When you only piece together three base hits, it’s tough to win a baseball game. And when it’s a Babe Ruth World Series game, winning with three hits is nearly impossible.
That, in short, was the theme of the Lynn Babe Ruth 16-18-year-old All-Star team’s 5-1 World Series loss to Bakersfield (CA) Sunday afternoon at Russell E. Dietrich, Jr. Park in Jamestown, N.Y. With the defeat, the Lynners drop to 0-2 in the pool play stage of the tournament.
Lynn’s three hits were all singles. Jomar Moreta went 1-for-2, Kyle Ouellette went 1-for-3 and AJ Luciano went 1-for-4. Luciano logged Lynn’s lone RBI of the game and Brett Bucklin scored the only run.
Moreta and Danny Lilja each drew a pair of walks, while Ouellette, Colin Reddy and Zach Elwell each walked once.
“We had seven walks, a hit batter, a few errors,” Lynn coach Al Donovan said. “We left 13 runners on base. We left the bases loaded in the first inning. We left two more on in the second. We’re finding ways to get on base but we’re not scoring runs. We’re playing great defense and battling but we need to find a way to play a complete game. It’s timely hitting and we’re not having that right now.”
David Barnard got the nod for Lynn on the mound and pitched 3 2/3 innings. Barnard allowed seven hits, five earned runs and three walks with one strikeout. Nick Reiser followed in relief, making his second appearance in as many days. Reiser pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings and fanned one without allowing a hit.
“David didn’t pitch too bad,” Donovan said. “He had a couple tough errors. Nick came in and did an outstanding job. He didn’t give up any runs, hit his corners and did very well. He’s throwing very well. He pitched Saturday as well so he’s not eligible to pitch Monday but it’s good to give him some time off.”
The Lynners now have their backs up against the wall heading into their third game of pool play, which will take place tonight (7:30) against tournament host Jamestown. Lynn closes the pool play stage Tuesday afternoon (2:30) with a tilt against Charleston (MO). The top three teams from each pool advance in the tournament. The top seed from each pool gets an automatic bid to the semifinals.
“This is a must-win game and so is Tuesday,” Donovan said. “We have to win but it’s one game at a time. Jamestown’s a good team. We’ve faced two great teams down here so far. Bakersfield’s a very solid team but they had seven hits and made three errors, we made three errors as well. We know we can compete with these guys. We just have to execute across the board.
“Jamestown’s a good team, well coached,” Donovan said. “They have hard-nosed kids that don’t give up. Baseball’s a funny game. We have to play our baseball. We have to score some runs early and put the pressure on them. They’re the hometown team and they’ll have their crowd. We have to go out there and take the crowd out of it, hopefully by scoring some runs early.”
Lou Vidal, who pitched a no-hitter in the New England regional round, will take the hill for the Lynners tonight.
