From the Salem News Online Edition -- 8/4/04
also see championship
game coverage from SC paper
Lightning Strikes: Middleton-based 13's team
wins national AAU tourney
By Mike Grenier
Staff Writer
Dave Callum of Peabody has been around enough national championship baseball competitions to know that you can't be presumptuous. Even under the best of circumstances, it's extremely difficult to win it all.
"When you go to a high-level tournament, you want to be able to compete with everybody," said Callum, director of the Lightning of New England baseball program. "Anybody that goes into it expecting to win the Nationals is out of their mind."
Maybe so, but if a team plays out of its mind, conventional wisdom no longer applies.
That was the case with the Lightning 13s recently as they put together a 9-1 record to win the gold medal at the AAU National Championships in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The Lightning, who draw players from several North Shore communities and use Extra Innings in Middleton as a home base, received moderate respect as the No. 13 seed against 56 teams from around the country. But they blew away everyone's expectations and capped off a sensational tournament run by beating the second-seeded St. Pete (Fla.) Stingers, 3-0, in the title game.
It was the first national championship for the Lightning 13-year-olds, who posted a runner-up finish in 2000.
"So many things have to go your way to win it all, but we felt we had a shot," said Callum, referring to a tournament that included teams Florida, Arizona and points in between. "One of the keys was our tremendous pitching depth. We had to play 10 games in seven days, so you need (an abundance of) pitching to get through that kind of stretch. Plus, we happened to hit the ball real well."
The schedule was demanding, but every win was a confidence builder. The Lightning beat teams from Virginia, North Carolina and Rhode Island in the preliminary round.
Moving into championship pool play, the Lightning took their only loss against the Raleigh (N.C.) Red Wings, 5-3, but advanced by knocking off teams from Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C. They defeated the third-seeded West Florida (Tampa) Young Guns in the so-called sudden death round, pushing them into medal play.
There, the Lightning handled the New Jersey Titans, 11-4, and Team Easton (Orlando, Fla.), 2-0, before beating the St. Pete Stingers in the final.
The Lightning had a phenomenal season overall, fashioning a 58-4 record dating back to their cold weather start in April. Rick Peterson of Andover served as the head coach at the Nationals, with help from Doug Hanson of Southboro and Callum.
"This team had a nastiness about them," said Callum, whose team played weekend doubleheaders at Tufts University in Medford during the regular season. "They don't like to lose at any time. There were many times during the season where something would start to go wrong, but nobody ever worried. We knew our explosion would come."
Individually, catcher T.J. Larivee of Salem, pitcher Hunter Gordon of Swampscott and first baseman John Vigliotti of Amesbury received the highest accolades. All three were named to the AAU All-American/All Tournament team.
Larivee hit .444 at the Nationals, had a team-high nine RBIs and was spectacular behind the plate, said Callum. Gordon had complete-game victories over the Charlotte Megastars and the West Florida Young Guns, posted a 2.00 ERA, and was also strong at third base and with the bat (.333 batting average).
Vigliotti? All he did was hit a team high .567 (17 for 30, including five doubles and six RBIs) with a slugging percentage of .733. Vigliotti had at least one hit in nine of the 10 games and had a great day, 3 for 4, against the fourth-seeded Greensboro (N.C.) Batting Center.
"We were upset that we didn't have two more All-Americans," said Callum. "Ryan Squires (of Swampscott) deserved it for the way he pitched. He won the national title game for us and had an ERA of 1.26 (for 16<2/3> innings). We really considered Gordon and Squires as our 1A and 1B pitchers.
"(Sam) Clark of Andover could've made it, too. All he did was win the must game over Greensboro (10-0 shutout), then came back on one day's rest to win the semifinal game over the Orlando team, 2-0."
Other vital contributors from the North Shore included Andrew Belmonte of Beverly, who was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the preliminary round; Zak Levine of Beverly, who also got a pitching win in the prelims; shortstop Josh Band of Peabody; and DH Brooks Townsend of Beverly.
"Josh Band was one of the top three shortstops in the entire tournament," Callum said. "Without Josh playing the way he did, I wouldn't be having this conversation right now. And Townsend was hurt all year - he had the season from hell with all the injuries - and a lot of kids wouldn't have kept going the way he did."
One of the best compliments the Lightning received came from former Red Sox player Bob Zupcic, whose North Carolina Megastars fell to the Lightning, 3-2.
"Zupcic was very impressed with the way our kids played and the way they handled themselves. He said we teach the game the right way," said Callum. "That was something, coming from a former major leaguer. But these kids start working and getting ready at Extra Innings in October. They really make a commitment."
