The South Portland American team used two late rallies – one in the fifth inning and one in the 11th – to defeat the Windham, 4-3, in Saturday’s District 6 Little League 12-year-old all-star tournament at Yarmouth.
With two outs in the top of the 11th, Matt Dibiase scored on a past ball, racing home from third and sliding under both the catcher and his tag for the winning run.
“That was absolutely an incredible game,” South Portland coach Craig Babbidge said. “The kids came back and played tough all the way through, both sides, both teams.”
Dibiase had doubled with one out, advancing to third on the play when Daniel Grazewski was thrown out at home.
Lefty Dan Medici shut Windham down in the bottom of the inning to preserve the win. In five innings pitched, he allowed eight hits, struck out three and walked one. Most importantly, he did not surrender a run.
Dibiase started the game on the mound, pitching the maximum of six innings. He surrendered three runs on eight hits, striking out nine and walking none.
“Our two pitchers did awesome, absolutely awesome,” Babbidge said. “You couldn’t ask for a better performance.”
South Portland’s defense performed under immense pressure in extra innings. With a surrendered run meaning game over, they fended off every Windham threat, throwing runners out at third base three times.
They needed late-game heroics at the plate just to reach extra innings. Trailing, 3-2, in the top of the fifth inning, Nate Fox singled to left field. With two outs, Matt Michaud drove him in with a double to left, tying the score at three.
Michaud finished with two singles to go along with the double.
South Portland led early, with John Gillis and Jack Lano both scoring runs in the third inning. Windham then took the lead with one run in the fourth and two in the fifth, forcing South Portland to rally.
The South Portland National all-stars were also in action over the weekend, falling to Cape Elizabeth and Deering.
The South Portland American and National Leagues are hosting the 9- and 10-year old District 6 tournament starting Saturday.
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