For a while, it looked like something out of a dramatic sports movie.
The Onondaga West team, with over 10 players who will be playing college baseball in the fall, found itself tied with the Onondaga East team which is comprised of players who are closer to the "16" in the 16-18 age range of the Babe Ruth regionals.
The West team took a 5-0 lead, but as they had all week long the East team rallied furiously. Before West Head Coach Ted Klamm knew it, East had tied it up at 5 runs apiece. Remember the young guns of Central New York already won two games in walk off fashion, and the crowd was gripped wondering if another one could be on tap.
The Onondaga West team though, hungry in its own right to try and capture the Babe Ruth World Series title in Texas, earned some breathing room when Baldwinsville's Gabe Levanti tripled to center field and scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly.
Trailing 7-5 in the 7th and final inning, the East squad had one more rally in them.
Justin Teague represented the go-ahead run at the plate and grounded out wth one out but that grounder scored a run getting the East team within one with two outs and the tying run on third base.
In valiant fashion, Dom Pirro drilled a pitch to center field, but Alex Caruso from the West team caught up to it, ending the drama but not the excitement for Central New York baseball fans.
While the East team captured the imagination of our local baseball scene, the West team will represent the Mid-Atlantic Region at the Babe Ruth World Series in Texas next week.
The West team went to the World Series last year and fell in the Final Four, this year they hope to capture the championship.
