THE THREE TIME BANTAM DIVISION CHAMPIONS ARE ON A MISSION FOR A ‘FOURPEAT’
Beneath a layer of hazy and humid skies in the early afternoon, the White Sox staged a dramatic five run rally to usurp the Expos 12-11 in a thrilling four inning barn burner at Dominico Field at Christie Pits.
Trailing 11-7 in the bottom of the fourth, the White Sox stormed back with a vengeance. Cooper (3) hit a clutch rbi single that brought Bruno (9) home to begin the comeback. Jake (10) delivered a single that brought in Cooper. After Nick (2) drew a walk, Salim (15) hit a clutch two-run single that bought Jake and Nick homeward bound to tie the game 11-11. After a couple of steals, Salim blazed home with the winning run on a wild pitch.
The White Sox have won the Bantam Division House League Championship under the expert stewardship of Head Coach Alex Beauvais and Assistant Coach Chris Novielli for three consecutive seasons. If today’s comeback was any indication of their resolve, the White Sox mean business and are on a mission for a “fourpeat”.
However, there are three improved teams within the Bantam Division that are standing in the path of that quest. As evidenced by the Expos play this afternoon, the White Sox will have to fight tooth and nail to achieve a fourth straight championship this season.
With both teams tied 3-3 after the first inning, White Sox pitcher Jake (10) turned off the Expos offensive faucet by tossing a scoreless inning while striking out one. Jake was also helped out by teammates that made two superb defensive plays that erased two Expos baserunners attempting to steal.
The White Sox scored four in the bottom of the second to go ahead 7-3. Adam (13) scored on a wild pitch; Cooper hit a sacrifice to bring Bruno home; after Jake walked and Nick singled, Salim delivered a two run single to bring them home.
In the top of the third, the Expos rallied for three to trim the deficit to one. Michael (12) scored from third on a wild pitch; Sam (7) came in on an error; Cameron (1) hit a single to bring in Matthew (10).
Trailing 7-6, Expos pitcher Michael (12) held the potent White Sox offensive machine off the scoresheet in the bottom of the third with two strikeouts. Michael was also helped out by his catcher Sam (7), who threw a laser strike to third to gun down a White Sox baserunner attempting to steal.
With their backs against the wall and the game on the line, the Expos offense rallied for five runs in the top of the fourth to surge ahead 11-7. Ethan (9) opened the inning with a walk and came around to score on a steal and a White Sox throwing error to tie the game.
Exercising discipline at the dish, the Expos loaded the bases on two walks and a single. Micah scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch. After Sam scored an insurance run on another wild pitch, Avery (3) delivered a single that brought Matthew home. Kaiyash (6) closed out the scoring with a single that allowed Cameron to come home.
The Game MVP was Salim (15) of the White Sox, for not only scoring the winning run on a wild pitch, but also for a 3 for 3 peformance at the plate (2 singles and a triple) with six runs batted in, on top of his catching and pitching duties for the team.