Senior LL Regionals: Johnston Goes 1-1 Over Weekend [UPDATED]

Johnston's Senior Little League squad went 1-1 during the first weekend of the East Regionals in West Deptford, NJ.

After racking up four runs in the first inning and five over the first three frames against Stony Point, NY, on Friday night, Johnston's Senior All-Star team lost, 9-5.

The local squad eliminated Orange, CT, on Sunday with a 7-6 victory, and is scheduled to play in another elimination round contest this afternoon at 2 pm against South Vineland, NJ, looking to stay alive in the tournament with a win.

[Update: Due to earlier games running late, Johnston is scheduled to take the field closer to 3 pm.]

Alex Tenerella led off the Johnston scoring in the top of the first on Friday with a one-out double to help Zach Coro across the plate. Joe Bongiovanni added the second run, and Ryan McKeon and Tenerella finished the early rally by scoring on Jarod Podmaska's single to left field.

Bongiovanni made quick work of the New York squad in the bottom of the first before a lightning delay suspended the game for about an hour.

The pitcher — who was also on last year's team, as well as the — posted Johnston's fourth and final score in the top of the third.

Stony Point cut into the Rhode Island team's lead with two runs in the bottom of the third and one in the fourth before taking advantace of Johnston's first error on the way to four scores in the fifth. Chris Van Skyock added Stony Point's last run in the bottom of the sixth.

Late-game comeback keeps Johnston alive:

On Sunday, Johnston fought back with four runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Orange, CT, 7-6, and advance in the consolation round.

Ronnie Gaynor (2-4, 2 RBI) scored two runs on an 0-2 single to give Johnston the walk-off victory.

Early in the contest and down 2-0, Gaynor scored Johnston's first run on a wild pitch by Orange starter Tim Brown. McKeon scored in the second, and Bongiovanni added a third run in the third to give Johnston the 3-0 lead.

The Connecticut squad scored two runs each in the fifth and sixth before Johnston closed out the game on scores by Tenerella and McKeon, and Gaynor's drive to push Podmaska and Picchi across the plate for the victory.

Watch JohnstonPatch for results from today's game.

 

Information for this report was gathered from the eteamz.com Senior Regional Tournament website.

This article was updated after first publication to include Sunday's results.

Special thanks to Bryan Littel, Local Editor of West Deptford Patch, for the accompanying photos.