Woodbridge out-slugs Osbourn Park in Let’s Play 2 Tournament

By HUGH RIST
Published: March 18, 2008

With one prodigious swing of the bat, Woodbridge third baseman Jake Myer did what he has done so often for the Vikings, be it on the gridiron or the baseball field — carry his team to victory and himself to individual accolades.

This time, when he blasted a fastball well over the 348-foot sign in right center field, the tourna-ment most valuable player broke a 6-6 tie as Woodbridge came from behind to shock Osbourn Park, 8-6, to win the championship of the Let’s Play Two baseball tournament at Osbourn Park on Tues-day night.

For Woodbridge (4-0), the victory was sweet not only because it erased deficits of 5-2 and 6-5, but also because the Vikings stranded 11 runners and struck out 13 times against Osbourn Park pitch-ing.

Myer said he was just happy to get a pitch to hit.

“I hadn’t gotten very many pitches to hit in my previous at-bats so I was happy to get a ball I could drive,” Myer said. “I was happy to win it for my teammates because we had some tough stretches (offensively) in the tournament.”

Woodbridge coach Jason Ritenour said the comeback epitomized the approach the Vikings have toward every game of the season.

“We pretty much approach it inning by inning. If you put the ball in play, good things are going to happen,” Ritenour said. “We had a few rough spots to overcome, but our pitching and defense kept us in position and then our all-state player (Myer) was in a position to come through. It was a total team effort.”

Woodbridge left three runners in the first inning against Osbourn Park starter Nick Walker. Af-ter Kevin Soltis and Sam Fox each singled in the Osbourn Park half of the first, the Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead when a throwing error by Woodbridge starter Kyle Tatum enabled Soltis to score.

The Vikings took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third on RBI singles by Joey Spadell and Zack Lar-son. But Osbourn Park (3-1) responded with four runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-2 lead.

The inning began when Ian Heckman lined a single to left, stole second, and scored on a single to left by George Piccirilli. One out later, Nate White lashed a run-scoring single before Ryan Heckman powered a home run over the right field fence.

In the top of the fourth, Woodbridge rallied to tie the game 5-5 off Piccirilli, who relieved Walker. Chris Scott drew a leadoff walk before Kyle Toomey laced a single to left. Kevin Tatum drew a walk before Spadell clubbed a two-run single to center. A throwing error by catcher Devin White led to another run.

Osbourn Park coach Rod Hodgson said he did not consider leaving Walker in for another inning.

“With the (cold) weather and it being early in the season, we don’t see a reason to extend him,” Hodgson said. “We have several guys who can pitch and we have Walker settled in at shortstop. It was a good baseball game and we did everything we could to win it. It just wasn’t to be.”

Zach Bargeron’s leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth led to a 6-5 lead for Osbourn Park. An-drew Juba followed with a walk and Ian Heckman delivered a single to load the bases. However, Woodbridge pitcher Josh Robinson coaxed Kevin Soltis to hit into a 6-4-3 double play as Bargeron scored to pretty much stifle the threat.

“I thought that was the turning point in the game,” Ritenour said. “We were able to minimize the damage and that was big.”

Woodbridge scored an unearned run in the top of the fifth.

Kyle Toomey, Tatum, and Spadell were each chosen to the all-tournament team for Woodbridge, while Piccirilli, Ryan Heckman, and Matt Wainman were chosen to the team for Osbourn Park.