Currie leads Trotta to title
LA CRESCENTA — For a Little Leaguer, Kyle Currie turned in a professional-type at bat.
With the go-ahead run on base, Currie fell behind, 0-2, in the count before working the count full. On the eighth pitch of the plate appearance, the patient Currie struck pay dirt.
Currie came through with a key two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning to help Trotta Floor Covering to a 6-1 win against Crippen Mortuary on Tuesday night in the if-necessary championship game of the La Crescenta Babe Ruth District Championship at Dunsmore Park.
Trotta avenged a 7-2 loss against Crippen on Monday night in the championship game in the 13- to 15-year-old division.
Currie remained calm and drove a two-run single with one out off Crippen starting pitcher Cameron Briggs that tipped off the right fielder’s glove and scored Jimmy Smiley and Andy Cosfol to make it 3-1.
“I just wanted to keep fouling off some more pitches and then hit the ball to the right side [of the infield] for a run,” Currie said. “At 0-2, their pitcher made some real good pitches.
“When I hit the ball, I thought it was going to be caught and we’d get a sacrifice fly out of it. It feels good to win it.”
Playing its fifth game in five nights, Crippen fought valiantly against Trotta. The teams met for the third time in four days, with each team each winning once entering Tuesday.
Robbie Benson followed with a bloop single to center to score Currie and raise the lead to 4-1. Weston Walker came through with a run-scoring single that scored Benson to extend the advantage to 5-1 before Brian Gadsby sliced a double to left to score Walker to complete the big inning.
Crippen Coach Wes Faure credited Trotta for its late surge.
“It’s 1-1, then all of a sudden they get a couple of timely hits,” Faure said. “The hit by Kyle was a big base hit.
“Every game was a battle against Trotta. These were definitely the two best teams. We played five games in a row and I think some of our guys just ran out of gas. I’m real proud of our never-say-die team. We came all the way back to get here, but we just fell a little short.”
Trotta Coach Joe Walker said Gadsby and Currie came through when needed.
“With Gadsby on the hill, we liked our chances and we had it planned,” Walker said. “He did well on the mound and Kyle was a clutch player who fouled off those pitches and then his hit sparked us.”
Crippen took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a run-scoring single by Anthony Faure that scored Thaddeus Wilson. Trotta tied the game at 1 in the fifth on a throwing error by the catcher that allowed Gadsby to score after he had stolen third.
Gadsby had three hits and Cosfol added two.
Crippen received three hits from Haston Pawlik and two from Tom Phillips.
