BY MARK JAFFEE Jacob Pennington had warmed up briefly in the sixth inning, but admitted that he came into the game Sunday afternoon rather cold.
Not to worry, though. With the bases loaded and only one out in the top of the seventh, the right-handed pitcher from Knights Baseball out of Nashville, Tenn., rared back and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to seal the Knights’ 3-2 win over the Connecticut Outlaws and capture the Mickey Mantle World Series championship.
“I just threw strikes and relied on my teammates behind me,” said Pennington. “I ignored the baserunners and blocked out everything else. That made me calm down and focus harder on the strike zone.”
Tournament MVP Kaden Dreier said Pennington’s pick-me-up “was awesome. He came in when we were struggling. He attacked their hitters. We got beat by them earlier in the tournament, 8-2, and knew we would have our hands full.”
The Outlaws (6-2 in the tourney) rallied in the seventh when Jeremy Mercier singled. He was pinch-run for by Joel Guzman. Michael Rhodes reached on an infield single to first base. One out later, Adam Razza walked to load the bases.
Justin Guerrera then followed with an RBI single to right center, scoring Guzman.
Jack Nolan then walked on a 3-2 pitch, scoring Rhodes and cutting the Knights’ lead to 3-2.
“We all felt we could come back,” said Guzman. “There was a real excitement in the dugout. It’s a great feeling to be a part of team where you always feel like you have a chance to win a game.”
But in came Pennington, and the rally fell short.
With the late-game drama, lost in the mix was the Knights’ triple-play they recorded in the third inning.
Knights starter Christian MacLeod loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batsmen. On a 1-0 pitch, Guerrera tapped a slow roller to third baseman Patrick Music, who threw to Dreier at the plate for the force out of Rhodes. Dreier then threw to first baseman Cory Mason for the second out on Guerrera. But Mason wasn’t done, firing a strike to Dreier at the plate, as home-plate umpire Jim Shove made the out call.
Dreier tagged out Adrian Velez Jr. for the improbable 5-2-3-2 triple play.
“I saw (Guerrera) stumble out of the batter’s box and thought we have at least a chance for a double play and I’d get a throwback,” said Dreier. “Patrick made a perfect throw and so did Cory. It was a huge momentum shift.”
In the fourth, Cade Giles walked with the bases loaded off starter Bryson Cafaro, scoring Jake Rucker, and Pennington, then playing right field, reached on catcher’s interference, allowing Patrick Music to score for a 2-0 lead.
In the sixth, Giles belted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Music, who narrowly beat Mercier’s throw to catcher Patrick Palmer at the plate.
Outlaws reliever Michael Sansone got the final three outs in the sixth.
Earlier in the day, the Outlaws beat the D-Bat Elite of Dallas, Texas, 6-1, behind the five-hitter from Fran Phelan Jr. Phelan induced 11 groundball outs, one infield liner and an infield pop-up.
“Coach (Jamarr Kelley) just told me to go out there and be confident,” said Phelan. “My two-seam fastball and slider were working well. I knew they had a bunch of players who have already committed to Division I colleges. I kept that in mind and hit my spots, threw strikes and stayed focused.”
Outlaws catcher Chad Closson of Winsted said Phelan’s “fastball was really moving and his curveball was, too. He mixed in his change-up perfectly and kept them off-balance.”
The Outlaws scored four runs in the first, aided by six errors. The only hit was an RBI single by Jake Rowland.
Rhodes had the clutch hit of the day in the fifth with a perfect squeeze bunt down first-base line, scoring Guerrera, who had singled to open the inning. Guzman walked with the bases loaded, scoring Cafaro for a 6-0 edge.
Around the diamond: The Knights also received the Team Sportsmanship Award and the entire team received championship rings … D-Bats Nick Balsano batted .556 in a18 at-bats to earn the highest batting average of the tourney … The Outlaws’ draft picks were Fran Phelan Jr. of Naugatuck (Holy Cross), Michael Sansone of Cheshire (Notre Dame-West Haven), Jonathan Mikosz of Southington and Michael Marella of Monroe, all members from the Hamden Yards, coached by former major leaguer Brian Looney.
Reach Mark Jaffee at mjaffee@rep-am.com or follow him on Twitter@TheRealJaffman.