AAABA 2023

78th AAABA Tournament ball

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – New York needed a win and some help to stay alive in the 78th AAABA Tournament heading into Wednesday’s Pool A finale against Altoona-2 Johnston Realty at Westmont Hilltop Junior-Senior High School.

The Bonnie Rams did their part, holding off a spirited late charge by winless Altoona-2 to come away with an 8-5 victory.

However, despite New York finishing pool play with a 2-1 record, Brooklyn-2’s 3-2 win over New Brunswick earlier in the day created a three-way deadlock atop the pool standings.

The Bonnie Rams were the odd team out based on the runs-allowed tiebreaker criteria, thus ending New York’s 2023 tournament run.

“We went 2-1, and we improved from last year’s 1-2, so it was a step we made,” New York manager Linton Dyer said. “Hopefully, we can come back next year and show even better than that.”

Timely hitting and speed on the basepaths were keys for the Bonnie Rams. George Calderon and Aniel Delorbe each produced two of New York’s eight hits, while Calderon and Noble Cardoze drove in a pair of runs apiece for the Bonnie Rams.

Cardoze also picked up two of New York’s six total stolen bases on the day.

“Our team is aggressive,” Dyer said. “When we get on, we’re going to run. When you can move guys along the bases, then you have a chance to get them in just needing a fly ball or a timely hit.”

The contest was scoreless for the first two and a half innings before New York got on the board.

Cardoze was hit by a pitch to lead off, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a two-out double by Andrew Ardito.

The Bonnie Rams added three more runs in the following frame. Cardoze lined a two-out, two-run single to right field before scoring on a double by Gaudy Sanchez to make it 4-0.

Calderon’s sacrifice fly plated Taylor Freeman with another New York run in the bottom of the fifth.

Altoona-2 stormed back into the game in the sixth inning by capitalizing on three Bonnie Rams errors that led to five unearned runs.

Michael Turiano reached on an error to lead off, and advanced to third on a single by Connor Blough. One out later, Nick Negola singled to drive in Turiano with the first Johnston Realty run.

Owen Dombrowsky was then retired on a line drive to center, but the inning was extended when Carson Kratzer reached on an error to load the bases. Ethan Hileman drew a walk to force in a run, and Brendan Kuhns followed with an infield single that brought in Negola to make it 5-3.

Kratzer and Hileman then both scored on another New York infield error to tie the game at 5-all.

“The name of the game in any sport is defense,” Dyer said. “If you can’t play defense, you’re not going to win. When you make four or five errors in an inning like that, it just kills your pitchers.”

New York regained the momentum by tallying single runs in each of the next three innings.

Cardoze drew a one-out walk in the sixth, stole second and scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball.

Delorbe drilled a seventh-inning leadoff double, advanced on a passed ball and came home on Calderon’s groundout.

The Bonnie Rams’ final run came when Tory Cooks drew a leadoff walk, stole second and sprinted home on a throwing error while swiping third.

Johnston Realty refused to fold in the ninth inning. Two New York errors and a single by Blough, who finished with a pair of hits for Altoona-2, brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate with one out. However, Bonnie Rams reliever Franel Rodriguez worked out of the jam by inducing a short fly ball and groundout to put the contest away.

Johnston Realty manager Dennis Newberry felt the tournament was a learning experience for his team.

“We’re very young. We’re only losing four guys from this team,” Newberry said. “We don’t have the experience that some of these teams do, but as you can see, we battled to the very end.”

Brooklyn right-hander Thomas Michael Marshall escaped two bases-loaded jams in the contest and went 4-for-4 at the plate as the Cougars edged New Brunswick 3-2 at Forest Hills Junior-Senior High School to earn the top seed out of Pool A.

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