ROHRER'S WINS CHAMPIONSHIP IN 7 INNINGS
13-11
BOYER'S CAME TO MEMORIAL FIELD
NURSING CHAMPIONSHIP HOPES,
ROHER'S KNOCKED' EM GALLEY WEST,
AND SENT' EM TO THE ROPES;
NOW THOSE SELFSAME BOYER'S
LUCKY WILL BE RECKONED
WHEN THEY FINISH OUT THE SEASON
LANDING ONLY IN SECOND.
If you ask the many fans in attendance what the outstanding features of the game were, they will answer you:
"The way those Rohrer's boys came back after being down 9-0 in the first inning."
"Oh, boy you should have seen that smash home run Big Nate Dixon had in the third. We can't forget the excellent pitching by Brent Kaunas and Blake Lipko and that game winning homer by Dylan Biever in the 7th that was hit to deep center field where the ball disappeared in the starry sky and gave Rohrer's the championship."
Well, cranks,
let’s take a moment and look back at what these boys did this season.
It was a
season of a lot of ups and very few downs.
The club went down only twice in the first half of the season against a
very good pitching and hitting Boyer’s club. If you want a fine example of
coaching and support for our club, not one time did Manager Ken Grace, or the
coaching staff, fall down and admit defeat. Never did I hear a moment of
negative coaching come from any of our coaches, only fine examples of keeping
the boys` spirits up and exhortations to put forth their best efforts. A hardy Huzza,
three cheers and a tiger for the Rohrer’s coaching staff!
On a
beautiful, puffy cloud early summer evening, a make-up game was played. A perfect double rainbow appeared in the
eastern sky. They always say a pot of
gold can be found at the end of a rainbow. Could this pot of gold be a win for
Rohrer’s?
If you
search through all the games played on Memorial Field in Orwigsburg, you will
never find the yarn of such a contest. It was a battle of mighty fingers, left
handers, right handers, and kids on the hill who had one thing in mind, don’t
give up. Add to this yarn a manager, who after being down 9-0 in the first
inning, said with confidence, “Look, guys, we have six innings to play. Don’t
worry. Let’s get our bats going NOW!” Off they went, bent on heeding the manager’s advice and staged an amazing
comeback.
On the defense our boys went to work. On the
mound, our hard throwing, fast right hander Brent Kaunas went to work on the
Boyer’s batters. He was backed up by a tremendous infield and outfield. They
set their minds to it and stopped the insane onslaught of the Boyer’s club.
The third
inning at bat was our moment. The boys
started reversing the rolls of who was going to win this ball game. Blake got
on first on balls; Dylan blasted a single scoring Blake. Brent, in his usual
style, slammed out a double scoring Dylan. Then, in the fading light of the
evening, big Nate Dixon stepped into the batter’s box. In his characteristic,
methodical movements that he is known for, Nate took a deep, slow breath, put
his bat on his shoulder and stared down the Boyer’s pitcher, Mike
DeHaven. Nate took one ball, then one strike and then
Boyer’s pitcher slipped one right across the rubber. A sound like the crack of
a rifle shot rang through the park. The fans` heads jerked upward and watched
the old apple sail high out over the center field fence, out of sight into the
dark summer sky. At the sound of the
crack, Brent scampered around the bags. Nate slowly made his triumphant pass among the
bags and sailed on into home plate with that big kid grin he usually has on
face.
And so it
began, cranks, that once- in –a- lifetime game a kid will remember for the rest
of his life. The runs started tallying
in favor of Rohrer’s with nothing moving on the Boyer’s side of the scoreboard.
In the fourth inning, our slugger Dylan Biever blasted his ninth homerun of the
season.
Like
climbing Mt. Everest steady and strong, the boys were working their way to the
top of the score card. We maintained our
great defensive ball playing and kept Boyer’s to a minimum on the score
card. Then, in the bottom of the sixth
the score stood 11-11 and the game went into extra innings.
Brent Kaunas, who pitched an excellent game
stifling any big innings by Boyer’s, was relieved by another right hander,
Blake Lipko. Blake stepped on the mound in as tense a situation as any pitcher
could want with a tie score and a hard
hitting, never give up Boyer’s club at bat. Top of the seventh and the ball
park was quiet as if there were a funeral going on. Blake gave up a single to
the first batter. The tension built as the winning score was now standing on
first. Next batter popped out to Dylan Grace on third base. One down when the
next batter blasted one to the second baseman who throws to first for the
second out. The third batter comes to
the plate and in the quite of the evening, Blake has him with one ball and two strikes.
