Sweet 16: Raumunto's Goes Undefeated, Wins League Title
One to the starting pitcher who threw 86 pitches in 5 and a third innings, striking out six and retiring the side in order three times.
And one to the guy who needed just one pitch to get the last two outs and earn the save.
Landon Garner nearly went the distance on the hill but welcomed an assist from Benny Tatro in a 7-4 win over Rotary that gave Ramunto’s Pizza a 16-0 record and an NYBYL Championship on Fallon Field.
Tatro also had a two-run single in a five-hit attack for Ramunto’s, which used a couple of web gems, including a double play for the final two outs, to take home the title.
“I make sure they focus every play, and that’s what happens when they’re focusing,” Ramunto’s coach Adam Garner said.
“They’re just a very good team. In this league, you need pitching, you need catching, and you need to put the ball in play. That’s what we did. We had good pitching. We had a couple of home run hitters, and we had kids who put the ball in play, were aggressive, stole bases. That’s how you score runs.
“We did it all.”
On Saturday, that included coming back from a three-run deficit in the league championship game.
Rotary broke the seal on the game in the top of the second when Leighton Grant started a rally with a one-out infield single. He ended up scoring on a pitch to the backstop and Devon Pikula, who reached on a walk, ended up scoring on a bases-loaded walk earned by Wyatt Reynolds to make it 2-0.
Ramunto’s got a run back in the bottom of the inning thanks to some of that aggressive baserunning. Carson Ellsworth worked a one-out walk and stole the next three bases to make it 2-1.
Rotary then doubled its one-run lead with a pair in the top of the third. Mikey Durant got things started with a leadoff single, and Hunter Dennette drove in a run with a ground ball out during the rally to make it 4-1.
Ramunto’s answered right away to take the lead for good in the bottom of the third.
Nolan Langenback got things started by working a leadoff walk in the nine hole. Jaxon Garner, Nehemiah Malachuk and Tatro each drove in a run with a single to make it 5-3.
That ended the day on the mound for Rotary’s Paul George, who struck out seven. Grant picked up three Ks in 2 and two-thirds innings of relief for the designated visitors.
In the bottom of the fifth, Malachuk drew a walk and scored, and Ivan Kolis singled and scored on Tatro’s RBI groundout to give Ramunto’s some insurance.
Meanwhile, Landon Garner, who walked five and gave up four runs in the first three innings, retired 10 in a row – helped by Malachuk’s spear of a line drive at third in the fourth inning – before allowing a walk to the second hitter he faced in the top of the sixth.
“He’s a good pitcher, he knows he is,” coach Garner said of Landon Garner’s early control issues. “It’s a tough moment. He knows it’s an important game. He got frustrated a little, I could see it. But he settled in.
“I tried to calm him down. He didn’t feel good. He was sweating, He was hot. But he’s a beast. He threw over 85 pitches in this heat. He walked a bunch of guys, but he fixed that control. We needed him to go far in the game, and he did. And I’m proud of him.”
After Landon Garner was pulled due to the pitch count, Tatro went from second base to the mound.
He got the first batter he faced to roll a pitch back to the mound. After checking second base, Tatro threw to first for the out, and Ellsworth alertly saw the runner trying to advance and fired to Malachuk at third to complete the double play and end the game.
Photos from this game to come.
