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RYE, N.Y. -- Since opening the District 20 Little League Baseball Majors Championship with a loss, Harrison has been on a power surge and in need of a calculator to tally its runs. Harrison clubbed 17 homes in its next four games and had outscored its opponents by a whopping 44 runs. The home-run barrage continued Sunday with Harrison walloping seven in an 18-5 win over White Plains in the losers bracket final at Disbrow Park.
The final is set with Harrison playing Eastchester, Tuesday, 5:45 p.m. at Harrisons Brentwood Park. Harrison will have to beat Eastchester in order to force a decisive game at a date, time, and site to be determined.
Harry Witte and James Hulbert led a home run derby with two roundtrippers apiece. Frank Evangelista, A.J. Lovallo and Robert Donahue also cleared the fences. Harrison finished with 20 hits. In two games at Disbrow, Witte, who went five for five with four RBI, has four home runs.
White Plains, behind Javy Lopez, handed Harrison a 3-0 loss in a first-round game. I think we were nervous, said Witte, 12, and a seventh-grader-to-be at Louis M. Klein Middle School. We were swinging at bad pitches.
Following that game, Harrison began giving opposing pitchers headaches. Weve just been seeing the ball very well, Witte said. Harrison scored twice in the first inning on run-scoring singles by Hulbert and Witt. Hulbert went four for four with six RBI.
Harrison increased its lead to six runs through two innings, highlighted by Donahues two-run shot over the left-field fence. His home run jump-started us, said Witte, who also turned consecutive force-outs while playing third base. Hulbert walked to open the fourth inning and Witte came up and deposited the ball over the fence in right center.
In the fifth inning, Hulbert and Witte went back-to-back. I felt really good and really confident, said Witte, who leads the team with five home runs. I was putting a good swing on everything.
Lost in Harrisons explosive offensive showing was the play of second baseman Chris Siapanedes. In the fourth inning, he angled back to make an over-the-shoulder catch for the first out, handled a routine grounder and then backhanded a ball close to second and threw out the base runner. Jack Ryan and Damian Vignon each doubled, scored, and had a RBI for White Plains. Gehrig Hauser and Steven Rand had a hit and run scored apiece and Lopez singled in a run.
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