WLL 11/12 All-Stars baseball narrowly falls to Cape Elizabeth

By Matt Pascarella

It was a defensive pitching battle for Windham Little League’s All-Star 11/12 baseball team at the Westbrook Little League Complex on Saturday, June 22 in the first game of the All-Star season against Cape Elizabeth, where Cape narrowly edged Windham, 1-0, after a home run put them on the scoreboard.

Windham Little League 11/12 All-Star seventh grader Joey
Somma makes a throw to first base after fielding a ball
in a game against Cape Elizabeth at the Westbrook Little
League Complex on Saturday, June 22.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA  

“It was a pitcher’s duel,” said Windham All-Star 11/12 coach Adam Kalakowsky. “We needed to get our bats going and we couldn’t; their pitcher did a great job. Our pitchers did a wonderful job, we’re going to try to rebound ... and play hard. Players were in position, they were doing the things we asked; a few mental errors, but with a tight game we kept it close, we made the plays in the field. Just that one homerun, that’s all it was. If we can just keep going, I think we’ll be successful. We have to score some runs, that was clearly our weakness today.”

Windham sixth grader Eli Souther began on the mound where he struck out five batters. Windham fifth grader Bronson Bassett took over in the third inning and struck out six batters.

Windham kept Cape Elizabeth scoreless in the first inning. Cape Elizabeth’s defense was just as tough as Windham’s.

In the second inning, a homerun put Cape Elizabeth in the lead. Windham’s strong defense wouldn’t allow them any further runs, even when it got tough.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, a walk and a single by Cape Elizabeth put two runners in scoring positions. Bassett was on the mound and struck out the next three batters to shut Cape Elizabeth down and leave their runners on base.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure, but I just cleared my mind,” said Bassett. “I let go of everything and it was just me and the catcher, and I was just pitching my way. Even though we got the “L,” it’s not a blowout, it’s 1-0. The one thing we’ve got to do better is getting the ball on the bat. We got a whole [other] game. Great job at fielding ... but I do think we need to work on hitting – overall I think we did good.”

Windham gave a solid effort in the sixth inning but couldn’t get around the diamond.

“We did really good on pitching,” said Windham seventh grader Joey Somma. “I feel like we could get better at our attitudes while pitching, like that homerun was just 1-0, nobody needs to hang their head or do anything to not be positive – we have another chance. Our plays in the infield, our pitching and how we battled at the plate went well.” <