Persistence pays off for Piedmont in Mid-Atlantic baseball championship

Piedmont Baseball rules the world of 11-year-olds in the Mid-Atlantic region.

That is because Piedmont won the Cal Ripken Babe Ruth Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament held in Voorhees, N.J. earlier this month.

But Piedmont went through some adversity before it could hoist the regional trophy in celebration.

“I have a saying in the dugout every day before every game,” Piedmont manager Rob Colmery said. “‘There’s one team that can beat you and that’s yourselves. If you allow this game to beat yourself, you’re going to lose.’ In my eyes, there’s not one team that can beat them.”

To begin with, Piedmont got a hint of things to come when they defeated Matawan, N.J. 25-5 Aug. 6. Then, Mount Laurel, N.J. thoroughly beat Piedmont 8-2 later that Friday night.

On Saturday, Aug. 7, Piedmont suffered its second straight loss, 10-5, to Hopewell Valley, N.J.

On Sunday, Aug. 8, Piedmont, 1-2 at that point, faced elimination against Clifton Park, N.Y. (2-1) in pool play. Piedmont starting pitcher Michael Awtry pitched four-and-two-thirds scoreless innings, batter Michael Ferriola drove in the game’s only run with a sacrifice fly and closer Ryan Bradigan finished the 1-0 victory.

“That was a big league battle,” Colmery said. “As a result of that, we end up knocking Clifton Park to the No. 3 seed and we’re the No. 2 seed [in pool B].”

“We were one game away from just coming home and having a terrible experience,” coach Bruce Awtry said.

Later that Sunday night, Piedmont faced the host team, Gibbsboro Voorhees Athletic Association, the No. 3 seed in pool A. In another hard fought battle, Piedmont won 2-1 to improve to 3-2, Colmery said.

In the Monday, Aug. 9 semifinal at noon, Piedmont had a rematch with Mount Laurel (4-0), the No. 1 seed from pool B. In a high scoring affair, Piedmont was clinging to a 6-5 lead going into the top of the fifth inning. Then, Austin Colmery hit a three-run home run – his first homer– and Oliver Campbell hit a two-run home run, allowing Piedmont to hold off Mount Laurel 11-5.

That propelled Piedmont into the championship game that Monday night against Charles County, Md. based in La Plata, the No. 1 seed from pool A.

“That was just a heavyweight bout,” Rob Colmery said.

In the top of the first, Piedmont took a 2-0 lead on Awtry’s two-run home run only to see Charles County go up 4-2 in the bottom of the first.

Eventually, Charles County took a commanding 11-5 lead after four, which would leave any group of 11-year-olds hanging their heads. But, in the top of the fifth, Piedmont banged out a whopping 13 runs, with everyone on the team scoring on least once. Among those contributing, Tighe Watson went 4-for-5 with a two-run home run and three doubles, and Awtry, who had a double to go along with his homer.

Piedmont won the game 18-12 and the Mid-Atlantic championship. Piedmont’s pitchers in the championship were Awtry, Oliver Campbell, Michael Ferriola and Bradigan.

“Our defense was better and our pitching was better,” Michael Awtry said. “I think we were ready. I knew we could come back because we’ve done it before.”

“We never gave up,” said Austin Colmery, who had three sacrifices in the title game. “Just keep fighting.”

Rob Colmery admits that he was nervous when his team was down by six. But he understood that in the championship, Gibbsboro Voorhees would get hits in the gap and some home runs, Colmery said. But Piedmont committed no errors.

“It’s not that you have no confidence in the kids,” he said. “It’s keeping them up and the tempo of the game up, keeping their heads out of the dirt.”

Piedmont defeated Fox Point, sweeping the Brandywine Hundred team in the best of three series to capture its first state championship in late July, Colmery said. That qualified Piedmont for its first trip to the regional Tournament.

The championship is as far as the 11-year-olds go in Babe Ruth ball. If they repeat as regional champions next year, then they’ll be off to the Cal Ripken World Series in Aberdeen, Md.

Their 12-year-old counterparts for the Brandywine Little League, who won the Delaware state championship, went to the Little League Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament in Bristol, Conn., where they finished pool play at 0-4.