Raiders rally for walk-off victory

By SAMUEL LEGG
The Tribune-Democrat

August 11, 2007 12:26 am

— Pitching, defense and timely hitting.
Washington showed all three Friday in the 63rd AAABA Tournament, especially the latter.
With two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, first baseman Kevin Watkins stroked a walk-off home run to right, sending the McLean Raiders past the Philadelphia ABCO Phillies 9-8 in the first of three games played at Point Stadium.
“I thought we had it,” Phillies manager Mike Gossner said. “It’s just a tough way to lose.”
Watkins, a left-handed batter, pulled a Chris Dolan offering down the right-field line. The ball hooked inside the yellow foul pole and into the stands, a 336-foot shot.
“I was just actually looking to hit something hard,” said Watkins, who plays for St. John’s University. “Crowd the plate and hit something hard.”
The winners’-bracket game, featuring the only two unbeaten teams left in the tournament, was delayed for more than an hour Thursday by rain before being suspended until Friday, with Philadelphia leading 5-3 with one out in the top of the fourth inning.
Watkins may not have had his shot if it wasn’t for reliever Eric Alessio, who cooled the hot Philadelphia bats, throwing three scoreless innings and allowing only two hits to pick up the win.
“The pitching’s been outstanding all tournament,” Raiders manager Tim Brown said. “It’s almost been the norm this tournament, someone’s constantly stepping up and making a play. Whether it’s a play in the field, a big two-out hit, or in Kevin’s case, a walk-off. That’s heart. You can’t coach it; you can’t teach it.”
Dolan worked 41⁄3 innings of solid relief, getting out of a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the ninth with no outs after allowing a base on balls, a Robert Shields double and an intentional walk. Shields, who was 3-for-5, hit a solo homer to left-center in the third inning Thursday to tie it at 3.
Washington chipped away at the Philadelphia advantage Friday. LaDale Hayes singled to right-center and scored on Jason Kitchen’s second base hit, and Robert Harris doubled to left-center field before scoring on a ground-out an inning later. Kitchen walked and was doubled home by Watkins, who scored on a Dominic Boyles single in the sixth for a 7-5 lead.
The Phillies didn’t back down, touching up Mike Click, who was in for Thursday’s starter Kris Brown, for three runs in the seventh and an 8-7 lead. Washington tied it with a run on three hits in the home half of the inning, setting up Watkins’ extra-inning heroics.
Philadelphia’s top three hitters in the lineup, John Malloy, Mike Moceri and Frank Mercurio, each had two of the Phillies 12 hits. Eric Woodrow’s sacrifice fly scored Ryan Terry, and Mike Villari scored twice.
Washington has beaten Cleveland, Baltimore and New Orleans.
“We’ve faced quality ballclub after quality ballclub, that’s what the tournament’s about,” Brown said. “It’s a quality tournament, a deep tournament.”