Tim Sullivan does not look the part of your typical power hitter at 5-feet, 1-inch and 95 pounds.
The sweet-swinging second baseman led the Walpole American 12-year old All-Stars to yesterday's 10-0 romp over Peabody West in five innings with a monster day at the plate which included three home runs and nine RBI, not to mention a first-inning single.
For the state tournament, Sullivan blasted four home runs and brought in 13 runs with seven runs scored of his own in just three games.
"I was seeing the ball real well," said Sullivan. "And I was just laying off the junk and waiting for my pitch. And I got it every time."
"I tell you what, if he doesn't show up it's a 1-0 game," said Walpole American manager Brian Oberacker."This kid has been in the zone all summer long and he is such a good kid. And I'm so proud of him for what he's done. Three home runs, nine RBI - that's something he'll never forget. That's unbelievable."
After putting his team ahead to stay with a grand slam in Friday night's 10-7 win over Pittsfield South,Sullivan worked his magic again yesterday. In a scoreless game in the second inning, Sullivan turned on a 2-2 fastball from Peabody starter Genaro Ciulla and ripped it over the tent in left field for a crushing home run.
"I was up there and I was very nervous," said Sullivan. "But I knew he was going to throw a fastball because he didn't really have that great of a curveball. So I was just looking fastball and I got it and I put a good swing on it."
He had plenty of more good swings left in him, though. With runners on second and third in the third inning, Sullivan jumped on the first pitch he saw and belted it over everyone in center to propel his team to an insurmountable 8-0 lead.
He added the exclamation point in the fifth when he grabbed a hold of a 3-0 offering and put it over the fence in nearly the same spot to invoke the mercy rule.
Heading into yesterday's game, the most home runs he had ever hit in one game was two. He has a new record to beat now, though.
"What can you say? What can you say? The kid, he had a game," said Peabody manager Genaro Ciulla. "I cannot remember anybody that hit more than one home run off us since we started. I can't remember it. The kid had himself a game. That's a tribute to him."
