Lightning Baseball of New England 15U Team
2006 AAU National Tournament Champions
Then There Were Two: New England Lightning vs. STAF Yankees By Ron Bliss KINGSPORT -- They have met twice before in this tournament and split. Thursday morning, the rubber game between the New England Lightning and the STAF Yankees will be for all the marbles in the AAU Boys' Baseball 15-under 2006 National Championship. Each won twice on Wednesday. The Lightning first beat No. 1 seed Team South Carolina, 5-3, then beat the Carolina Cyclones, 6-3 to earn the right to play for the title at 11:30 a.m., at Weyerhaeuser Field on Thursday. The STAF Yankees first edged the Mazda Mets in the "subway series moved south,'' 5-4, then scored nine runs in the first inning of their semifinal game with the Louisiana All-Stars en route to a 14-3 five-inning victory. The Lightning have lost three times since coming to the tournament in Kingsport -- going 1-2 in Championship Pool play a nd only making the championship round of eight teams because they beat the Southeastern Roadwarriors of Knoxville by a single run and won on a tiebreaker when both finished 1-2. The Lightning was 3-3 going to the championship round on Wednesday -- same as the STAF Yankees -- but coach Dave Callum had a game plan. "You don't come here to win games,'' said Callum. "You come here to win the tournament. It doesn't matter how many games you lose, as long as you advance. We got to the championship round and our Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers hadn't pitched since Saturday. They each had three day's rest.'' Those pitchers -- Hunter Gordon and Ron Wallace -- each went the distance and allowed the teams they beat three runs each. "It didn't matter who we played, we were going to win because we had Gordon pitching for us,'' said Callum, whose team took out the No. 1-seeded Team South Carolina -- the only team to go unbeaten in Championship Pool Play. "He's our No. 1 and has a great future. He was one of the top high school freshmen in our state (Massachusetts) last spring.'' Though the Lightning came in seeded No. 8 to Team South Carolina's No. 1, Callum said he didn't consider it an upset. "We just hadn't played very well, until today,'' said Callum. "But today, we played pretty well.'' Justin Quinn, who has hit .550 for the tournament and hit a home run in each game Wednesday, is New England's top hitter. "He was the star shortstop at Lincoln Sudbury High School this spring,'' said Callum. "He's had three home runs in the tournament and he should have had a fourth, but it was ruled foul.'' One reason for New England's slow start might have been that it lost a number of games to the rain last month in the Boston area when record rains fell. "We had 29 games scheduled in 36 games and were lucky if we played 17 or 18,'' said Callum, who said his team was 12-5 coming into this tournament. But the Lightni ng have a track record for success. The New England tournament champions won the 13-under national title two years ago and were fourth in the 14-under tournament last year. In games against the STAF Yankees, they won the first time in pool play, 6-5, in eight innings and then lost in Championship Pool Play, 8-3. "It will be a good game,'' said STAF Yankees coach Andy Duncan. "The Lightning's a good team.'' While the Lightning will go with Nos. 3 & 4 pitchers John McKenna and Andrew Belmonte, Duncan says he will probably start Max Benton. "We have six guys who we consider No. 1s,'' said Duncan when asked if Wednesday nightr's winner Marcus Wissing was his best pitcher. "They're all pretty good. The last four days, every pitcher we started threw a complete game.'' Cody Lodge has been the most productive, going 4-for-4 with three singles, a double and four runs scored in the 5-4 win over the Mazda Mets and going 3-for-4 with two RBI in the victor y over the Louisiana All-Stars. Clay Dalton had a two-run double in that nine-run first and finished 3-for-3 with four RBI in that game. The Yankees, who are from Kennesaw, Ga., were helped by four walks and three Louisiana errors in that nine-run first. "We didn't catch them at their best,'' said Duncan of the second-seeded All-Stars. The All-Stars and Cyclones will play for third place at 9 a.m., Thursday. In the Classic Bracket, the South Shore Seadogs will play Diamond Fury for the title, also at 9 a.m., Thursday. AAU Notes: Both coaches praised the job Kingsport has done in hosting the tournament. "Kingsport has been great,'' said Callum. "This is the fourth time I brought a team here and I love it. Everyone has gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. They bend over backwards to take care of us. We walk into a restaurant with 21 people and no one panics. They say they are glad to have you here. It's great.'' Added Duncan: "We've had a great time. Some talk about going to the beach, but this is great. This place is special and I like your golf courses. Cattails is a great course'' ... The Yankees' highest national finish was fourth two years ago in Knoxville ... In the Classic Bracket, the South Shore Seadogs will play Diamond Fury for the title, also at 9 a.m., Thursday. The Seadogs beat the Worth Dawgs of Nashville, 4-1, and the Fury sent the original No. 1-seeded Virginia Aces packing, 6-1 ... None of the original top fives seeds advanced to the finals -- an indication of how evenly-balanced the field of teams was coming in.
