BRISTOL, CONN. - Last night's final New England Regional pool play game between the Walpole American 12-year-old All-Star baseball team and Portsmouth (N.H.) felt a whole lot more like a title game.
But if Portsmouth's 8-7 win in eight innings was just a dress rehearsal for tonight's semifinal back at the A. Bartlett Giamatti Little League Complex's Breen Field (5 p.m.), then the fans will get to see one heck of a sequel.
And while one would think that after such a grueling contest that Walpole American would be on its last legs for tonight's game, that is hardly the case. Americans ace Sam Falkson will get the ball tomorrow, and only Johnny Adams threw more than 40 pitches in last night's loss, so Walpole manager Brian Oberacker will have a rested staff if his team reaches the final on Saturday.
"Our backs are against the wall tomorrow," said Oberacker. "I don't really count this as a loss for our team. We can take a lot of positives out of this. We sent (four) guys to the mound. We hung in there. We took their starting pitcher to long pitch counts. We kept our heads in it the whole way. If we come out here and play this type of game tomorrow, with a little bit of luck, we'll come out on top."
The use of four pitchers was a deliberate one by Oberacker to make sure his team doesn't lose sight of its goal.
"We went in knowing that, win or lose, we have to play tomorrow," he said. "So we just tried to bridge a couple guys. We sent (four) different guys to the mound who threw strikes. It just got to the point where we had confidence in Johnny Adams to finish it out. We were up a run there in the bottom of the sixth and we let up a home run. They swing the bats. They're a good hitting team. We just rode him out. He did an excellent job for a 12-year-old kid to battle those three or four innings and we're proud of him for that effort."
And while the defeat ends Walpole American's 17-game wining streak with its first loss of the summer, it doesn't end its season.
"Tell you what, we've been winning a lot of games. We've been on a great ride. But you've just got to expect, especially when you get out here to Bristol, that you were going to face some phenomenal teams, and we just saw one there in Portsmouth," said Oberacker. "Maybe it will be good for the kids. But it will be a challenge to them to see how they can bounce back, especially that they can't go home after this. I think it may be better that they stay together and stay united. We'll keep them poised and ready to go tomorrow."
And even though his team lost, Oberacker was quite pleased with the heart it showed in coming back multiple times against the defending New England champion.
"It's always good to see," he said. "I'm so proud of these kids for making it this far and our ride isn't over yet. We can play the underdogs tomorrow and we can go out there and try and get a little revenge."
