Lightning Baseball of New England 15U Team
Places Sixth in Championship Series 2007

15’s Finish 5-1 at East Cobb, GA (July 22nd – July 29th)

On July 22nd the Lightning Baseball 15 & Under team traveled to East Cobb, Georgia to take part in a 56 team wooden bat tournament sponsored by Perfect Game USA.  The first round of pool play took place from Monday the 23rd through Wednesday the 25th.  The Lightning faced the East Cobb Longhorns to start the tournament which ended up being a pitching duel between Brett Collins (ECL) and Nick Fabrizio (St. John’s Prep-Danvers) as only a total of 7 hits were given up over 7 innings of play.  Fabrizio carried his squad as he shut down the Longhorns allowing only 2 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 12. The Lightning, with clutch hitting from Connor Lyons (Trinity HS), 2-3,1 RBI, SB, and Ross Julian (Groton HS) 1-3,1 RBI were able to pull out a 2-1 win over the Longhorns to grasp their first victory.

Tuesday and Wednesday saw the Lightning finish up their first round of pool play with victories over the Indiana Prospects and the Philadelphia Senators National with scores of 10-3 and 10-7.  The Lightning bats came to life against Indiana as Lyons (2 BB, HBP, 4 Runs, SB) and Julian (3-3, Double, Triple, 1 Run, 5 RBI, HBP) led the way once again with the help of Joe Napolitano (Bishop Guertin HS) 1-3, Run, 2 RBI and Joe Carlier (Rockland HS) 1 RBI, 1 Run.  Kyle Levesque (Manchester Memorial HS) recorded the win battling through 3 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. Wednesday saw another 10 runs scored against a competitive Philadelphia team as Chris Splinter (Masconomet Regional HS) 2-3, 3 Runs, 1 RBI, BB, Greg Ladd (Danvers HS) 1-2, 2 RBI, BB, and Jake Berry (Tabor Academy) 1-2, 1 RBI, BB chipped in to help New England achieve their third straight victory.  Splinter got the “W” in a clutch relief appearance to bail out the Lightning (3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 K, 2 BB).

On Thursday the second round of pool play (3 teams per pool) took place as the Lightning were scheduled to face the Tri State Arsenal and the San Diego Gamers in a morning doubleheader.  The 9AM game versus the Arsenal proved to be a battle to the end as was expected with the Lightning pulling away with a 5-4 victory at North Cobb High School.  Jason Federico (Wakefield HS) toed the mound for New England and gave them 6 solid innings, allowing 4 runs on seven hits, striking out five against a stacked Arsenal lineup.  Evan Bunker (Masconomet Regional HS) shut the door in the seventh to secure the Lightning’s 4th straight victory.  Offensively, Lyons (2-3, Triple, 2 Runs), Splinter (1-3, 1 Run, 1 RBI, 2 SB), and Federico (1-3, 1 RBI) led the way.  Game two against the Gamers proved to be a one sided affair as Fabrizio (6 IP, 6 H, 0 Runs, 5 K, 2BB) once again shut down the opposition and the Lightning offense scored 8 unanswered runs led by Napolitano (3-3, 2 Runs, 2 RBI, HBP), Sean Gannon (Rivers HS) (1-2, 2B, 2 Runs, BB), and T.J. Patrikas (BB, 1 Run, SB).

At 5-0, the Lightning obtained a bye to the final 8 and drew the NorCal  Black Sox for a match up at Kell High School on Friday morning.  After stunning the Black Sox with 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Lightning bats were quieted by Daniel Heefner of NorCal who pitched 5 2/3 innings of relief, allowing just two hits.  Greg Ladd and Evan Bunker battled on the mound against the talented Black Sox before a seventh inning come back by NorCal in the top of the seventh proved to be the difference.  Fabrizio (2-4, 1 Run), Splinter (1-4, 2B, 1 Run, 1 RBI), and Bunker (1-2, 2B, 2 RBI) provided the offense for the Lightning.  Overall, the Lightning finished with a solid tournament record of 5-1 and ended up placing 6th overall in the Baseball Championship Series held by Perfect Game USA in East Cobb, GA.