Rutland Little League Baseball and Softball: My Site News

Disctrict All Stars holding tight, 3-1 

Going for their third straight win in the 2009 MA District 4 Little League tournament on Wednesday ( 7/8) night, the boys from Rutland ran into the powerhouse, three time defending champion Joe Schwartz Little League team. On what turned about to be a rainy, foggy night ......things were indeed dark and drizzly for the boys in green. With the offense stymied by the fireball throwing Pitcher from Schwartz, the Rutland defense had to play their very best to beat the Big Red machine.  In the end, it was a short lived game with Rutland only producing 1 run on 1 hit / RBI ( by Cory Kilcoyne plating Mike Mahoney who had reached the bases on a Walk )  while the bats on the Schwartz team lit up the night sky for 12 runs. The final score,  Schwartz LL   12 -   Rutland 1.  After the game "Gang Green" got together in the Outfield and pulled themselves up, flushed the game from their memories and were already thinking about the next day and the next game versus their border town rivals Holden Little League.  The stage was set .....the boys challenged themselves to rise to the occasion.

With the dawn of a new day (Thursday, 7/9), the sun was out and "Gang Green" was once again ready to roll.  During the warm-ups for their game against the vaunted Holden LL team, the boys were loose and looking to play their best.  With Coach Puliafico once again getting the team the Home field dug-out, the boys were ready to come out of the gate in a hurry. Troy Green, back on the mound for his first start after a long pitching lay-off due to a finger injury, opened the game with a solid start.  In the bottom of the first it didn't take long for "Gang Green" to make their move and with two men aboard, Blake McNamara smashed his second Home Run of the tournament giving Rutland a 3 - 0 lead at the end of the first inning.

Holden came back in the top of the second to score one run but again Troy had the Holden batters beating the ball into the ground.  After Rutland went quickly in the bottom half of the second inning Holden scored another run in the top of the third.  Showing the grit the "Gang" has shown in the past, Cory Kilcoyne started off the 3rd inning launching his own second Home Run of the tournament into the Right Centerfield bamboo. After a Double by Dan Jancura and a Single by Blake McNamara,  Tyler McKeon stepped to the plate and slapped a hard shot to the outfield allowing Dan to scamper home. Not to be out done, Jake Strasser came to the plate and slapped a Single of his own allowing the speedy McNamara to score. Now on a roll, Matt Pingitore came through with a hard shot that was caught by the second baseman but Tyler McKeon's speed and base running savvy proved to much for the Holden team and Tyler cruised across the plate. After Marty Henry worked the Holden pitcher for a walk, Troy Green stepped to the plate and promptly ripped single to Left Field scoring Jake Strasser but on a good defensive play by Holden, they caught up with Marty at third base to record the third out of the inning.  The damage from 3rd inning proved to be to much and "Gang Green" went into the top of the fourth inning leading 8 - 2.

After sitting down the Holden squad in the 4th inning on some nifty infield defense, Cory Kilcoyne once again stepped to the plate to lead off the 4th inning and drove a line shot to deep right field. When the dust settled, Cory was on third base with a stand-up Triple. Next up, Austin Hale, Austin's ground ball up the middle was corralled by the Holden second baseman who had no choice but to make the throw to first base  to get Austin by slimmest of margins but once again, Cory Kilcoyne had crossed the plate and Rutland moved the lead out to 9 - 2.  Holden did not go
quietly into the setting sun and rallied for 3 runs in the 5th inning before Blake McNamara, who had come in to relieve Troy Green, was able to get the 9th batter of the Fifth inning to fly-out to the waiting glove of Cory Kilcoyne.

With Rutland going down quickly in the bottom of the 5th, it all came down to the top of the 6th and Holden's final at bat .....with the lead-off batter drawing a walk, Blake got the next batter to ground the ball back to him, he whirled and fired to Mike Mahoney covering second who narrowly missed turning a double play. The next batter ground the ball to Short where this time Mike Mahoney took the ball to second and again fired over to first base and again narrowly missed turning a double play.  The fans from both Rutland and Holden were on the edge of their seats when the final batter walked to the plate and appropriately ripped the first pitch to Mike Mahoney who fielded the ball and threw to first for the third and final out of the game.

