The lights went out on a fun and promising season for Cicero’s 14u team, who lost their first round playoff game to Chiodo at Sunnycrest Park on Monday night as the lights turned off automatically, ending the final inning.
Cicero was the home team on this night, but both teams faced an umpire infamous for his difficult strike zone, count errors and inconsistent calls. By the end of the night, there would be 26 walked batters.
The starting pitcher for Cicero was Jacob Calabria, who gave up 5 runs on 3 hits and 5 walks in the first inning.
When it was Cicero’s turn on offense, they led off with 2 strikeouts before Nicholas Capece and Jackson Fudge were both walked. They went on to steal multiple bases and each came in to score runs. The inning ended 5-2.
Calabria started the 2nd inning but, after giving up 2 runs on 3 walks and a double, Connor Pearce came in with bases loaded. Pearce ended the inning after giving up 1 run on 1 hit – and the score at 8-2.
Cicero continued to struggle offensively, ending the 2nd inning with a foul-out by Sean Bombard and 2 strikeouts.
Pearce came out strong in the 3rd inning, striking out 3-straight batters to give Cicero a chance to get back into the game with a score still at 8-2 in Chiodo’s favor.
Alysa Mooney was walked in the 3rd inning, and then brought in the only run after advancing on a Calabria ground-out and then stealing her way home. The score was 8-3 going into the 4th inning.
In the 4th, Chiodo opened up their lead, as 3 walks and a hit brought in runs, making the score 10-3. Alex Sanes-Carmona came in to relieve Pearce with bases loaded and finished the inning with a score of 11-3.
The bottom of the 4th inning started off well enough on offense for Cicero, as Nicholas Capece and Jackson Fudge both had solid hits to get on base. Capece stole 2 bases and Fudge stole one before Alex Sanes-Carmona came in to pinch-run for Fudge at 2nd base. Both Capece and Sanes_Carmona scored on a hard-hit ground-out by Conor Downer. Unfortunately, the inning stalled after the ground-out and 2 strikeouts, leaving the score at 10-5.
At this time, there was some confusion as to whether or not the game was supposed to end due to the 2-hour time limit. After a brief discussion, the game continued because it was only at the 1:45 mark.
Conor Downer came in to close the game for Cicero, but ended up giving up 6 runs on 2 hits, 4 walks and an error. The inning ended with a strikeout and a score of 16-5.
With Cicero down 11 runs, and a closing pitcher on the mound for Chiodo, they came out in the bottom of the 5th looking for a miracle rally.
Frankie Sgroi started off with a single and, after stealing 2 bases, scored on a fielding error to make the score 16-6.
As Chiodo’s pitcher struggled to throw any strikes, Jacob Hebblethwaite and Alysa Mooney both followed with walks.
With runners on 1st and 2nd, and Connor Pearce facing a 3-2 count, the lights at Sunnycrest Park automatically turned off – effectively ending the game and any chance at a dramatic comeback rally.
Could Cicero have overcome such a big deficit? Their biggest single-inning output of the season was in game 5 against Petrone, when they put up 9 runs and had bases loaded with zero outs before a Petrone concession earned them a 20-9 win. With Chiodo’s closing pitcher struggling to hit this umpire’s strike zone, anything is possible as Cicero was likely only one pitch away from having bases-loaded.
Highlights of the night for Cicero included:
- A 3-strikeout 4th inning by Connor Pearce
- Aggressive base-running for runs by Capece (2), Fudge (1), Sanes-Carmona (1), Alysa Mooney (1) and Frankie Sgroi (1) to bring in Cicero’s 6 runs.
- Multiple put-outs by Capece at short stop
- Several nice stops and blocks by catchers, Mike Mooney, Jackson Fudge and Johnny Wozniczka.
While this officially ends the RBI summer season for this team, they may still have one remaining makeup game against the top-rated Miller team.
The summer season held great promise, even though it was hampered by constant rain-outs of games and practices. An impressive 3-game win streak buoyed Cicero to top-tier status. It also put them within 1 game of 2nd place and a first-game playoff bye, but a loss in the final game of the regular season put them in a respectable tie for 3rd place in the division.
Players from this team will also be competing as part of the CLL 15u Fall Ball team and the Cicero Rattlers 14u team.