12-year-olds. The fact is they just haven’t had enough experience yet.
Coastal Point • RUSLANA LAMBERT
Lower Sussex’s Major League All-Star catcher Collier Donald makes the squeeze and holds tight to make the play at the plate in a 3-0 opening round loss to Nanticoke. Lower Sussex rallied to win its next two games over Georgetown and Laurel before suffering a tournament-ending loss to Rehoboth.
But what Lower Sussex All-Star baseball coach John Walker’s team lacked in experience they made up for in guts and determination in tournament play this week.
Walker knew his team would face an uphill battle after getting knocked back to the losers’ bracket following a 3-0 opening-round loss to Nanticoke. They’d have to play every day, as opposed to every other day in the winners’ bracket, which would put a strain on their pitching.
Little League rules state that pitchers can only throw 85 pitches and then must sit out a game, which is why it’s so important to stay in the winner’s bracket.
“It definitely pays to stay in the winner’s bracket,” Walker said.
But the Lower Sussex players persevered and went on to win consecutive games over Georgetown and Laurel before ultimately suffering a tournament-ending loss to Rehoboth for a four-day tournament total of two wins and two losses.
Starting pitcher Garrett Hudson was forced to leave the first tournament game after taking a pitch to his face in his first at-bat of the first inning. Hudson had some ocular swelling and went to the hospital as a precautionary measure, according to Walker. Ultimately, Hudson was declared to have suffered a broken nose, but he would return to pitch the next day, which sparked the two-game win streak over Georgetown and Laurel.
In strike-outs, Hudson paced Nanticoke winning pitcher Mark Wortham (13 strikeouts through five innings) through the first inning and projected to fan 12 had he completed the game. But he picked up where he left off against Nanticoke and rang up 11 strikeouts in a 3-2 win over Georgetown. Fabian McCray broke a 1-1 tie with a two-RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth.
Chester “Ches” Townsend’s two-RBI double, driving in Collier Donald and Hudson (both of whom drew walks), gave Game 3 starting pitcher Dallas Milner enough of a lead to go on for the win over Laurel. Milner struck out 10 in a 3-1 win over Laurel.
The fourth day, however, would not be so kind to Lower Sussex. McCray, who had stonewalled Nanticoke’s offense with his off-speed pitch and gave up no runs on four hits (all singles) and three strikeouts in three innings of relief, loaded the bases on three consecutive walks to start the fifth inning in a 2-2 tie game against Rehoboth.
Walker brought in London Tucker to spell McCray (who left with seven strikeouts and three walks), but Tucker had trouble hitting the strike zone and ended up walking five, which plated four unearned runs. Brian Jones relieved Tucker and pitched the last two innings. He gave up two unearned runs in a disappointing 8-2 loss to end their tournament hopes.
“You can’t teach pressure like that,” Walker admitted.
Fortunately for this group of Lower Sussex Major League All-Stars, many of them will have a chance to improve and go further in next year’s tournament. Of the 12 players on Walker’s roster, eight of them are only 11 and will be eligible to play Major League baseball next year.
“We had one of the youngest teams there (in the Major League tournament),” Walker said. “But I think we did well and I expect the kids to come back with this year’s experience under their belt.
“There’s a lot of good talent in Sussex County and all in all I thought the teams were pretty well balanced,” he added. “We did well we just ran out of steam,” Walker said of his team playing four games in four days. “Sometimes the results are good and sometimes the results are bad. But if you play hard and leave everything on the field then they shouldn’t feel bad about the game. We’d like to win but somebody has to lose. That’s just life.”