Junior A City Championship Game is here for the first time and caps the day for Naperville Little League at DuPage River Park! Remember to order your personal copy of the game by going to NCTV17’s online store and purchasing a MP4!
Setting the Table
This matchup is between the Dan Cullum Flyers and NCTV17; Don’t worry, we aren’t biased towards anyone! This is the inaugural year of the Junior division, but you really wouldn’t guess it, since the division had a whopping 11 teams for its first year! Coach Ed Quinn of NCTV17 led his team to win the division with a record of 14-3-1, while Coach Tom Anderson of the Dan Cullum Flyers were not far behind NCTV17 with a record of 13-4-1. The Dan Cullum Flyers are a memorial team in honor of Dan Cullum, who passed away recently. His family graciously asked for donations to Naperville Little League Baseball instead of flowers for his funeral, since he was a huge part of Little League all throughout his life. What a great way to honor him, as his team is now in the finals.
Recap
Time to make history at the DuPage River Sports Complex – where Naperville Little League Baseball hosts its first Junior Division City Championship.
We have the Dan Cullum Flyers at 13-4-1 taking on the NCTV17 sponsored team, which is 14-3-1.
1st Inning
Let’s jump right into the very first inning, Emerson Wood at the plate and he raps a ball left side. Its thrown away so Wood motors all the way around to third.
Mitch Mares up next and he beebees a line shot to third, where Max Kallio happens to be… snags that… and gets the tag for an unassisted double play!
And after all of that excitement, the starter, Jake Quinn, K’s his first hitter of the day to end the frame.
So to the bottom half, and with a runner on, Mitch Anderson shoots one right back up the gut and into centerfield. Ryan Quinn zips around the bag and heads to third.
And that sets the stage for the first run of the game… which crosses on a wild pitch with Quinn scoring.
But starting pitcher for Dan Cullum, Bradley Anderson, is able to turn things around and drops in a pretty off-speed pitch for the backwards K.
2nd Inning
Anderson now at the dish and he’s yanking an outside pitch to the pull field for a base knock.
And during the next at bat, Anderson takes off, which is perfect because Allen Weber hits it exactly where the shortstop was. Runners now on 2nd and 3rd.
And when you put guys in scoring position, its nice to score them… which is what the Dan Cullum Flyers do on a drop third strike. Not only does Anderson come in, but so does Weber. 2-1 Flyers.
Trying to shut down the scoring threat, here’s a pop fly on the infield that Fabian Mendoza closes the glove on for the first out.
Then, check out this play by Mitch Anderson at catcher… bounces out and gets the second out… while Trey Fregia keeps the runner at second.
And that’s big because next up is Gavin Springer and he chops one past the infield – however the runner stops at third and NCTV17 gets out of the inning.
Crazy start to the game right? Bottom half of the second, here’s a bouncer right side that Wes Schmitt absorbs and tosses on to first.
4th Inning
Moving ahead to the fourth – Weber back at the plate for the Flyers and he gets one past the infield dirt… Anderson takes the turn and heads home. Lead now 3-1 Flyers.
And then Justin Loch is going to send a roller to second – its hit hard enough to score a run. Red team up 4-1.
5th Inning
In the bottom of the fifth, NCTV17 chips away. Here comes Anderson sprinting home after stealing third and causing a throwing error.
Then, with Curtis Burke at the plate, a ball gets back the back stop and here comes another run. Kallio scores.
And can you believe it – with Patrick Norton on third, another wild one scores the game-tying run for NCTV17.
And with one out, Jake Quinn grounds it back to the pitcher – who makes a nice play to first but the go ahead run scores and NCTV17 is up 5-4.
Finally putting an end to the big inning, OJ Mercado comes in and snags the final out in left field.
6th Inning
To the top of the sixth and how about this blast from Mitch Mares. Over the centerfielders head and all the way to the wall… it’s so far away from home it takes a double cut off… but it works and NCTV17 cuts down the runner at home to preserve the lead!
Closing out the inning, Trey Fregia puts away a fly ball and NCTV17 is three outs away.
In the bottom half, NCTV17 scores once and looks like it’ll score again, except Curtis Burke comes in and saves a run.
7th Inning
So to the seventh… and Jake Quinn is going for the complete game effort… and he gets it! NCTV17 wins the first ever Junior Division City Championship!
