While the Cal Ripken 12-year-old all-stars were grabbing headlines by winning the Connecticut and New England championships and advancing to the U.S. semifinals of the Cal Ripken World Series, the 11-year-old Cal Ripken all-stars quietly went undefeated in Norwalk's annual Kinlock Memorial Tournament. The 11-year-old squad, which was the runner up in the Cal Ripken state tournament, defeated the Cranbury all-stars 9-3 and 9-0, and downed the Little League all-stars 2-0 and 3-2.
In its first victory over Cranbury, the score was tied at 3-3 until the fifth inning, when the Ripken team erupted for six runs. Mike Gonzales homered and doubled, and Wady Almonte had three hits to lead the offense. Cranbury scored all of its runs in the third inning, when Zachary Wilson singled, Alexander Kydes was hit by a pitch, Alex Barone reached on an error and Richard Clemens, Daniel Linehan and Johnny Bloise walked.
Little League pitcher Isaac Keehn held the Ripken offense in check for all but one inning in the first meeting between the two teams. The only scoring occurred in the second inning, when Nico Petridis and Chris Giordano walked, and a Hunter Dumas RBI single and a ground out by Matt Galyas made the score 2-0. Ripken's Petridis, Eric van der Els and Kevin Woodring combined to toss a two-hit shutout.
The rematch between Ripken and Little League was a nail-biter. Ripken took a lead in the top of the first when van der Els doubled and was driven in by a Mike Gonzales single. Little League answered in the bottom of the first when Michael Powers and Mike Pascarelli walked, Keehn singled and Tommy Benincaso drew another free pass to force in a run. The score remained tied until the top of the fourth, when Ripken's Petridis singled, Giordano walked and Dumas drove in the go-ahead run.
Facing a 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning, Little League rallied. Pascarelli led off with a single, Keehn drew a walk and Tommy Benincaso was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Ripken pitcher Gonzales struck out the next batter, but Stephan Howard's single drove in Pascarelli with the tying run. Gonzales struck out his second batter of the inning, and Ripken first baseman Galyas made a diving catch of Joey Benincaso's line drive to send the game into extra innings tied at 2.
In the top of the seventh, the first two Ripken hitters were retired, but Dumas singled and took second base on a misplay. Galyas then singled him home for the go-ahead run. In the bottom of the seventh, Little League's Kyle Mossop doubled with one out. However, Gonzales stranded him by retiring the last two hitters to seal the 3-2 victory.
Cranbury defeated Little League twice during the Kinlock Tournament, winning 3-0 and 7-4. In the first contest, Cranbury's Kydes and Bloise each had two hits, and PJ Morin and Clemens combined to toss a shutout. In the second meeting, Cranbury's 12-hit offense was led by Wilson, who had two RBI singles, and Morin, who hit a towering two-run homer. Starting pitcher Alex Barone got the win, and relievers Michael Pepiciello, Bloise and Jake Somma combined to allow five hits and one run over the last four innings.
Little League's Keehn and Cranbury's Morin pitched brilliantly during the tournament, and Ripken hurlers Ryan Searles, Giordano and Gonzales combined for three of the team's four wins.
Gonzales and Dumas led the Cal Ripken offense during the tournament, each collecting six hits. Gonzales smacked three doubles and a home run, and Dumas had two game-winning RBIs and scored the winning run in the final victory. Kevin Woodring and Jimmy Ray Stagg also homered for Ripken during the tournament.
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