Tournament Stories

I was lucky last night.  I had the plate at one the finest Little League games I have ever called.  Game 2 between Gloucester City and Barrington resembled a game between the Phillies and the Braves.  The boys on both teams played nothing short of brilliant. Each team traded runs early in the game and then we settled in.  I watched marvelous pitching, clutch fielding and most of all, a group of boys playing the game with passion, heart, and skill.  This stunned me.  Both teams had every aspect of the game under cool control.  Barrington would get the lead off man on ...boom! thrown out trying to steal...Gloucester would get men on second and third with one out...boom! two strike outs.  Great pitching; fly balls, grounders sucked up by both teams. For a moment, I thought Curt Schilling, Dontrelle Willis, Chase Utley and Derek Jeter had shown up as nine year olds living in Gloucester and Barrington.  So, there we stayed, deadlocked at 1-1.. for seven straight innings.  Finally in the bottom of the ninth ... the ninth inning!, tired and with every nerve strained, Barrington managed to push a run across and end the game. Final score 2-1.  So, from long time umpire ... thanks for a great evening boys!

    -  Ray Dunn, Plate Umpire