Series a home run from first pitch to last out

2008 World Series champs celebrate their win over Tallahassee.

For the third time in five years, the Babe Ruth 14-year-old World Series came to Adams Field in Quincy.

And by many accounts, this year’s Series was as successful as any.

Series’ champs Norwalk, Conn., certainly left Quincy feeling good about their stay after a 6-3 championship victory over Tallahassee, Fla.

As host team president Dick Lombardi said, most felt the same way and some would have preferred to stay even longer. 

“From the responses that we got, everybody seemed to have had a good time,” Lombardi said. “From the parents, players, coaches, to the host families and volunteers they all said they enjoyed it ... And that was the main objective.”

The Series featured nearly perfect weather, young hitting talents like Norwalk’s Kevin Daniele, and even an opening night victory by host team Quincy over Tallahassee.

“For us it wasn’t about winning the series,” Lombardi said. “It was about being competitive, being good hosts, taking everything in and enjoying the time.”

Lombardi also mentioned the weather: “I don’t think you could have planned a better week weather wise,” he said. “Given the summer we’ve had, with all the rain, to have that type of weather was great.”

The Series was closed out by an awards ceremony after Norwalk’s Saturday victory.

Players from around the country received awards ranging from most outstanding player to batting champion of the Series.

In addition, all-series and gold glove teams were named and volunteers were thanked.

“The volunteers this year were absolutely terrific,” Lombardi said. “They did so much and put in so much time that honestly ‘thank you’ really isn’t enough.”

Although Lombardi said another series in Quincy would be a positive experience, he said it was too early to speculate on its occurrence.

At least for now Quincy residents and local baseball fans will have the memory of a successful 2008 series.

“Everything went very smoothly,” Lombardi said. “It was a great experience for anyone involved.”

The experience was especially sweet for the championship team from Norwalk.

Less less than 24 hours after their walk-off win against Youngstown, the Norwalk dream was realized in its triumph over Tallahassee.

“Anything can happen in baseball,” Norwalk’s standout Daniele said. “Fortunately for us, we ended up winning it. Who would have thought?”

The same question could be posed in reference to Tallahassee’s run to the final.

This year’s Southeast Regional champs won the 13-year-old Series last year and looked to be a strong contender coming in. However, the team was upset in what appeared to be a devastating loss to Quincy.

Tallahassee bounced back with five straight wins to fall just short in the championship game.

“They’re tough kids,” Tallahassee manager Mike Harrison said. “Nothing really surprises them. They played great, and it just came down to a couple runs in the end.”

Winning pitcher Alex Petridis moved from left field to replace Johnny Lauttenbach in the third and didn’t allow a run in his 41/3 innings of work.

After surrendering three runs to trail 3-2, Norwalk rallied around a pair of Tallahassee errors in the fourth inning. Daniele, named the most outstanding player of the Series, capped the rally with an RBI single to make the score 5-3.

Leon Fleming added another run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly to score catcher Danny Diaz.

Each team had seven hits in the game that was heavily decided by defense.

“The line says it all,” Harrison said. “Seven hits, no errors, six runs to seven hits, three errors, three runs.”

Defense may win games but it was mostly Daniele’s offense that helped him win four player of the game awards, a spot on the All-World Series team, the Series most outstanding player award, and the most important piece of hardware; a Babe Ruth 14-year-old World Series champion trophy.

“It was unbelievable. I’m glad I helped my team out and I’m glad I won these awards,” Daniele said, “but most of all I’m happy that we won the World Series.”

Next year's tournament will be held in Appleton, Wisc.

Ian Spencer may be reached at ispencer@ledger.com.