Lightning Baseball of New England 13U Team
2004 AAU National Champions
From The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC) --
7/31/04
(photos by team family members)
Also see article from local paper, The Salem News -- 8/4/04
Read Game Summaries!
13th-seeded team wins 13U AAU crown
Coaches (back, from left) Rick Petersen, Andover, MA; Doug Henson, Southboro, MA; and Dave Callum, Peabody, MA. Players (standing from left) TJ Larivee, Salem, MA; Andrew Belmonte, Beverly, MA; Hunter Gordon, Swampscott, MA; Mike Pelland, Fitchburg, MA; Anthony Morlani, Wilmington, MA; Sam Clark, Andover, MA; Brookes Townsend, Beverly, MA; and Ryan Thompson, Amherst, NH; (kneeling, from left) Ron Wallace, Tewksbury, MA; Kyle Johnson, Salem NH; John Vigliotti Amesbury, MA; Ryan Squires, Swampscott, MA; Chris Carmain, Methuen, MA; and Zak Levine Beverly MA. |
Excerpted from 7/31/04 article
By David Wetzel of The Sun News (Myrtle Beach,
SC)
Ryan Squires knew his 13th-seeded team needed a big performance Friday as it entered the 13-and-under AAU Division I championship game.
Squires responded by pitching a nine-hit shutout in the New England Lightning’s 3-0 win over the second-seeded St. Petersburg (Fla.) Stingers at Coastal Federal Field.
“Best game I ever pitched,” Squires said. “But it was the fielding that got us the win.”
The game capped the mammoth 85-team (300+ game) AAU Baseball Under-13 National Championships held all week at various baseball fields.
The Lightning played flawless defense all game long and got on the board early with two runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Right fielder Sam Clark led off the inning with a single and scored when left fielder Ron Wallace tripled down the right-field line. Wallace then scored on a single by designated hitter Kyle Johnson leaving Squires with a two-run lead.
The Lightning’s third run came in the bottom of the sixth. After first baseman John Vigliotti walked and was sacrificed to second, Clark drove him in to give Squires a three-run lead with three outs to go.
The Stingers appeared to be threatening in the top of the seventh, but Squires then had a hand in one of the biggest plays of his young life. He fielded a hit right back to him and threw to third base. Hunter Gordon then fired to first to get a pivotal double play that all but ended the threat.
“Hunter is a great third baseman,” Squires said. “Right when it was hit to me I knew we would get it.”
Pulling the upset to win the Division I tournament with about 50 teams was a big boost for the Lightning. “It really means a lot,” said Lightning coach Rick Petersen. “For a team not playing together until April and then winning the whole thing [was great]. We don’t get together that much and the kids all go to different schools.”
Coaches (above, from left) Dave Callum, Rick Petersen and Doug Henson
