Annabellas House of Mozzarella

Kearny  5     WR/ Moonachie  3                   The 12U All-Stars suffered their first loss of the postseason in Lodi on Thursday night (7/7), falling to Kearny 5-3 in a battle of the unbeatens.  The Devils are now 4-1 and tied for second place in Pool B as they head into Saturday’s final pool play contest against North Arlington (2-3).  The 12U’s will advance to the championship round with either a Saturday loss by Rutherford American or ( should Rutherford win ) by beating North Arlington and surrendering not more than 5 runs over what Rutherford gives up  vs. Kearny.( And you thought this was easy……).     The visiting Devils grabbed an early 1-0 lead as CF Ryan Morrone got aboard courtesy of a misplayed grounder to short, and scored on a base hit by starting pitcher Dom Gadaleta ( 5 IP, 4 H, 8 K’s ). The Kardinals evened things up in the bottom of the first, parlaying an infield single and two stolen bases by their speedy leadoff hitter into the home team’s first run of the contest.  The score remained at 1-1 thru the second inning as Morrone’s rising liner to center was reeled in with a leaping catch, stranding LF Kyle Dressel at third.  The Devils started off the top of the 3^rd inning with a bang (literally) as white-hot 2B Jonathan Menge slammed a double off the upper panel of the centerfield fence.  Two strikeouts and a pickoff at second later, Kearny got out of another frame with the stalemate intact.       The home team took advantage of two free passes in the bottom of the inning as Kearny’s “ 3 hitter” lashed a 2 RBI single to right center to give the Hudson County squad a 3-1 lead at the midway point.  The cushion was short-lived however as Devils backstop Chris Affuso whacked his first homer of the postseason to trim the deficit to 3-2.  The dinger was the subject of some extended controversy as it had ricocheted back onto the playing surface, prompting the Kearny coaching staff to heatedly argue the call with game and district officials.  As the matter was being disputed,  Affuso’s Mom was spotted concealing the home run ball “ Where they’d never notice it” (her words)….        Not wanting to miss out on the fun, RF Michael “ Swoosh “ Perez christened his Nike Ignite with his first career tater, a beauty down the leftfield line to knot the score at 3-3. Gadaleta cruised thru the next two frames, holding the Kardinals scoreless as both he and the equally impressive Kearny starter reached their maximum allotment of pitches (85) after five innings of work.  Devils 1B/CF Anthony Latoracca led off the top of the sixth with a sharp liner up the middle, but could not advance past third base as Kearny’s lefty reliever held serve.  The contest came to a sudden and dramatic conclusion with one on and one out in the bottom of the 6^th as the home team’s centerfielder enjoyed a moment he’ll always remember, smacking a walkoff 2-run homer to close out a terrific game between two equally terrific squads….