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The end result was not clear until early morning hours of Wednesday, but the Stamford Babe Ruth 15's are still alive. Stamford was forced to play two games in one day because of rainouts and needed to win both to move on from pool play. Superb pitching and timely hitting that were missing in their first two losses emerged on Tuesday as they eliminated Torrance, Cal., 6-4 and host team Monticello, Ark., 10-3 to move on to the elimination round of the Babe Ruth World Series.
"The [team] knew what the situation was going in. We explained it to them in the morning," Stamford manager John Calo said. "They came out very sharp this time and were focused on what they had to do. They really showed what they were made of."
Because rain washed out Sunday's game and much of the tournament's Monday's slate, Stamford's makeup game was delayed more than two hours. Stamford clearly did not mind playing until 2 a.m. ET, as they pounded out 10 runs on nine hits including a three-run blast from Kevin Epp. Jason LoRusso added three hits as well. Steven D'Annolfo was brilliant in a clutch start of Stamford going 6 1/3 strong innings, scattering seven hits.
"The guys were real loose. They didn't care what time they had to play or play until," Calo said. "They were ready to go."
In their morning game against Torrance, Luis Lopez avenged his only poor outing of the postseason, pitching a nearly perfect three inning save in relief of Danny O'Leary. Jeff Cortese clubbed two RBI doubles and Kyle DiVico, thought lost for the series after an ankle injury, collected two hits. Stamford, Torrance, and Monticello all finished pool play with records of 2-2, but thanks to head to head play, Stamford escaped as the number three seed in the single-elimination bracket.
Stamford will take on Bryant, Ark., Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The winner moves on to play Saginaw Valley, Mich., which Stamford lost to last Friday, and the loser goes home.
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