WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Throughout the journey the Salem All-Stars have taken to get to Williamsport, including the districts, states and regionals, the team has faced elimination six times.
They have won all six.
Now we’re on to No. 7.
On Saturday night (7 p.m.), Salem will face elimination against Newtown, Pa., from the loser’s bracket of the Little League World Series.
Salem will be facing elimination every game moving forward.
“I’ve heard a number of coaches say that they don’t want to play us,” said Salem manager Dan DeFrancesco. “They know that we’re going to battle. They know that they will most likely be the favorite and we’ll most likely be the underdog. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do is to play a scrappy team that’s not going to go away. We’re going to be that team that scratches and claws until we get a win.”
Salem and Newtown saw one another compete in the regionals in Bristol, Conn., where there are three different regionals up for grabs. Once they got to Williamsport, both teams got tough draws with Salem losing to Hawaii, 3-1, and Newtown losing 9-0 to Boerne, Texas, played before 15,000 fans.
Saturday’s game could easily see another 15,000-plus fans with the local Pennsylvania team.
“It does kind of favor Pennsylvania but that first game we played in front of 9,000 fans so I’m not sure if playing before 9,000 or 15,000 is going to be that much of a difference,” said DeFrancesco. “Our guys do an incredible job blocking out all of the noise. That’s what has helped us along the way. When things start to go sideways, they really do a good job of reeling it in and not feeling sorry for themselves. They just keep working and don’t go away.”
Both Salem and Newtown each have a similar issue — a quiet offense — and that part of their games needs to come alive in order to survive another day.
A big part of that was Salem facing the elite stuff of southpaw Evan Tavares, and Newtown faced Caden Guffy, a talented right-hander, who was throwing many sliders.
Newtown manager Brad Hamilton said after its loss on Thursday night that the better team won, but expects his team to play significantly better against Salem.
“I’m expecting another strong game (for both teams),” he said. “New Hampshire was with us at the regionals and they are really nice people. I had conversations with their coaches and we talked about both of our teams getting tough draws, but at the same time your expectation is still to go out and play the game. Both teams will have a game plan and go out and play a good game.”
It’s expected that Newtown will start Tyler Neeld, who tossed 1.1 innings of relief in the loss to Texas, giving up four runs. He throws a lot of off-speed pitches, which will be complete opposite of what they saw on Wednesday.
“We are urging the kids to take swings in plus counts and not digging holes. Our philosophy has always been to attack and I think that has changed a little bit from Bristol just in terms of the (larger) size of the strike zone,” said DeFrancesco. “If we’re going to be successful, we’re going to have to go with what we have always done, and that’s being aggressive with the bats. We really want these guys to swing the bats. They aren’t going to remember if they walked, but they’ll surely remember the hits they got in the Little League World Series.”
For Salem, left-hander Nolan Dupuis will most likely get the start. He tossed 2.1 scoreless innings of relief against Hawaii, and that came after making just one appearance in the regionals – a huge one, a scoreless sixth inning in the championship game.
“He’s been asking for the ball for a long time. He has been working really hard to tighten up his mechanics and get his control on point,” said DeFrancesco. “We have seen it now two games where he’s been incredible. I’m just beyond proud that he had that little blip during the season and he accepted it like a man and not like a 12-year-old boy. He accepted the reduced role as pitcher, and accepted the lead as our center fielder and setting the outfield defense and anytime you want to give him the ball, he is asking for it.”
The team’s other pitching options — Colton Johnson, William Briggs, Owen Griffin and Kevin McDonough — will all be available.
“Newtown’s a strong team. They hit well and they field well,” said DeFrancesco. “We are playing for today. We’re not going to be holding kids back. We’re all in. We would love to win on Saturday and walk out of here with (our first) victory.”
If Salem prevails on Saturday, the team will get right back to Lamade Stadium and play at 1 p.m. on Sunday against the loser of Northwest (Poyallup, Washington) and Southeast (Lake Mary, Florida). Northwest drew a first round bye, while, Southeast defeated Midwest (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), 2-1.
“If we make it to Sunday, it would be incredible as that’s when the Major League teams will come and be watching,” said DeFrancesco, referring to the Tigers and Yankees, which play on Sunday night. “That would be such an experience for the kids to be playing with Major League players in the stands with the other fans.”
Twitter: @JamiePote