Eighth-seeded New England captures AAU championship Author: BILL LANE KINGSPORT - Heart, size and emotion are never listed on sports rosters. If they were, the New England Lightning would have had top billing sooner. Rather than give in to anger and frustration, New England's players couldn't wait to get back on the field after going 3-3 in pool play. They came out swinging with a surge of adrenaline Thursday and won the AAU Boys Baseball 15-Under Division 1 Championship at Weyerhaeuser Park. The Boston-based New England team - seeded eighth - finalized its 3-0 record in bracket play with an 18-9 victory over the STAF Yankees of Kennesaw, Ga. New England jumped to a 6-0 lead in the first inning but repeatedly had to stave off Georgia rallies to earn the title. In the second inning, a 7-1 lead shrank to 7-4. "If momentum keeps swinging and doesn't swing back, you're in trouble,'' Lightning coach Dave Callum said. "Teams come back like that when you get 'em early. The Yankees just kept coming and coming. We got very concerned when we were walking too many guys.'' Pitchers saved the day for New England, but not necessarily with their arms. Winning pitcher John McKenna and reliever Andrew Belmonte each homered during their mound stints. "We told both before the game it'd sure be nice if they could come through with their bats, too,'' Callum said. McKenna, the starter, belted a 360-foot, two-run homer in the fourth inning to extend Lightning's lead to 9-4. After Belmonte assumed pitching duties, he doubled and homered. He connected for a 340-foot, two-run shot in the seventh that put the score out of reach at 17-9. New England's staples were shortstop Justin Quinn and catcher T.J. Larivee, who were outstanding defensively and offensively throughout. Quinn's blazing bat provided three homers in nine games. Callum, a 23-year veteran, and third-base coach Steve Price had announced on Tuesday their plans to retired together. "It's a great way to go out,'' Callum said. They'd taken this same team to the AAU 13-Under championship at Myrtle Beach, S.C., in 2004. Was this national title sweeter than the first? "They're all fantastic,'' Callum replied. The timing of their announcement may have added some pop to the team's bats. New England outhit the Georgians 15-10. Callum and Price, calling on reserves with clean uniforms, generated three runs in the last inning by inserting a row of pinch hitters. Larivee had three hits, including a double, Josh Band stroked a pair of doubles and Quinn got two hits to add some spice at the plate. In the big first inning, Lightning batted more than a complete round. Band doubled twice, Quinn singled. Graham Henningson doubled, Larivee singled and Sam Clark delivered a sacrifice fly. Plus, there were two walks and a hit batsman. For the game, Georgia was led by Justin Farmer with three hits. Zachary Lowery and Cody Lodge got two apiece. In a two-day span, Lodge went 9-for-12. STAF stands for Sacrifice, Training And Faith. Georgia coach Andy Duncan proudly clutched the team sportsmanship award as he left the field. "You've got to carry yourselves the right way,'' he said. "This means more than anything else. We're not hanging our heads. We battled.'' Duncan pointed out that New England's tenacity with the bats was the difference. "They got on us good early,'' he said. "We fought back and they kept on us. We felt we were definitely still in the game. They kept hitting and didn't let up.'' Carolina's Cyclones scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh on David Aldridge's bases-loaded double to defeat the Louisiana All-Stars 10-9 for third-place honors in a three-hour game. In the classic championship game for teams less fortunate in pool play, Diamond Fury beat the Southshore Seadogs 10-4. The Seadogs were leading 1-0 in the fourth when pitcher John Fell, who had a one-hitter going, suffered an injury. While approaching an infield popup, he apparently lost sight of the ball in the sun and it struck his eye. He received immediate attention from a trainer and was taken to the hospital for treatment. His team went downhill after that. The six-day, 18-team tourney drew players and fans from 11 states. On Sunday, the USSSA Baseball 14 & Under 60'/90' World Series will begin in Kingsport. More than 40 teams will be competing.
