Pearl River Moves Closer to States

Two days after slugging seven home runs, the 11-12 all-stars of Pearl River found yet another way win.

Stringing together singles and doubles, Pearl River jumped out to a five-run lead by the fourth inning and hung on to beat Eastchester, 6-3, in the winner’s bracket of the New York State Section 4 Little League Baseball Tournament.

 “These kids are really good hitters and they focus on driving the ball back up the middle (not on hitting home runs),” Pearl River Coach Jamie DeRubertis said. “Sometimes those line drive singles are hit harder than the ones that go over the wall.”

During the second inning, Pearl River proved their pitching coach right. Connor Buckhout, Andrew DeRubertis (2-for-2, run scored), and C.J. McGee (two hits, RBI) strung together three singles before Michael LaPoma roped an RBI double. Dolan Ocasal finished off the rally with an RBI single.

“Everyone on our team can come through in a big spot,” Ocasal said. “It’s less pressure during your at-bat because you know other guys can get it done too.”

Pearl River added to its lead in the fifth inning with some more production from the bench. Ryan Urban smacked a single to lead off the inning and Christian Madigan lined a double down the right field line to get things going. An error scored Urban, and an RBI ground-out by Kevin Scrima scored another run to increase the Pearl River lead to 6-1. The prowess of the Pearl River offense allowed the pitching staff to use a variety of different arms, an advantage that other staffs don’t have.

 “When the batters continue to hit the ball the way they are it gives us the luxury to use different guys,” DeRubertis said. “It keeps our pitch counts low and everyone eligible.”

For the second consecutive game, Pearl River used four pitchers to secure the victory. The staff has now used seven different pitchers in the sectional tournament with a staff ERA of just 1.50.

“We can count on so many different guys to hold teams down,” said pitcher Andrew DeRubertis, who struck out three in two shutout inning. “It’s been the difference for us so far (in the tournament).”

The win over Eastchester was important for Pearl River because it puts the team just two wins away from the Section 4 championship. The win was also satisfying because it’s the fourth win in three years over an Eastchester squad that has built a mini-rivalry with the boys in blue.

“We knew they’d fight until the end because they’re a good team,” Andrew DeRubertis said. “As long as we continue to have clutch hitting and pitching, we’ll be okay though.”

Eastchester added a fourth and fifth run late on a home run by Chris Corrado and an RBI ground-out by Christian Pinto, but Tim Urban slammed the door shut with two strikeouts in the sixth inning.

Eastchester   0  0  1  0  1  1 – 3  7  2
Pearl River    0  3  1  2  0  0 – 6  11 1
WP: DeRubertis (1-0) LP: McNamara (0-1)

Runs: PR- Scrima, Buckhout, DeRubertis, McGee, Urban R, Madigan. East- Corrado 2, Piro. Hits: PR - DeRubertis 2, McGee 2, Ocasal, McLinskey, Buckhout, LaPoma, Madigan, Urban R, Urban T. East - Corrado 2, Rosell 2, Miki 2, Anello. 2B: PR - Madigan, LaPoma. HR: East - Corrado. RBI: PR - Ocasal, Scrima, McGee, LaPoma. East - Corrado, Pinto, McNamara.

Pitching

Pearl River

Buckout          2.0 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 K, 0 BB

DeRubertis     2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 K, 2 BB

Scrima             1.0 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 K, 1 BB

Urban T          1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 K, 0 BB

Eastchester

McNamara    3.0 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 3 K, 0 BB

Miki                2.0 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 1 K, 0 BB