Robbinsville shuts down Bordentown in D12 tourney
HAMILTON » The District 12 Little League 12-Year-Old Baseball Tournament opened in fine fashion Friday night at Sunnybrae Little League as Robbinsville revealed a pair of dandy young pitching prospects in defeating Bordentown, 5-0.
With the victory, R’ville gets to return to Sunnybrae’s complex Saturday for a 3 p.m. game, while B’town will play on the same field at 10 a.m. Saturday in an elimination contest.
With 12-year-old, seventhgrader-to-be Tyler Bunnell on the hill, manager Joe Hopkins’ squad had little about which to worry.
“Tyler pitched a phenomenal game,” said Hopkins, who was equally proud of all of the team’s All-Stars. “We have a real nice staff, even though we have a young team.”
Robbinsville cracked the scoring column first when Will Raftery reached base on a one-out single in the top of the second inning, then moved all the way to third base on a single by Gavin Yablonowitz. Manager Hopkins called on 10-year-old Danny Raftery to pinch hit, and the younger Raftery brought home his older brother with a ground out to third base.
Bordentown tried to answer in the bottom of the frame when Jake Bartlett got his team’s first hit, a single. After moving to second base on a wild pitch, Bartlett came around on a two-out single by Braedon Morro, only to be thrown out at the plate by center fielder Alex Giordano.
Giordano kept Chris Basile at second base the following inning when he caught a long fly off the bat of Jaykob Shin at the fence.
From there, pitcher Tyler Bunnell maintained control with 10 strikeouts and only one other single allowed to Liam Velit in the fourth inning. No worries, Bunnell struck out the side that frame and in the fifth as well.
“My curve was working well,” said Bunnell, who finished with a combined three-hitter. “I was also using a fastball and a change-up. I felt good the whole game.”
R’ville added to its lead in the top of the fifth when Gavin Hopkins singled in Jax Kaber, who had re-entered the game after pinch hitter Nate Manning singled with one out. Giordano singled in Bunnell, who had walked. Then Johnny Fowler knocked in two more to give Robbinsville a 5-0 edge.
Josh Guire’s leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth was the only other blemish on Bunnell’s night.
The right-handed pitcher followed with his final strikeout, catching Shin looking at a called third strike, before equally hardthrowing righty Giordano took over and retired the last two hitters — striking out B’town’s starting pitcher Andrew Forster, then retiring Velit on a sharp ground ball to Bunnell, who finished the game at first base.
Robbinsville 010 040 — 5 9 0 Bordentown 000 000 — 0 3 0
RBIs: DRaftery, Hopkins, Giordano, Fowler 2 (R), x (B).
WP — Bunnell; LP — Forster.