The busy and long summer playoff baseball season ended for the Arlington Babe Ruth Storm Black 10-under All-Stars with a 4-2 record at the World Series in Crown Point, Ind.
Arlington finished 3-1 in pool play, then 1-1 in the championship bracket round, being eliminated by Muscle Shoals, Ala., in a 1-0 walkoff quarterfinal loss in the bottom of the 13th inning. The winning run scored with the help of an error.
“It was high drama throughout the game with tremendous defense, and it was an epic battle,” Arlington manager Dave Juza said. “Our kids were super mentally tough the whole way.”
Arlington had six hits in the loss and walked 10 times, but could not score. The team left the bases loaded in the 10th inning and stranded two runners in the first and 12th frames.
“We couldn’t get the clutch one,” Juza said about needing another hit or two needed.
On defense, Arlington turned four double plays and Juza said catcher Bryce Donnelly did a good job of controlling and slowing the pace of Muscle Shoals’ aggressive baserunning game. The team had 17 baserunners, but managed only the one run, it’s fewest through that game during the Series.
Donnelly was chosen to the all-tournament Gold Glove defensive team.
Matthew Ryan and Bruce Buczek each had two hits for the Storm Black, Christian Tallent walked three times and Ryan Potter and Teddy LeCompte did so twice. Other hits went to Chase Langley and Donnelly.
Tallent started on the mound and pitched six innings. Langley worked the next four, with Flynn Juza pitching the final 2 1/3 and was the tough-luck loser.
“We made the final eight,” Juza said. “We represented ourselves well and we were right there in the conversation with any of those [eight] teams. It was a blast of a week. Our players’ attitudes were amazing all week.”
The Storm Black won in walkoff fashion, 7-6 over New Canaan, Conn., in its first-round playoff contest. Donnelly had the game-winning hit in the bottom of the sixth. Hudson Wilkins and Langley also had hits in the sixth, when the team scored three runs, helped by two errors.
Earlier in the win, Juza had an RBI groundout, Wilkins doubled and singled and Ryan and Donnelly singled.
The Storm Black’s two losses in the Series were against the two finalists, Muscle Shoals and Southeastern, Ky. The loss to Southeastern was during pool play. Southeastern was the top seed in bracket play, but Muscle Shoals won the World Series with a 7-2 victory in the final.
“Those two teams don’t give you anything or make mistakes,” Juza said. “And you can’t afford to make mistakes against them.”
Arlington was one of 25 baseball teams competing in the Cal Ripken Division of that Series.
Prior to the World Series, the Storm Black won the Southeast Region tournament with a 5-0 record. Before the region, the team finished 5-1 and second in the state tournament.
Including World Series games, the Storm Black finished with a 25-14 overall record against all competition in tournaments this year.
See a story at www.gazetteleader.com about the Storm Black’s four pool-play games.
