Cal-Mum defeats Perry to capture
12U All-Star Tournament

   On July 14 and 15, Caledonia-Mumford Youth Baseball hosted a 12U youth baseball tournament. Participating in the tournament along with Cal-Mum were Livonia, Naples and Perry. The Cal-Mum All Stars would reach the tournament final by defeating Naples in the semi-final game, where they would face the Perry All Stars who defeated Livonia in the other semi-final game. Both semi-final games proved to be exciting as both games were decided by a single run, as was the consolation game between Naples and Livonia.

   Perry would win the coin toss, bringing Cal-Mum to the plate first. The Raiders came out swinging as Steve Gaffney led off the game with a single to center field, and following consecutive walks to Madison Suhr and Matt O’Hara, a single by Alex Coleman up the middle and a double by Kyle Kline to the right-center field gap would put Cal-Mum on top 4-0. Suhr would take the mound first for Cal-Mum, and following a leadoff walk, would retire the next three batters on consecutive strikeouts and a groundout back to himself.

   In the second inning, Cal-Mum’s Ian Hall would execute a nice fielder’s choice bunt, but the speedy Hall would be caught stealing second on a fine defensive play by the Perry catcher Anthony Ricotta to end the inning. Two more strikeouts by Suhr and a groundout to second baseman Thomas Barefoot in the bottom half of the inning would keep Cal-Mum on top 4-0 after 2 innings. Gaffney would then get things going again for Cal-Mum in the third inning as he led off with a single to the left-center field gap, and then following a single by Suhr down the first baseline, Brady Sass would drive a double down the right field line with two outs to score both runners making it 6-0 Cal-Mum. Perry would go three and out in the bottom of the third on another strikeout by Suhr and two fine defensive plays by shortstop Gaffney.

   Cal-Mum would put two runners on base in the fourth inning with a walk to Joe Cappotelli and another single by Gaffney to left field, but could not get the runners in. Brady Sass would take the mound next for Cal-Mum in the bottom of the fourth, retiring the first two batters on a fly out to center fielder Justin Wade and a groundout to second baseman Barefoot, and then following a walk, catcher Cappotelli would make a fine defensive play catching a foul ball up against the fence to end the inning.

   Cal-Mum would add another run in the top of the fifth inning to make it 7-0 as O’Hara would send a rocket to deep right field for a leadoff double, followed by back to back singles by Coleman and Sass. It appeared Cal-Mum would add to its lead, but Perry shortstop Alex Syberg would make a spectacular defensive play catching a line drive up the middle and tagging the runner out at second base for an inning ending double play. Perry would go three and out in the bottom of the fifth on a popup to first baseman Coleman and two strikeouts by Sass. Following a three and out by Cal-Mum in the top of the sixth inning, Perry would finally get things going in the bottom half of the inning. Following a groundout to second baseman Barefoot and a line drive snagged by third baseman Suhr, Perry’s Jake Dueppengiesser would blast a ground-rule double over the left-center field fence giving Perry its first hit of the game. Syberg would then send the next pitch over the right-center field fence for a 2-run homer to cut Cal-Mum’s lead to 7-2. Following a walk, left fielder O’Hara would make a running shoestring catch for the third out to end the inning.

   Cal-Mum would add an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning as Gaffney would make it a perfect 4-4 day at the plate with a single to right field, and would steal second, third and home to make it 8-2. Jason Phillips would then come on to pitch for Cal-Mum in the bottom of the seventh inning to close things out, retiring the first two batters on a groundout to first baseman Coleman and a strikeout, and then following a walk, a popup to second baseman Barefoot to give Cal-Mum the championship by a score of 8-2.

   For the game, Suhr, Sass and Phillips combined for a 2-hitter with 8 strikeouts, the offense pounded out 11 hits including 4 by Gaffney, 2 each by Coleman and Sass, and 1 each by Suhr, O’Hara and Kline, and the defense played flawlessly committing zero errors.

   "We couldn’t have played a better game today", said Cal-Mum coach Tim Gaffney. "Our kids came ready to play; a total team effort. I was very proud of how they competed today against a very talented and athletic Perry team."

   Special thanks go out to tournament coordinators Dan Harmon, Jr. and Tim Gaffney, to play-by-play announcer Robert Pullyblank, "voice of the Red Raiders", and to all the parents, players and volunteers who made the tournament a success.