57°
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The McLean and Son Rockies scored an upset win in the first game of the 2012 New Rochelle Little League City Championship on Monday night.
Fourth-seeded Mclean and Son Rockies outslugged the second-seeded PBA Giants, 16-9, at Tocci Field in the first game of the Majors Division championship. Game two is Wednesday at 5:45 p.m.
The game was an offensive shootout as both teams consistently drew walks, loaded the bases and drove runners in with singles and doubles. Rockies coach Emil Paolucci said he knew his team would be in for a fight.
“They’re a tough team. Steve Caruso does a great job with all his teams every year, so we’ve got to battle every single time we come out here and play them,” Paolucci said. “It’s always a fight with all the teams.”
The City Championship is slightly different from the preceding playoff games because it is a three-game series rather than a single game. Paolucci prepared his players by highlighting that fact, particularly in light of the road his team and the Giants took to get to the finals.
“[I told them] ‘Listen, we need to get the first one,’ ” Paolucci said. “Because we both don’t have our starting pitchers. We burnt our starting pitchers in the first couple of games of the playoffs. … You can’t play for tomorrow. You’ve got to play for today.”
Paolucci said he will have his aces ready for Wednesday’s game and, if necessary, the third and final game on Friday.
Monday’s game featured so much offense and lasted so long the sun had nearly set, which would have forced a postponement. Luckily, the Rockies recorded the final out shortly after 8:30 p.m.
“I thought it was going to be postponed to either [Tuesday] or Wednesday, which really puts a burden on things,” Paolucci said. “But we’d overcome anything. We’re a strong team. We’ve got a good coaching staff. We’ve got great players, and it’s just a great league, you know?”
Comments