Vienna American returns favor
By Antonio Navarro
When the Vienna American and McLean National Majors Little League All-Star teams played each other for the first time on July 1, there was a lot at stake. The teams were battling for first place, and the claim as the lone undefeated squad in the District 4 bracket was at risk. In that game, McLean National jumped out to an early lead with Vienna clawing its way back. Ultimately, McLean held off Vienna’s rally to win 11-10 in extra innings.
Almost two weeks later, the same two teams took to the diamond with even more on the line. They met last Saturday to decide which squad would represent District 4 in the state tournament.
In spite of what happened in the first clash, Vienna American manager Frank Williams trotted out the same starting pitcher, 11-year-old ace Tommy Doyle.
“He had a few more days rest and I think that did him some good," Williams said of his strategy. "He’s a young kid, he’s the only 11-year-old we have on the team. When we played them before, he was only on a few days rest.”
The extra rest was crucial and Doyle, who was solid and confident, helped lead Vienna American to a 3-2 victory in seven innings. His teammates’ impeccable fielding, intelligent base running, and Williams’ crafty managing did not hurt Doyle's cause either.
“The play of the game was in the second inning when their center fielder caught a ball over the fence, took away a home run from us," explained McLean skipper Wayne Loving. "That would have won the game for us in regulation.”
Center fielder Kalib Ashcraft’s outstanding catch in deep center was game-changing. Skying over the wall to nab a sure home run in the second inning, Ashcraft not only took a run off the board, he also simultaneously deflated McLean and energized Vienna.
Ashcraft “made one of the greatest catches you’ll ever see in little league history. That kind of pumped us up and took a little bit of air out of their sails,” Williams said.
Still, Vienna found itself in the unenviable position of working from behind. Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, Ben Socher sent a sacrifice fly deep enough to drive in the tying run. The score held at 2-2 through regulation, and once again, the score would be settled in extra innings.
Vienna entered the deciding seventh inning with the momentum. Socher was hit by a pitch and with no one out, Williams made the call for a sacrifice bunt.
“They weren’t anticipating it,” Williams recounted. “Kalib put down a perfect bunt. We called a bunt, he put it down, so then we had runners on first and second with nobody out.”
When the catcher struggled to corral a pitch in the next at bat, the runners moved over to second and third. After one more passed ball, Socher scored the game-winning run to secure the district championship for Vienna American.
“They had the breaks in the seventh inning and won the game,” Loving said.
By avenging their only loss, Vienna advanced to the state tournament, where they will take on Danville Friday in Bowling Green. They will then square off with the defending state champions from SYA East on Saturday and Upper Loudoun National on Sunday. The top two teams from each of four pools advance to next week's quarterfinals.
“We’re going to have our work cut out for us,” Williams said.