Winchester Little Leaguers Show Resiliency

Michael Tucci had a feeling of what was going to happen. Most of the Winchester players could sense it as well.

Down four runs heading into the fifth inning, the Sachems scored five in the next two innings, to send the game to extra innings. Then, down another three runs in the seventh, Winchester scored four more runs to finally defeat Westport 10-9 in the 9-year-old division of the Cal Ripken State Tournament held at Pembroke on Tuesday.

The Sachems now find themselves just one win away from the championship game.

"(In Tuesday's game) we switched the lineup around and had everybody sit an inning," said Winchester Coach Mike Tucci. "And they all hit. Honestly, up and down the lineup they all helped us win. And that's important, that they can all walk away knowing they were the reason we won."

With two outs, the game tied at nine and Henry Sergenian standing on second in the bottom of the seventh, Jeffrey Price ripped a double to left-center field scoring his teammate and advancing Winchester to the next round in this double-elimination tournament.

For the majority of the game, it didn't seem as though Winchester was going to be celebrating its second win in the state tournament. After trailing for most of the game, 6-2, the Sachems scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth and tied it in the sixth. But Westport seemed just as determined to get the win, as the District 5 champs scored three more runs in the seventh to take a 9-6 lead.

The seventh started with Zach Tucci reaching base, he advanced on Tony Fiorentino's single. With two outs and runners on second and third, Michael Drew singled home both runners and advanced to second on the throw. He scored the tying run when, after two strikes and a few foul tips, Sergenian blooped a single into left field. That set the stage for Price to get the game-winning hit.

It was a similar situation in the fifth and sixth as Winchester was able to scrap together enough runs to send the game into extra innings. The tying run scored when, with two outs, Tyden Wilson smacked a single into the outfield, scoring Drew.

"(Monday night's game) we played horrible," Tucci said. "Our heads were just not into it. We lacked intensity and focus. After the game, I told the guys, win or lose, if we play together and stick together and play for each other, we may not win, but it's going to be close. We're not going to quit."

Monday night, Winchester lost to Kingston 11-3, but after Tuesday's victory, the Sachems are now 2-1 in the state tournament.

After the game, the team was still hanging around, running across the outfield, and it was apparent why the Sachems have found so much success this season.

"These kids have been together for two years now," Michael Tucci said. "They've gotten better and matured together. Them running around, chasing each other, having fun, this is typical after every practice, then the moms yell and they keep hanging out. This is a real special group of kids."

The Winchester Sachems consist of the following players:

Tyden Wilson, Nate Badger, Michael Drew, Sam Toelke, Lucas Gebolys, Nate Burns, Joe Lepore, Henry Sergenian, Kyle Roche, Lilly Armstrong, Zach Tucci, Tony Fiorentino, Cade Nagahama, Jeffrey Price and Brandon Stoilov.

The coaches and managers are:

Gene Gebolys, Michael Drew, Trey Armstrong, Mike Tucci.