Past Recaps: 2007
The inaugural “Battle at the Border”, under 18-baseball tournament was contested this
past weekend in Port Chester. The tournament pitted teams from New York and
Connecticut against each other with a format of bracket play on Friday and Saturday.
The first and second place teams from each bracket advanced to the semi-finals on
Sunday.
The pre tournament hype turned out to be justified as some of the top talent from the tri-
state area showed up ready to play on Friday. The event kicked off with the Harrison
Babe Ruth team facing a Norwalk team that had many members from the recent
Connecticut State championship team. Norwalk was favored to win the game and they
looked like they would have an easy time when they jumped on Harrison for four runs in
the first inning but that just woke Harrison up. Harrison battle all the way back and
ended up on top by a score of 7-6.
Saturday morning started off with a great game at the Middle School between Stamford
and the New Rochelle Athletics. Stamford’s stingy defense gave the Athletics a tough
time but some timely hitting late in the game helped them beat a Stamford team that
won the Connecticut Babe Ruth Championship last year. Over at Rec Park pre-
tournament favorites, the New York Nine (from Manhattan), were facing off against
Harrison in a game that would decide the bracket winner. Harrison pitcher Frank
Luongo baffled the highly regarded batting order for the New York Nine early in the
game. The Nine broke through in the third with home runs from Fernando Frias and
Gabriel Molina to go on top 6-2. Harrison, like they did against Norwalk the day before,
battle back and in the 4th tied the game at 7 on a Grand Slam from Chris Deangelo.
The Nine responded with runs in the fifth and sixth, then went on win the game by a
score of 12-8. As bracket play closed on Saturday the semi-finals were set. The New
York Nine who would play the New Rochelle Athletics at the middle school and the New
York Crush from Queens would square off against Harrison at Rec Park.
The Harrison semi-final was a blow out as tournament Sportsmanship award winner Joe
Gallace hit two towering Home Runs and Port Chester native Jason Cusamano played
tremendous defense leading the Huskies to a 16-5 win and a place in the
Championship. Over at the middle school, the New York Nine struggled trying to hit a
pesky left-handed pitcher from New Rochelle but finally found a way to eek out a 6-4
win in 8 innings to set up a rematch of the most exciting game of the tournament
against Harrison.
The finals were a bit of a let down after all the close games over the weekend. The New
York Nine team was just too much for the Huskies to handle. Tournament MVP Gabriel
Molina, Ray Quinnones, JJ Flores and Fernando Frias all had clutch hits and the
tournaments Most Outstanding Pitcher, Darwin Rivas pitched a complete game, two hit
shut out as the Nine went on to win by a score of 11-0.
past weekend in Port Chester. The tournament pitted teams from New York and
Connecticut against each other with a format of bracket play on Friday and Saturday.
The first and second place teams from each bracket advanced to the semi-finals on
Sunday.
The pre tournament hype turned out to be justified as some of the top talent from the tri-
state area showed up ready to play on Friday. The event kicked off with the Harrison
Babe Ruth team facing a Norwalk team that had many members from the recent
Connecticut State championship team. Norwalk was favored to win the game and they
looked like they would have an easy time when they jumped on Harrison for four runs in
the first inning but that just woke Harrison up. Harrison battle all the way back and
ended up on top by a score of 7-6.
Saturday morning started off with a great game at the Middle School between Stamford
and the New Rochelle Athletics. Stamford’s stingy defense gave the Athletics a tough
time but some timely hitting late in the game helped them beat a Stamford team that
won the Connecticut Babe Ruth Championship last year. Over at Rec Park pre-
tournament favorites, the New York Nine (from Manhattan), were facing off against
Harrison in a game that would decide the bracket winner. Harrison pitcher Frank
Luongo baffled the highly regarded batting order for the New York Nine early in the
game. The Nine broke through in the third with home runs from Fernando Frias and
Gabriel Molina to go on top 6-2. Harrison, like they did against Norwalk the day before,
battle back and in the 4th tied the game at 7 on a Grand Slam from Chris Deangelo.
The Nine responded with runs in the fifth and sixth, then went on win the game by a
score of 12-8. As bracket play closed on Saturday the semi-finals were set. The New
York Nine who would play the New Rochelle Athletics at the middle school and the New
York Crush from Queens would square off against Harrison at Rec Park.
The Harrison semi-final was a blow out as tournament Sportsmanship award winner Joe
Gallace hit two towering Home Runs and Port Chester native Jason Cusamano played
tremendous defense leading the Huskies to a 16-5 win and a place in the
Championship. Over at the middle school, the New York Nine struggled trying to hit a
pesky left-handed pitcher from New Rochelle but finally found a way to eek out a 6-4
win in 8 innings to set up a rematch of the most exciting game of the tournament
against Harrison.
The finals were a bit of a let down after all the close games over the weekend. The New
York Nine team was just too much for the Huskies to handle. Tournament MVP Gabriel
Molina, Ray Quinnones, JJ Flores and Fernando Frias all had clutch hits and the
tournaments Most Outstanding Pitcher, Darwin Rivas pitched a complete game, two hit
shut out as the Nine went on to win by a score of 11-0.
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