U11 Navy Bombers Go 3-0 In EBL Playoffs And Qualify For The Finals!
The 7th seeded U11 Bombers headed to Swanzey, NH this past weekend, and after shocking the 2nd seeded Fury 11-1, they had two amazing wins against Mizuno Northeast 18-16 and 14-12 to advance to the Finals next Saturday at Rivier College against the SU Carolina Pirates.
In Game 1 vs the Fury, Max Poirier allowed just 1 run on 3 hits over 5 innings to pick up the win. The Bombers bats came alive, led by Kyle Jordan and Yoav Fiengold who each had 3 hits. Jordan homered and also stole 4 bases for the Bombers. Other hitting stars were Robby Broggi and Max Paladino who each had 2 hits in the win.
The Bombers then took on Mizuno Northeast who had also won their first game. The Bombers jumped out to an enormous lead 16-2 after 3 innings, but a very good Mizuno team battled back to make it 18-12 going into the bottom of the 6th. With all the momentum going Mizuno's way. they made it 18-16 with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Lukas Sharrock saved the day getting a line drive out to Paladino in RF, and a groundout to Poirier at SS to complete the exciting win. The Bombers pounded out 17 hits, including home runs by Feingold and Sharrock. Luke Miele, Jordan, Poirier, Paladino, Feingold and Ryan McCausland all had multiple hits in the win.
Going into Sunday, Mizuno needed to beat the Bombers twice, and these 2 evenly matched teams did not disappoint. Mizuno jumped out early, racing to an 8 run lead after 3, and a 6 run lead after 4. With the score 12-6 going into the bottom of the 5th, the Bombers exploded for 8 runs. Highlights of the inning were a Home Run by Adison Kendall, big RBI hits by Henry Redgate, Broggi, Poirier, and capped off by a 2 run double by McCausland. With emotions running high, and 3 more outs to go, Poirier retired the first 2 hitters, before a walk and a hit batsman put the tying runs on base with 2 outs. Poirier got a comebacker to the mound, and the epic comeback was complete.
Everyone contributed to the 3 wins, with Matthew Hudler catching all 18 innings in 3 long games, and 6 pitchers all getting time on the mound.
The 11's hope to bring the Bombers their first championship on Saturday!
