Morristown National’s Evan Davis watches his two-run homer clear the fence last night.
BOB KARP/Daily Record
Morristown National takes a breather
BY DAN BREEMAN
Daily Record
MORRISTOWN – The bats were put on hold.
For the first time in weeks, Morristown National’s 11- and 12-year-old Little League all-stars did not need a late-inning rally to pull out a victory.
Instead, National received a two-hit pitching performance from Bob Ogilvie and home runs from Evan Davis and Dave Deane en route to a 4-0 win over Pequannock last night in game 1 of Section 1 winner’s bracket game at Burnham Park.
The victory moved Morristown into Saturday’s sectional final and left the host team just one victory away from claiming its first sectional title since 1991.
“This is where we wanted to be,” Morristown National manager Frank Saccomanno said. “We’re in the driver’s seat now.”
Morristown National, which came out of the loser’s bracket to win the District 1 title, now holds the advantage and will host the winner of tomorrow night’s loser’s bracket game between Pequannock and Ramsey.
The winner of that game would then have to defeat National twice on the weekend to claim the sectional crown.
“It’s a good position to be in, but we’ve already reminded the kids what can come out of the loser’s bracket to win the districts and the same thing can happen here,” Morristown National coach Tony Cattano said. “There’s no room for relaxing.”
Last night, National got the only runs it would need by riding two swings when leadoff hitter Scott Saccomanno singled and later scored on an error. Ogilvie, who struck out eight, was in total control throughout the game and held his eventual opponents to limited offensive opportunities.
“I changed my delivery and cruised from there and it really helped my curveball,” Ogilvie said. “We’re excited about playing in the sectional final, and we really want to win it.”
With Morristown leading 1-0, Davis added some insurance in the third inning when he drove a long two-run homer over the fence in right-center. Ogilvie, who was 2 for 3 on the night, had singled leading off the inning.
“We had to adjust to their pitcher and get our timing down,” Davis said. “My coach told me not to let me shoulder drop, and that’s what I concentrated on before I hit the home run.”
Deane completed the scoring when he led off the fourth inning…