With the final score, Rutland 9 and Holden 5 ....and moving to 3-1 in the District tournament....... Rutland was lead by the outstanding Pitching performances of Troy Green and Blake McNamara .....and the 10 hit attack lead by : Cory Kilcoyne ( a Home Run and a Triple - 1 RBI ), Blake McNamara ( a Home Run and a Single - 3 RBIs ), Dan Jancura ( a Double ), Troy Green ( a Single ), Austin Hale ( a Single - 1 RBI ),  Tyler McKeon ( a Single -1
RBI ), Jake Strasser ( a Single - 1 RBI ), Mike Mahoney ( a Single ) and Matt Pingitore ( 1 RBI ).

Rutland continues on in the Tournament this Saturday night ( 7/11 ) at 7:30 pm AT MARSH FIELD ........please come down and support the boys from your hometown, "...the center of the Bay State" ..... RUTLAND, MA !!

The 2009 District Team holds on to 2-0 record 

The Rutland LL District All-Stars started off their second game in the 2009 MA -District 4 tournament Thursday (7/2) night against Lancaster Little League much the way they started  their first game. With Rutland winning the coin toss and electing to be the Home team, Blake McNamara took the mound for Rutland. Mcnamara struck out the Lancaster side in the first inning but three walks in the first winning along with the three strikeouts seemed to be an early indication of a possible short stay on the mound for McNamara.

In the bottom of the first inning with Rutland at bat, McNamara led off with a hot shot to second base which bounced out of the glove of the second baseman and McNamara was on first base. Cory Kilcoyne then hit a pop shot to Right Field that dropped but the quick thinking Right Fielder from
Lancaster threw the ball to second to get Blake at second base. After a fly out and strike out Rutland was retired. In the second inning the tough strike zone continued and with the first two batters  working the counts for walks a costly error allowed Lancaster to plate their first run. Tyler
McKeon was called to the mound. The Lancaster batters continued to work the strikezone for walks and with a few timely hits Lancaster plated three more runs to close out their second inning with four runs.

The "...gang Green " refused to sit back and after the first two batters in the second inning flew out and struck out, Carson Puliafico put down a picture perfect bunt for a single. McKeon turned the tables and worked the count for a walk putting men on first and second base for Dan Jancura. Jancura jumped on the first pitch and drove a high shot into the foggy air in deep right field for a triple allowing Puliafico and McKeon to score. Having cut the Lancaster lead in half, the boys from Rutland went back on defense with a renewed spirit. For the remainder of the game, McKeon had the ball twirling and diving away from the Lancaster batters.

In the bottom of the third inning Kilcoyne lead off the inning with a line-drive home run over the right-centerfield fence ... Rutland had cut the two-run Lancaster lead in half. In the bottom of the fourth inning, McNamara hit a home run of his own over the left-centerfield fence. With Kilcoyne stepping back into the batter's box, he was hit by a pitch and moved to second base on a screaming single up the middle by Austin Hale. With the fleet footed, Kilcoyne stealing third base, Bobby Anderson stepped into the box and laced a solid single into the hole at short allowing Kilcoyne to coast home. When the dust settled in the 4th inning, the Rutland boys had fought their way back to lead 5 - 4.

In the bottom of the 5th, Rutland picked up where it left off with Mike Mahoney picking up his second single of the game; Troy Green entered the game to run for Mahoney and when Puliafico slapped a hot shot to the shortstop, the speedy Green was sliding into second base ahead of the shortstop's throw. McKeon then hit the ball back to the pitcher, who tried to throw to third base but again Green beat the ball to the bag and again the bases were loaded. Jancura came to the plate and for the second time drove the ball to deep right field, this time for a sacrifice fly, which allowed Green to tag up and scamper home. Next up, McNamara, who ripped the cover off the ball back up the middle allowing Puliafico and McKeon to cross the plate.

With a four-run lead in hand going in to the 6th, McKeon continued to dazzle and finally exhausted his pitch count after getting two outs into the 6th inning. Mahoney was called in to close the game
and with just two pitches, he did just that, getting the Lancaster batter to ground out to end the game with a final score, Rutland 8, Lancaster 4.

Rutland's eight-run, 10-hit attack was once again a total team effort led by two hits a piece for Blake McNamara (Home Run, Single, 3RBIs), Cory Kilcoyne (Home Run, Single, 1 RBI), Mike
Mahoney (2 Singles) and solo hits for Austin Hale (Single), Bobby Anderson (Single, 1 RBI), Carson Puliafico (Single) and Dan Jancura (Triple, 2 RBIs and a Sacrifice Fly for a 3rd RBI).

