At high noon tomorrow, at the Gillette Road complex, North Syracuse and Nottingham (N.J.) duke it out for the Babe Ruth Mid-Atlantic Age 13-15 Regional baseball championship.
This is not a recording - but it sure is familiar.
Many of these very same players met in this very same championship round in the 14-year-old division a year ago, in New Jersey. Nottingham won that time, and ever since North Syracuse has plotted its revenge.
Better yet, North Syracuse will get a chance to win it at home. Before the tournament started, players and coaches alike said not having to board buses and fight traffic and getting to sleep in their own beds would decrease the stress level. So far, they've been right.
In today's semifinal round, North Syracuse steadily, ruthlessly took South Colonie (from the Albany suburbs) to task, needing just six innings to prevail 13-2.
A trio of first-inning runs got North Syracuse moving. That quick lead nearly got away in the bottom of the first, when South Colonie scored twice, but once pitcher Dave Campese (Bishop Grimes) escaped, he didn't allow anything more in a solid five-inning stint.
North Syracuse scored in five of the six innings it got a chance to hit, and everyone seemed to chip in. The team is peaking in confidence in all aspects of the game - offense, defense and pitching - and it could never be more ready to go after a championship.
Nottingham will be very tough to beat, though. In beating Mifflin County (Pa.) 6-2 in the other semifinal, Nottingham displayed how dangerous it is to give them any small window.
Ahead 2-0 in the top of the fifth, Nottingham gave up a run as Mifflin loaded the bases with two out. But on, a 3-0 count, the hitter swung when he had no business swinging until the count was full, and it led to an inning-ending strikeout.
Fired up by the escape, Nottingham scored three times in the bottom of the fifth, then once more in the sixth inning to ice its championship berth.
After a topsy-turvy four days of pool play, the semifinals were comparatively routine, leading to a title game that brings the tournament full circle.
Way back on Thursday night, Nottingham and North Syracuse opened against each other and played a classic, Nottingham prevailing 4-3 in eight innings. A single error by North Syracuse in the eighth inning proved decisive.
Just five days later, they reunite. At stake is a ticket to Van Buren, Ark., and the Babe Ruth World Series. It should be quite a battle.
CATEGORY: Baseball
TAGS: Babe Ruth, North Syracuse, semifinals, Nottingham
