Glen Allen 13-year-old all-stars fall 3-2 in World Series title game

Saturday didn’t provide the storybook ending that Glen Allen’s 13-year-old all-star team had hoped for in the championship game of the 13-year-old Babe Ruth League World Series on its home field at RF&P Stadium, as the home team fell in agonizingly close fashion, 3-2 to Oahu, Hawaii.

It was the third straight year the Glen Allen Youth Athletic Association and Henrico County hosted the tournament, and all three events have been won by Hawaii teams – the last two by teams from Oahu.

For this Glen Allen team, the second-place finish (though disappointing) concluded another impressive run in World Series play. Many of the team’s players also were together for runs in previous years that resulted in second, third and seventh-place finishes in World Series events. The loss in the final Saturday was Glen Allen’s only loss in six games during the tournament – an event that saw the host team earn the top overall seed after a 3-0 record in pool play and then claw its way through the championship bracket thanks in part to a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory in its first bracket game.

With a crowd of several hundred people packing the stands at RF&P Saturday, Glen Allen used a strong effort from starting pitcher Carter Burton and sterling defense to hold Oahu scoreless through four innings. The visitors threatened to score in the second inning, but shortstop Jack Adams had other ideas.

After his throw to first on a ground ball escaped the glove of Charley Robins, allowing Oahu’s Xaeden Lopes to reach second base with just one out, Lopes then stole third base (although he appeared to have been tagged out by third baseman Reid Lutton). But with one out and the infield playing in to prevent a run, Adams dropped to a knee to backhand a sharp grounder by Kamau Yojo, held Lopes at third and threw out Yojo for the inning’s second out.

The next batter, Kolotau Koa, ripped a grounder over the mound that appeared headed for center field. But Adams dove to his left to field it behind second base, sprung to his feet and fired a throw to the outstretched glove of Robins at first just in time to retire Koka for the inning’s third out, igniting the partisan home crowd and bringing the entire Glen Allen team racing out of the dugout to celebrate with him as he jogged off the field.

Glen Allen put two runners on with one out in the bottom of the second, on back-to-back singles by Adams and Robins, but Tony Paciocco struck out and Tommy Reilly lined out to end the threat.

In the top of the fourth, Oahu threatened again when Drayzen Alagao was hit by a pitch, took second on an error and advanced to third on a groundout. But then Lopes grounded to Paciocco at second base, who threw Alagao out at home attempting to score. The inning ended when catcher Griffin Tharp threw out Lopes attempting to steal third.

Glen Allen used that momentum to score its two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Lutton reached on an error by the first baseman to lead off the inning, then Trace Holt singled to center field, sending Lutton to third with no outs. After Lutton was thrown out at home on Christopher Hall’s fielder’s choice grounder to first, Adams’ sacrifice bunt moved Holt to third and Hall to second with two outs.

Then Robins singled to left to score Holt with the game’s first run and Paciocco punched a single to left to score Hall with the second.

But the lead wouldn’t last long. In the top of the fifth inning, Oahu finally got to Burton. The trouble began with a leadoff single by Koa, and then a hit batter and sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position for Oahu with just one out.

With the score 2-1, Talon Paahao blooped a single into shallow right field, putting runners on first and third. Then a sacrifice fly to center field scored the tying run and ended Burton’s day. Charlie Riviello relieved and surrendered a ground ball up the middle by Alagao that Paciocco fielded after ranging far to his right, but Alagao beat his throw to first base, allowing the go-ahead (and eventual winning) run to score.

Glen Allen threatened several times in its final three at-bats but couldn’t push across the tying run.

In the bottom of the fifth, Riviello singled to lead off, then courtesy runner Mason Paciocco advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tharp. But Landon Allen lined out to the pitcher and Lutton flied out to right field to end the threat.

Glen Allen went down in order in the sixth, but in the seventh, Robins ripped a sharp opposite-field single to left to lead off and again fire up the home crowd. Courtesy runner Christopher Kowtna advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tony Paciocco, and then Reilly hit what briefly appeared to be a game-tying line drive down the left field line before it went foul. Reilly then was called out on strikes, and Riviello popped out to second to end the game.