Indians, Dodgers take the lead in Cumberland Little League

CUMBERLAND - The Indians and Dodgers are undefeated in the American and National divisions respectively and are in first place in the Cumberland Little League Majors program.

In action last week, the Cardinals and Astros battled to an eight-inning scoreless tie in a game that will be resumed at a later date. Pitching for the Cards were Sam McQuaid, Nate Mercure, Jeremy Gardner and Spencer Ross. Countering for the Astros were Jaimie Pirraglia and John Perez. Each team had only two hits.

The first-place Indians stayed unbeaten with an 8-2 win over the A's behind the pitching of Jesse Gilbert and Andrew Whalen. Whalen also pumped the offense, cracking a pair of doubles, and Brenden Guerin added two singles.

Dillon Moran had several nice plays at second base for the Indians and Chris Cambio was the defensive standout in center for the A's.

The Astros followed the pitching of Corey Rioux, John Perez and Brandon Roy to a 9-3 win over the Reds. Dante Baldelli went the distance on the mound for the Reds.

Leading the Astros offense were Ryan O'Neill, Rioux, Randy Wood and Brendan Nigro. Matt Abraitis and Matt Bare were best for the Reds.

Defensively, the Astros made a couple of strong defensive plays when Jamie Pirraglia gunned a runner out at second base from the fence in center field, and catcher Justin D'Abrosca picked a runner off at first. For the Reds, Kyle Masse was a monster behind the plate and Bare turned in some sharp plays at shortstop.

The Mets beat the Braves by the score of 8-5 in a game that saw several lead changes. Dylan Boisclair was the big noise for the winners, blasting a homer and double, knocking in four of his team's runs. Mike Bogolawski and Bill DeHertogh paced the Braves with a double and single each.

Boisclair, in addition to belting the homer that put his team in the lead, closed the game on the mound for the Mets.

The Cardinals won their first game of the season on a walk-off single in the last inning by Brody Felice, driving in Dan Gardner to give the Cardinals a 6-5 victory over the Pirates. Austin Ross and Sam McQuaid pitched well for the Cards.

Jeremy Gardner ripped three hits and Jonathan Lanoue had two doubles for the Cards. Jake Rockefeller belted a double and single for the Pirates.

In eight innings, the A's outlasted the Yankees, 12-2. The game was tied at 2-2 and was a pitcher's duel between Greg Joubert of the A's and Brian Belisle of the Yankees until it got to extra innings. Tanner Maurice came on for the A's and shut down the Yanks, but the Yankees imploded, allowing 10 runs to score. Joubert was also the big gun on offense with a home, double and single and three RBI, while Kevin Seaver added a pair of hits.

Following the pitching of Kyle Sutcliffe and Andrew Whalen, the Indians downed the Red Sox, 5-0. Bryan Bessette was on the mound for the Red Sox. Jesse Gilbert and Sutcliffe had a pair of hits each for the winners. The Red Sox were limited to a single hit.

The Indians are the lone undefeated team in the American League and is in first place at 5-0, followed by the A's, 3-2; Yankees, 2-2; Red Sox, 2-2; Angels, 0-3, and Devil Rays, 0-3.

In the National League, the Dodgers are on top at 3-0, followed by the Mets, 3-1; Astros, 2-1-1; Reds and Pirates, 1-2; Cardinals, 1-3-1; and the Braves, 1-3.

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