Glen Allen 13U all-stars win in dramatic fashion, now 2 wins from World Series title

With his team’s championship dreams down to one final strike, Tony Paciocco delivered in a big way for the 13-year-old Glen Allen Babe Ruth League all-star team Thursday morning in the 13-year-old Babe Ruth World Series at RF&P Stadium in Glen Allen.

Top-seeded Glen Allen trailed ninth-seed Altamonte Springs, Florida 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh and final inning in the host team’s first single-elimination championship bracket game when, with two outs, Paciocco lined a 2-2 pitch down the right field line for a double, scoring teammate Jack Adams from second base. Adams had walked and stolen second with one out.

After an error helped Tommy Reilly reach first base safely, Glen Allen’s Carter Burton deposited a single into center field, scoring Paciocco with the game-winning run to give Glen Allen an improbable 2-1 victory and end Altamonte Springs’ hope of a title.

The late-game heroics made a winner out of Glen Allen pitcher Charlie Riviero, who turned in a masterful seven-inning outing on just 64 pitches, allowing only five hits and an unearned run in the sixth inning, while striking out one and walking two.

The two teams were scoreless through five innings, before Altamonte Springs used a leadoff single, two bunts and an error to push across the game’s first run in the sixth inning. It appeared that would be enough to eliminate Glen Allen until Paciocco and Burton had other thoughts in the seventh.

Glen Allen’s rally began after Altamonte Springs Manager Chris Roberts pulled his starting pitcher, Steven Feliz, with one out in the bottom of the seventh after a dominant 97-pitch, one-hit outing. Christian Rivers entered and immediately walked Adams, then retired Riviero on a pop out to shortstop for the second out. Relief pitcher Andres Maysonet then entered and surrendered the game-winning double to Burton.

With the win, Glen Allen has advanced to the tournament’s final four and now awaits the winner of the Thursday afternoon game between fourth-seeded Lutz, Florida and fifth-seeded Auburn, Alabama, which it will face in a semifinal game Friday at 10 a.m. at RF&P Stadium.

All 12 teams in the tournament played three pool-play games to establish seeding for the single-elimination championship bracket, which began Wednesday. (A loss sends a team to the secondary diamond bracket instead).

The other teams remaining in the championship bracket are second-seeded Easton Youth, Massachusetts; 10th-seeded North Providence-Smithfield, Rhode Island; third-seeded Oahu, Hawaii; and sixth-seeded Schererville, Indiana.

Easton Youth and North Providence-Smithfield will play Thursday at 4 p.m., with the winner advancing to face the Oahu-Schererville winner (a 7 p.m. game Thursday) on Friday at 1 p.m.

The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at noon.