Blake comes out of his stretch and fans the batter. Now it is the chance of a
life time. Rohrer’s has the opportunity to put this game away and go on record
as having one of the best comebacks in
Little League history and taking the Orwigsburg championship.
Our first
batter is Matt Ross who goes down swinging on two balls and two strikes. Next
up is Andrew Phillips who went down on a full count, leaving us with 2 outs and
nobody on. Back to the top of the order and
Blake Lipko cracks out a single, putting him in the winning run on first.
OK ,cranks,
as all things seem to go around or come around, as the old saying goes, what would
be the worst thing a pitcher for Boyer’s would want to avoid? Yes! As we all
know by now, no pitcher would want to see the slugger Dylan Biever stepping
into the box with the score tied ,two
outs and the winning run on first base. The way it turns out goes like this. Dylan
steps up to the bat, takes that legendary deep breath, readies that bat and
takes the first pitch for a strike. As a
batsman, Dylan is cool-headed, a good base runner, remarkable fielder, and
pitcher with an arm of steel. But when it comes to batting, cranks, look out!
On the next
pitch, a fast ball right down the line was met with a bat on ball that blasted
the ball up and into the dark of the night sky and out over center field scoring
Blake and giving Dylan his tenth homer for the season. Dylan’s home run brought
the Rohrer’s fans to their feet. The ball club jumped like a bunch of gazelles
on the open Serengeti. Blake rounded the bases, came running to home plate and
leaped three feet into the air to land on home plate for the winning run followed
by the hero of the game, Dylan Biever. Team
mates and coaches mobbed Dylan and he was lost in a crowd of rejoicing players.
Dylan’s homer sealed the win and helped
to restore Rohrer’s to the top rung of the Orwigsburg Little League for the
second year in a row.
So, cranks, on
a beautiful summer evening at Orwigsburg’s Memorial Field on June 14, 2013 kids and adults watched the game they will
remember forever. And in years to come, fans will always say, “Remember that
game when the Rohrer’s kids came back from a 9-0 deficit and won the
championship? Boy, what a game!”
With the end
of this game and of the baseball season, we also mark the end of Little League
careers. We, as Rohrer’s fans, have watched for the last time Brent Kaunas and
Nate Dixon, two tremendous ball players who put their heart and soul into a
game we all love. May your futures be wonderful, boys, and always remember this
game for the rest of your lives.
“MAY THE SUN NEVER SET
ON AMERICAN BASEBALL”
HARRY TRUMAN
THE BABE`S FAREWELL ADDRESS
Thank
you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
You
know how bad my voice sounds – well it feels just as bad.
You
know this baseball game of ours comes up from the youth. That means the boys.
And
after you’re a boy and grow up to know how to play ball, then you come to the
boys you see representing themselves today in your national pastime, the only
real game – I think – in the world, baseball.
As a
rule, some people think if you give them a football, or a baseball, or
something like that – naturally they’re athletes right away.
But you
can’t do that in baseball.
You’ve
gotta start from way down the bottom, when you’re six or seven years of age.
You can’t wait until you’re fifteen or sixteen. You gotta let it grow up with
you. And if you’re successful, and you try hard enough, you’re bound to come
out on top – just like these boys have come to the top now.
There’s
been so many lovely things said about me, and I’m glad that I’ve had the
opportunity to thank everybody.
Thank
you
RAINBOW AUGERS THE POT OF GOLD FOR THE ROHRER'S BOYS |
LAZY HAZY SUMMER EVENING |
LOOK GUYS WE HAVE SIX INNINGS TO PLAY! |
NATE DIXON HOME RUN |
DYLANS NUMBER NINE HOME RUN |
DYLAN BIEVER'S GAME WINNING HOME RUN IS TENTH FOR THE SEASON |
THE LIGHTS SHINE BRIGHTLY, AS BRIGHTLY AS THE ROHRER'S BOYS' AND FANS' FACES,ON THE CLOSING GAME OF THE SEASON. |