Lightning Strikes Early, Holds on to Win AAU National 15-under Baseball Title By Ron Bliss KINGSPORT -- Dave Callum had been there and seen that. When his New England Lightning baseball team jumped to a 6-0 lead in the first inning Thursday, he implored his team: "Don't quit scoring runs.'' They didn't and it's a good thing. The opponent, the STAF Yankees from Kennesaw, Ga., battled back within 9-7 in the Boys' 15-under National AAU Baseball Championships before the Lightning pulled away for an 18-9 victory and the 2006 national title at Weyerhaeuser Park. "We had played them before and I knew,'' said Callum. "They just keep coming and coming at you. They have one heckuva team. Teams that get behind early have a tendency to come back on you, so you just have to keep scoring runs until you have enough.'' The Yankees, who are made up of players from North Georgia, got back-to-back doubles to lead off their half of the first to score a run and added three more in the second and three more in the fourth with the help of a costly error to creep within 9-7 with three innings to play. "I was very concerned,'' said Callum. "We had walked a bunch of guys and had made that big error. When a team gets the momentum like that, you have to change it or you're going to be in trouble.'' The Lightning came back with two runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth and put the capper on it when relief pitcher Andrew Belmonte hit a two-run home run to highlight a three-run seventh that put the game out of reach. It was the second two-run home run by one of the Lightning's pitchers. Starter and winner John McKenna had belted a two-run home run in the top of the fourth to make it 9-4 at the time. "We talked about that before the game,'' said Callum with a smile, "that it would be good if our pitchers could do that.'' He wasn't serious, but said it was good that it happened. "Andrew had been in a slump and we sat him down yesterday and let someone else play. But we decided to put him back in today as the DH and he really came through for us,'' said Callum. Belmonte also doubled and scored in the sixth. Catcher T.J. Larivee led with three hits in five at bats and his pinch runner scored four runs in the game. Larivee had a pair of doubles, as did lead-off hitter Josh Band -- who doubled twice in the six-run first, knocking in two of the runs on his second double. Justin Quinn, who hit .600 with three home runs during the week and would have been the tournament MVP had they chose one -- finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI as the Lightning finished with 15 hits in the game. "They got on us early,'' said STAF Yankee coach Andy Duncan, "and they kept on us. I felt good when we got it to within 9-7. We were back in the game. But they kept hitting the ball and didn't let up ... We battled. We're not hanging our heads, but you just have to tip your hat to them.'' Justin Farmer had three hits for the Yankees and scored three runs, while Cody Lodge and Zach Lowry had two hits each. Taylor Bronson had three RBI. The national championship was the second for the New England team, which is made up of players mostly from the Boston area. They won as 13-year-olds and Callum said about a dozen members of this team were on that team. The players will go on next year, but Callum and assistant Steve Price are hanging it up after 23 years. "We told everyone Tuesday this was it for us,'' said Price. At the time, the team was just 3-3 in the tournament and got into the championship round as the eighth and last seed. But the Lightning struck twice in Championship Bracket play on Wednesday -- including an upset of No. 1 seed Team South Carolina, 5-3, and the No. 4 seed Carolina Cyclones, 6-3, to make the finals and their six-run first put them ahead to stay Thursday and allowed Callum and Price to go out as national champs. "This was definitely a nice way to go out,'' said Callum. In other games Thursday, the Diamond Fury beat the South Shore Seadogs, 10-4, to win the Classic Bracket and the Carolina Cyclones rallied to win third place with an 10-9 victory over the Louisiana All-Stars. The 20-man All-Tournament team included Quinn, Josh Band, Hunter Gordon, Mike Squires, Graham Henningson and Sean Lyons -- who had been injured and couldn't bat Thursday -- from the Lightning, plus the Yankees' Lodge, Cody Dalton, Zach Lowry, Robbie Payne and Erik Clark. Other members of the all-tournament team included Chris Burns, Alex Sasser and Matt Connelly of the Carolina Cyclones; Cade Leblanc, Brennan Middleton and Ben Hernandez of the Louisiana All-Stars, Jamie Skagerlind and Tim Gazard of the Diamond Fury and Chris Amrhein of the South Shore Seadogs. AAU NOTES: STAF stands for "Sacrifice, Training And Faith." Ten of the players played for the Kennesaw Mountain High School team that made the Georgia state playoffs last year. Duncan plans to return to coach the team again next year when it steps up to 16-under AAU play ... Mark Conkin of Colonial Heights Middle School met Duncan at the Waffle House on Thursday morning and vowed to come out and watch Duncan's team play. Conkin has just accepted the head baseball coaching job at King College ... A serious injury to a member of the Seadogs delayed the start of the championship game a half hour. The player, who was pitching for his team at the time, went back to catch a pop fly, lost it in the sun and was struck in the eye by the ball. He was taken from the field by ambulance ... Kingsport turns around and hosts another baseball event -- the USSSA 14-under 60/90 World Series with opening ceremonies at 6:30 p.m., Saturday and games starting Sunday. More than 40 teams will take part in that event at schools throughout the area. It is the third and final event in the Hardee's Summer of Baseball. Championship Linescore: New England Lightning 610 224 3 -- 18 15 2 John McKenna, Andrew Belmonte and T.J. Larivee; Max Benton, Zach Lowry (1), Drew Downey (5) and Erik Clark. WP--McKenna; LP--Benton. Save-Belmonte. HRs-McKenna, one on in fourth; Belmonte, one on in seventh. 2Bs-Band 2, Larivee 2, Henningson, Belmonte, Crispin; Lodge, Graeff.
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