Lowell escapes with 8-7 win over Hebron Juniors (age 14 and under) to advance to championship round of playoffs

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith 

(7-14-2004)

Monday, July 12, 2004 - Juniors (14 & Under) at Lowell Little League

LOWELL (7-14-2004) - Nobody has to tell anybody that when you host the state finals in the Little League, that's the year you are supposed to reach the state finals in the Little League. It's a lot of work on very hot days for the volunteers at the league.  Probably more volunteers than anywhere else in team sport. And there's a lot of people driving a long way to play in your back yard. So the host team must reach the finals. There's no 'I hope we get there' You WILL make it. For the Lowell junior all-stars, it didn't look good Friday and it didn't look too good at some times Monday.

But when the sun came up Wednesday, the 14s needed just one more win to qualify for the finals after miraculous come-from-behind wins 6-5 Friday (July 9) over DeMotte and 8-7 Monday (July 12) over Hebron. The victories boosted undefeated Lowell (3-0) into yesterday's championship round of the double-elimination District II playoffs at the Creek Side Little League. 

"We're not a great team," said manager Paul Lafrano, after a second late-inning rescue at the hot and dusty Creek Side Little League.. "But we don't' mind being behind and we don't give up."

The former is almost as important as the latter. Boys on all-star teams sometimes don't realize they will fall behind in the state tournament. But Lowell's 14s don't seem to start playing until they fall behind. Lowell trailed DeMotte 3-0 before the 6-5 win. They trailed Whiting 3-0 before winning 15-3 and they were almost buried, down 5-0 to Hebron Monday before they turned it around in 90-degree late afternoon heat.

After committing six first inning errors, Lowell rallied to tie the game 6-6. Danny Remboski's two-run homer to left center of losing pitcher Andrew Shrum evened the score after an error by Hebron first baseman John Huettner allowed two run in a three-run second. Hebron led 7-6 and filled the bases in the sixth when the game turned on a rare play. On a 3-2 pitch to Hebron's Bobby Ryder, pitcher Ted Macis (2-0), who threw 107 pitches in relief, got the third strike call.

Remboski, Lowell's catcher fired to third base to pickoff Shrum, the Hebron base runner. Shrum broke for the plate and Zach Porras fired back to Remboski who barely got the tag out.

"That was a big play," said Lafrano. "But I always thought we'd come back. I thought we'd start hitting and I thought we'd come back."

Lowell won the game with single runs n the sixth and seventh. Steffan Peck, who started the game on the mound but suffered from headaches in the heat, lifted his third hit of the game, a high-flying home run to left center to tie the game 6-6.

In the seventh, LaFrano's son Josh LaFrano, smashed a hit through Hebron second baseman Chris Stalbaum and stretched it into a double. Zach Porras laid down a sacrifice bunt and Pitcher Shrum's throw got away at first, allowing the winning run to score and setting off the second home plate celebration for Lowell in four days.

In the seventh inning of a 5-5 tie with DeMotte pitcher Alex Byers cut off a throw to second base on a Lowell double steal attempt with one out. But Byers threw the ball past third base and Peck raced home with the winning run. Lowell was been lucky to win two of the three games but luck is almost a prerequisite in the Little League where 1-0 and 2-1 games are almost unheard of.

"We could have lost two of the three," agreed Lafrano. "But the boys always think they can come back. Teddy threw 107 pitches? He threw 109 the other day. I didn't want to use him today but he told me before the game he was ready to go. Danny (Remoski) has been doing a great job catching for us. Nate Miller just hit everything hard all day and my son Josh. That was his first big hit in an all-star game."

"They were all in football conditioning this morning," explained LaFrano. "Most of them are football players. This is a pretty good football class and they're all getting ready. They picked it up as the game went along. They're all friends and when one of them gets going, they all get going."

Macis, one of twin brothers on the team, made two first inning errors at shortstop but made up for it on the mound.

"I told him that, if we didn't score (in the seventh), that we were going to take him out," said LaFrano, "and he didn't want to come out. But I think he'd gone as far as he could go. It's a good thing we won it then."

For Hebron, it was a crushing loss. They never trailed until the final batter and left 10 runners on base. While it was conceivable that Hebron could rally through the loser's bracket and beat Lowell today for the title, it did not seem likely as the two teams left the field Monday night.

"These teams are playing us tough," said LaFrano. "Our boys all know that we're hosting the state tournament. That was the first thing we talked about when we got together. DeMotte beat us 14-1 during the regular season so that was a kind of payback. We certainly didn't come in here thinking we were going to win easily."

Easily or not, Lowell needed that one more win to take the pressure off and punch their ticket for the state finals, which begin on July 29. League workers are busy making plans and adding billboards. Which is a feel-good task if the host league is going to be playing in the finals. We don't want to talk about what it feels like to host the finals AFTER your all-star has been eliminated in the first round.

LITTLE NOTES:  Lowell's senior all-stars (ages 15-16) moved swiftly through their three-team, District II playoffs with wins over Roselawn 8-0 and DeMotte 10-5. In the win over Roselawn , right-hander Ryan King struck out 18 batters.

Lowell expected to see DeMotte again in the championship round, but the 16s needed only one win in two games to advance.

If DeMotte beat Lowell Wednesday night, the final game would be tonight at 8 p.m. (if the junior tournament is still going) or at 5:30 p.m., if the junior tourney has been completed.

The seniors would then face a best-of-three game playoff series in Lowell against the District I champion. That series would begin on Friday, July 23 at 7 p.m.

2004 Little League JUNIOR ALL-STARS

(ages 13-14) at Lowell - double-elimination

Little League SENIOR ALL-STARS (ages 15-16) 

at Lowell - double-elimination

SENIOR ALL-STARS (ages 15-16) 

Sectional playoff series at Lowell

Best 2-out-of-3

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Revised: July 14, 2004.