Ed Karabin had a plan heading into Monday night’s opening game of the Tri-County Little League championship series.

SST Performance found itself paired up against archrival Sports-R-Us with the 2008 all-season title hanging in the balance. The two teams are about as evenly-matched as you can get, so Coach Karabin was looking for any little edge he could find.

“I told the kids that the key to this game would be getting out to a fast start,” he explained to TWI Sports. “I told them we needed to get up by a couple of runs and then hold on for dear life.”

Turns out, that’s exactly what happened.

SST Performance erupted for three runs in the bottom of the first. Coach Karabin’s lads then held off a succession of Sports-R-Us comeback bids en route to a 7-6 victory.

This win was the 15th of the season for SST against just three defeats. Two of those losses came courtesy of Sports-R-Us, who finished up the campaign with a record of 14-5.

“This is a great rivalry,” said Coach Ed Pfaeffle. “We beat them twice during the year and they beat us twice. You don’t get much more even than that. It’s like that every time we play each other: one hit, one pitch or one play seems to be the difference.”

Game Two of the finals won’t be held until Saturday evening in Sterling. Players from both teams are involved in several all-star tournaments, so scheduling is a dicey affair at the moment. Should a third game become necessary, it would take place early next week.

First Blood
Sports-R-Us actually broke out on top Monday, scoring an unearned run in the top of the first inning.

Kolyn Schane worked a one-out walk off SST starter Will Strausser. The fleet-footed catcher promptly stole second and took third on a passed ball.

After Steve Troiano earned a free pass of his own, Eddie Pfaeffle ripped a hard grounder to the right side that SST second sacker Mike Valvano couldn’t handle. Kolyn scampered home and Sports-R-Us had itself an early 1-0 lead.

“We had runners on base in every inning, but for one reason or another, we just couldn’t get them in,” said Coach Pfaeffle. “You have to give their kids credit because they made some nice plays. If we want to win, though, we have to find a way to get those kids home.”

Nick Caucci drew the starting assignment for Sports-R-Us and found himself in trouble almost immediately.

SST lead-off man Matt Bond opened the home first with single. He moved into scoring position when Strausser reached on an error.

Zach Hopkins delivered the first big blow of the game for SST, roping an RBI single to right center. Bond tallied on the hit and suddenly the score was tied at 1-1.

Nathan Bond chased home the go-ahead run with a worm-burner off the glove of Sports-R-Us second baseman Pfaeffle. Then, when Raymond Montalvan drew a based-loaded walk, SST’s advantage grew to 3-1.

“That was the plan all along,” said Coach Karabin with a chuckle. “Get out in front early and try to stay there. Sports-R-Us is a very good team, though, so I knew two runs wasn’t going to be enough.”

The visitors proceeded to make those words prophetic, scoring once in both the second and third to draw even at 3-all.

Steven Bluthal stamped his presence on the game with two huge late-inning at-bats. SST’s leftfielder singled, stole second and scored in the fourth. Bluthal then crushed an RBI double to the wall in the fifth.

“That was without a doubt Steven’s biggest hit of the season,” said Coach Karabin. “He really came through for us in a big situation. It was great to see.”

Strausser and Michael Henry also provided clutch hits for SST. Will stroked a one-out single in the fourth, then came home four pitches later when Henry slapped an RBI single. Mike scurried home himself moments later on another Sports-R-Us infield miscue.

Mike Valvano scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth. SST’s six-hole hitter coaxed a lead-off walk from reliever Eddie Pfaeffle. Two batters later, Mike came all the way around on Bluthal’s double.

Sports-R-Us staged one last-gasp rally in the top of the sixth, but it fell just short.
Schane reached on a fielder’s choice and moved to third on back-to-back walks by Troiano and Pfaeffle.

SST reliever Mike Henry traded a run for an out on a comebacker, then fanned Jacob Silfies on a high heater to end the game.

Strausser and Troiano turned in outstanding defensive plays for their respective teams.

Will robbed Sports-R-Us pinch hitter Cassie Wombacker of certain extra bases, diving to smother a hard grounder that seemed destined for the rightfield corner. Steve also committed highway robbery with a sliding snag of Tyler Lawrence’s line drive to center.

Strausser earned the pitching decision with four solid innings for SST. The wily southpaw went four innings and allowed four runs. Will walked six and fanned six.

Caucci absorbed the loss for Sports-R-Us. He was relieved by Pfaeffle after 32/3 innings of work. Nick issued two walks and struck out eight. 

Score by Innings...
SPORTS   1  1  1  1  1  1 - 6
SST            3  0  0  3  1  x - 7