Holbrook Junior All-Stars win Championship – Game Recap

By Al Perl

Holbrook team- Brendan Benecke, Mike Breazzano, Jake Byford, Billy Carlock, Ryan Cullen, Brian Delesky, Angel Garced, Jordan Mondell, Tyler Pallante, Gregg Pascullo, T.J. Perl, Ariel Rivera and James Sofield.

Coaches:  Doug Benecke, Al Perl and Bill Carlock

Game Summary: The game started with each team trading harmless singles in the first two innings but things started to picked up in the third. Holbrook scored on singles by James Sofield and Billy Carlock and walks to Angel Garced and Brendan Benecke with Brian Delesky scoring the first run.

Manchester answered back in the bottom of the third with two runs on three hits and a walk to take a 2-1 lead. Tyler Pallante then shut the Manchester team down pitching a scoreless fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

With just seven outs left in the game for Holbrook, Brendan Benecke hit a two out, 3-2 count fast ball over the left field fence for a home run to tie the game at 2-2.

With no more runs being scored into the bottom of the seventh, the most amazing series of events unfolded.  After a strikeout, a single, a force and another single, Manchester had the winning run on second base. The next batter then singled up the middle to what seemed to surely be the game winning hit.  As the third base coach waived the runner in for the winning run, something unbelievable happened. The runner tripped and fell halfway between third and home and by the time he got up, Ariel Rivera’s perfect throw to home forced a rundown that resulted in the 8-2-5 putout for the final out and forcing the game into extra innings.

I’ve never seen anything like this ever! We we’re 20 feet from losing the championship game and the poor kid falls down coming to the plate. I know we had an Angel playing 2^nd base, but we may have had a second one somewhere on the field at that moment.

With new life, Holbrook exploded for 3 runs in the top of the eight on hits by Jordan Mundell, James Sofield, Brian Delesky, Billy Carlock and Ariel Rivera to take a 5-2 lead. 

Manchester however still had three out to go and was not ready to concede.  After a leadoff single and a long home run, the score all of the sudden was 5-4.  When the third batter in the inning hit another single and with no one out, Brendan Benecke was called in to pitch.  After a force out, a 2 base throwing error, Manchester had the tying run at third base with one out but Benecke struck out the last two batters to end one of the most amazing games ever played at Holbrook.

My hats off to the Manchester team, they never stopped battling back.