ACTION JAXON: Princeton Little League (PLL) player Jaxon Petrone takes a rip in the opening round of the District 12 Intermediate 50/70 tournament last Sunday. Petrone went 2-for-4 with a double, a run, and three RBIs to help PLL defeat West End 18-6. Princeton will face West End in the championship round of the tourney, needing one win to clinch the crown in the double-elimination competition. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

There was nothing complicated about the game plan for the Princeton Little League (PLL) as it faced West End in the opening round of the District 12 Intermediate 50/70 tournament last Sunday.

“We had been challenging our guys saying look, these guys haven’t had a tough game all spring because they hadn’t been playing that high a level of competition in Little League during the regular season,” said PLL manager Jon Durbin.

“We said if we can get out there and get off to a good start, I guarantee you they are going to crack.”

Executing those instructions with aplomb, PLL started cracking the ball all over the diamond at Farmview Field from the start as Andy Lambert led off the game with a double on the first pitch. Two batters later, Palmer Mauer launched a blast over the left field fence for a three-run homer to give PLL a 3-0 lead. In the second inning, Jaxon Petrone pounded a two-run double off the fence to extend the cushion to 7-0.

“You could see their body language just when they were down 4-0, 5-0 right out of the gate,” recalled Durbin, noting that Princeton starting pitcher Bobby Kuczynski was sharp.

“Their heads dropped, their shoulders were down. You get the Andy Lambert double right out of the gate, Palmer cranks the three-run homer and then Bobby goes out there and pitched literally three terrific innings. He had the hitters on the other team baffled at that point. I give those guys a lot of credit for really setting the tone from the offensive front to the pitching front. It really set us up nicely for the rest of the game.”

The game did get dicey as West End rallied for six runs in the fourth inning to narrow the PLL lead to 10-6. Princeton, though, responded with three runs in the top of the fifth and went on to an 18-6 triumph, qualifying for the championship round of the double-elimination tournament.

“I thought the other big turning point was after we gave up the six runs, we came right back out there and got three,” said Durbin.

“You could see it again, their heads dropped again and they thought this is really it, we are going to lose this thing.”

Noting that the squad has eight 13-year-olds this year, Durbin believes that maturity made a difference against West End.

“Last year if something like that had happened, I think our team would have probably cracked and the other team would have brought the hammer down on us,” said Durbin, crediting Jaxon Petrone with battling on the mound in the fourth inning  and Dillon Choudhri for closing the door on West End with 1 2/3 scoreless innings down the stretch.

“Having that many more 13-year-olds on the team, most of whom were on the team last year, you see how much they have progressed skill-wise and maturity-wise. You could see that whole game.”

Having finished second in the District 12 tourney last year to Millstone-Roosevelt after winning the title in 2014 and 2015, PLL is hungry to regain the crown.

“I know for a fact that those guys felt like last year that they let one get away from them,” said Durbin.

“The guys who were 12-year-olds last year felt they really let last year’s title get away from them. I think they definitely feel like they have something to prove this year.”

Facing once-beaten West End in the championship round with two chances to get the clinching win, Durbin is confident his team will get the job done.

“They are definitely fired up,” said Durbin, whose team was slated to host West End on June 27 with an if-necessary game to be played the next day.

“The challenges the coaches gave them after the game were to just show up with the same kind of mindset that they had going into this one, which is put the pressure on the other team right out of the gate in the first inning or two. The other big challenge is don’t show up overconfident and think that somehow the other team is just going to lay down.”