Powertul message

Maybe the Walpole American 12-year-old All-Star baseball team just liked the symmetry of it all, starting the New England Regional with a mercy-rule win over Cranston West (R.I.), only to book its trip to Williamsport with another one in Saturday's 14-4 victory over Shelton National (Conn.).

 Still, as confident of their players as the Walpole American coaching staff is, no one expected a six-homer outburst.

 "I never thought we'd win by mercy rule in the championship game in New Englands," said Walpole American coach Jared Ruggieri. "We knew we could hit the ball. We knew we were going to face their No. 2 pitcher because they threw their ace on Thursday and we threw our ace on Thursday."

 Perhaps even more surprising than the outburst itself was who some of the home runs came from. Players like Johnny Adams, Johnny White and Mike LaVita hit in the heart of the order for the Americans, but Mike Rando is known primarily for his speed and Joey Guarino also had no home runs this summer heading into Saturday's game.

 "Mike Rando had that grand slam and Joe Guarino, the pitcher, he put one out, the first that I'd seen, and I've been coaching Joe for five years," said Walpole American manager Brian Oberacker.

 It was a considerably more common occurence for Adams, who socked two dingers in a win over Wellesley North in the districts.

 By the time the fifth inning rolled around, though, the plan to end the game early became a possibility.

 "We were thinking that if we got a few runs there in the bottom of the fifth we could walk out with this thing," said Ruggieri.

 "In the districts, we went off a little bit with home runs. I think we had like 11 in two games. So we're definitely capable of hitting home runs. We were saying earlier if these bats wake up then we can make some noise in this game because we didn't want to keep it close."

 While the thought heading into Saturday's New England final was that the added spotlight of having the game telecast on ESPN would put a considerable amount of pressure on the players, that was not the case according to Oberacker.

 "This team has been loose every time they stepped on the field," said Oberacker. "They're a great bunch of kids, they have a great attitude. I knew right from the start, I knew this morning when we were taking batting practice, how calm and relaxed they were. I knew something special was going to happen today.

 "I think I had more butterflies than they did," he continued. "That's the way I've felt since the districts. We as coaches would show up to these games a lot more nervous than these kids."

 The way the Americans played backs up Oberacker's words. They only made one error and for the most part played very well in the field. One player who had a superb day in the field was Adams who made five assists and one putout in the first 2 2/3 innings alone.

 Lost in the barrage of home runs was a pitching performance from Guarino that, while not dominant, frustrated the Shelton National bats and got stronger as the game went along.

 Part of his success came from the fact that very few players at that age are used to seeing a knuckle-curve, which Guarino used frequently to get batters out, as he struck out three and didn't walk anyone.

 "He came out and pitched one heck of a game today," said Oberacker. "He threw strikes and trusted the defense around him."

 "I'm able to keep teams off balance (with the knuckle-curve)," said Guarino. "I'm probably the only one who throws it (at the tournament)."

 Although Guarino allowed a two-run home run to Nick Petrovich in the first, he induced a pair of groundouts to Adams to end the inning. That would be the last time he'd trail in the game, thanks to a six-run bottom half that he admitted helped him calm down the rest of the way.

 "(That inning) gave me a lot of support," said Guarino.

 He was at his best late in the game, as he ended a perfect fourth with a strikeout of Dustin Chmielewski. In fifth, Shelton National loaded the bases with the help of three infield hits, but Guarino induced a groundout to second baseman Tim Sullivan to end the threat.