Rutland will next play Joe Schwartz Little League on Wednesday, July 8 at the Joe Schwartz LL field (Brooks Street, Worcester, behind Norton's/St. Gobain's ) at 7:30 pm.  Please come down to Schwartz field to support the boys from Rutland Little League !!!

Rutland’s District All Stars grab first win

The Rutland LL District All-Stars started off their first game in the 2009 MA -District 4 tournament with a scrappy win over perennial powerhouse Jesse Burkett Little League.  Rutland got outstanding pitching from Cory Kilcoyne who went 4 2/3 innings, fanning 4 batters and allowing only one walk. Blake McNamara came in for the third out of the 5th inning and proceeded to mow down the Burkett batters (3 strikeouts) in the 6^th inning.

While Burkett was able to put together 6 hits in the game, the strong Catching defense of Matt Pingitore and Bobby Anderson held the Burkett runners on the bases recording no stolen bases against the Rutland catchers. On the offensive side of the scorecard Rutland was lead by the two-hit performance of Troy Green, one hit for Austin Hale and one for Dan Jancura. Recording RBIs for Rutland were Austin Hale (1), Bobby Anderson (1), Troy Green (1) and Dan Jancura (4) as he was able to help Rutland break open the game in the 4th inning with a grand slam home run.

Rutland started the game slow going down 3-1 at the end of the 3rd inning. Rutland's first run in the 3rd came when McNamara reached first base on an error by the Burkett shortstop, Blake advanced to second when Kilcoyne hit another rocket to the shortstop who's slight hesitation allowed McNamara to safely move to second while Kilcoyne blazed through the first base bag. McNamara promptly stole third base and while Burkett had a momentary lapse of focus, McNamara was able to steal home, plating Rutland's first run and bringing the Boys in Green back to life.

In the 4th inning Rutland broke the game open, with Camden Mailman starting the inning "wearing the ball" (hit by pitch). Green hit a soft infield single and he beat the throw to first base. Next up was Carson Puliafico who laid down a beautiful bunt but a heads-up play by the Burkett catcher got Mailman advancing to third base. Mike Mahoney then worked the Burkett Pitcher to a full count and drew a walk loading the bases. Jancura stepped up to the plate and with an 0 - 1 count hit a towering shot over the left-centerfield fence for a grand slam. The Rutland players and fans erupted and Rutland seized the moment  … next up, McNamara hit a shot to Left Field and the Burkett player misjudged the ball, McNamara rounded first base and was standing on second before anyone realized he hadn't stopped at first base. Cory Kilcoyne followed with a hot smash back to the pitcher who thought about trying to throw to third base to attempt to get McNamara moving to third, but both McNamara and Kilcoyne were too fast; when Burkett’s pitcher attempted to throw to first base, Kilocoyne was already coasting past first base and coming back to the bag. Next up, Hale hit a laser single to left-centerfield, McNamara crossed the plate and while Burkett attempted to make a play on Kilcoyne going to third, Hale motored onto second base. Anderson came to the plate and hit another hot shot to the second baseman who could not corral the ball and Kilcoyne crossed the plate for Rutland's sixth run of the inning. Next up, Green took an outside pitch to left field and Hale hustled home, capping a seven-run fourth inning.

While Rutland went down 1,2,3, in the 5th inning the damage had been done in the 4th. And with Kilcoyne recording two outs into the 4th inning, McNamara came in to close the door on any potential Burkett rally in the 5th inning and struck out the side for Burkett in the 6th. The Boys in Green played like the team they are … they hustled, took advantage of any opportunity that presented itself and played solid defense.

2009 Pitch, Hit & Run Competition 

Rutland Little League will host a free Aquafina Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit & Run™ Competition after the Little League Parade on May 9. Competition will begin immediately following the Parade and Opening Ceremonies at Marsh Field.

Pitch, Hit & Run™ is the Official Skills Competition of Major League Baseball. This grassroots program is designed to provide youngsters with an opportunity to compete, free of charge, in a competition that recognizes individual excellence in core baseball skills. Competitors are divided into four age divisions: 7/8, 9/10, 11/12, 13/14, and have the chance to advance through four levels of competition, including Team Championships at Major League ballparks and the National Finals at the 2009 MLB All-Star Game.

The individual Pitching, Hitting and Running Champions, along with the All-Around Champion in each age group at the Local Competition will be awarded and advance to the Sectional Level of Competition. Winners advancing to the sectionals, must provide a copy of their birth certificate and fill out a registration/waiver form prior to the start of the competition.