Rumbolt Law Advances in County Cal Ripken Tournament
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Rumbolt Law Tuesday overcame a 5-2 deficit and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the sixth to earn an 8-5 win over North Adams Tree and Landscape in the Berkshire County Cal Ripken minors division semi-final.
Andre Carasone struck out six in two innings of work on the mound and went 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs as Rumbolt improved to 8-0-2 and earned a berth in the league championship game, tentatively scheduled for Saturday morning.
Rumbolt awaits the winner of the other semi-final between North Adams Police Department and Wildcat Sports Group of Lee, whose game was postponed to Wednesday.
Rumbolt scored three times in the top of the fourth to tie it and added three more on four hits the next inning to go ahead for good.
“We got a lot of contributions from a lot of players,” Rumbolt coach John Carasone said. “Like that last inning, when we went ahead, the first hitter [Kip Reach] hadn’t had a hit all year and hit a line drive to start the inning, and he got knocked in by someone [Theo Bengtson-Belin] who hadn’t had a hit all year. And he had a legit, nice hit.
“So it’s just an awesome team victory for us. We’re really excited.”
NA Tree jumped on top early when Riley Briggs hit a sacrifice fly to plate Porter Gazaille in the top of the first inning.
Rumbolt Law answered with two in the bottom of the frame. Leo Giovanette and Asher Garbatini hit back-to-back singles to start the inning, and Carasone hit a one-out double to left to make it 2-1.
After starting pitcher Bryan Lane (five Ks, two innings) struck out the side in the bottom of the second for NA Tree, his offense rewarded him with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Ben Dix hit a two-run double and Lane notched an RBI single to max out NA Tree’s runs allowed under Cal Ripken rules.
It then tacked on another run in the top of the fourth when Dustin Columbus led off with an infield single and came around to score on a groundball from Logan Dix to give their team a 5-2 lead.
It looked like that would be enough the way NA Tree’s pitchers were dealing. The designated visitors walked just two and struck out eight in the game and at one point retired eight out of nine hitters.
“We’ve had the same three pitchers pretty much all year,” NA Tree coach Curtis Gazaille said. “It’s amazing to see how much growth that they each had, and we leaned on them all year long. Those three guys that pitched for us, they did a great job today.”
Briggs, Lane and Ben Dix each took a turn on the mound in the loss.
Garbatini, Jack Smith, Giovanette and Carasone handled the pitching for Rumbolt Law.
Rumbolt’s offense broke through for three runs in the fourth. Giovanette started things with an infield single, and Garbatini’s double put runners at second and third. After Finn Kirby worked a walk, Carasone doubled to get his team within one. Smith finished the rally with an RBI single to make it 5-5 heading to the fifth.
Carasone took the mound and struck out the side in order to get Rumbolt back in the dugout.
“Andre works really hard,” John Carasone said about his son. “I think that’s what I like the most about him. He’s a great leader. The kids really like him.
“He’s not the best hitter. This was his best hitting game, for sure. Pitching, he’s been pretty solid all year.”
As has Rumbolt Law in general.
“We have good pitchers, so we’re lucky in that sense,” John Carasone said. “That’s kind of been our strength. Today, we hit the ball a lot better, which was great. The last game we played, we didn’t hit the ball. I was pretty worried, because I knew [NA Tree] is a good team.”
The first time the teams played, it was a 5-5 tie in May.
Reach’s leadoff single started the game-winning rally. Bengtson-Belin, Rigel Parker and Ira Varone followed with singles to max out the inning with three runs and send Rumbolt to the sixth ahead, 8-5.
Carasone had some control problems this time, hitting three batters to load the bases with one out. But he got the final two outs on swinging strikes to end the game and NA Tree’s run in the tournament.
“The kids just played their little hearts out out there,” Gazaille said. “It’s all we can ask from them. You win some and you lose some.”
