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By Ben McCarty
News staff writer
June 13, 2009
Maritime’s
Frank Jackson had already played the role of one superhero
earlier in the Little League championship between Maritime and
Hood River Elks Saturday afternoon, so one more performance was
not a big deal.
Shortly
after making a Spiderman-esque catch in the top of the sixth
inning, and then barely beating a runner with a hard throw to
first base one out later to save a run, Jackson morphed into
Superman in the bottom of the inning.
With two
men on and nobody out, he crushed a pitch from Skyler Hunter
over the right field fence to give Maritime, one of the youngest
teams ever to play at the boys majors level, a 7-4 win.
“Frank
is just a 10-year-old,” Maritime coach Larry Williams said of
Jackson. “I would hate to be in this league when he is 12.”
Jackson’s home run was one of three that Maritime hit in a wild
back and forth game.
Maritime
used its first homer to take a quick 2-0 lead off Riley Van
Hoose in the first inning. Dallas Buckley poked a ball over the
left field fence with two outs, and Maritime added another run
on a wild pitch.
Elks
rallied back in the second, getting two runs of Jackson on a
single by Ben Van Hoose. They would tie it at 3-3 in the third
inning on a double by Kirby Carter to score Skyler Hunter, by
Jackson snared a line drive back up the middle by Riley Van
Hoose to end the inning.
Maritime
jumped right back on top in the bottom of the third when catcher
Adam Cameron led off the inning with a home run to right center
field for a 4-3 lead.
In the
top of the fifth, Elks rallied again, this time off Buckley, who
took over Jackson at the start of the inning.
With two
men on, Patrick Harvey singled into left field with two outs,
bringing in two runs. However, the second runner was ruled to
have missed home plate, and Buckley tossed the ball home to
Cameron to get a force out and end the inning.
“I saw
it the whole way,” Williams said. “It was pretty clear.”
Instead
of taking the lead, Elks had to settle for tying things up
again.
They
would threaten again in the sixth. Hunter led off the inning
with a line drive to left field, but Jackson leaped, made
the catch, and sprawled into the outfield grass.
With
runners on first and third and two out, Jackson went up the
middle to field a ground ball by Willie Ishizaka, and instead of
stepping on second for the force, threw to first and got
Ishizaka by a half-step.
In the
bottom of the sixth, van Hoose walked Morgan Williams to
lead-off the inning and was relieved by Hunter; Buckley then hit
a shallow fly by to right field, which dropped in, forcing
Williams
to hustle to second to beat the throw. Jackson then stepped to
the plate, and after a wild pitch moved both runners up one
base, blasted the game winning hit.
He was
mobbed at home plate by his teammates and coaches, their journey
from youngest team to champions having been completed in
dramatic fashion.
“We knew
it was going to be tough with the two best pitchers in the
league pitching,” Williams said. “Both teams really came to play
today.”
With the
bulk of his team returning for next season, Williams already has
his eye set on a repeat. “
Absolutely,” he said when asked if he thinks his team can do it
again next year. “With ten kids coming back, I sure hope so.”
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