By Anthony Bosco
The win was especially sweet for Willie Kalinkos, coach of the Bayside Little League 11- and 12-year-old Major Division team. His club needed to take two from unbeaten Forest Hills to capture the District 26 championship, a feat Bayside accomplished Sunday with a 6-1 victory in the “if” game.
Bayside, by many accounts the odds-on favorite to capture the crown prior to the start of the tournament, had to overcome a “rules violation” forfeit in the team’s first game against College Point. It was a loss that could have spelled disaster for the team in the double-elimination tournament and one the manager took full responsibility for.
“It was my fault,” Kalinkos said last week of his team’s loss, which officially went down as a 6-0 win for College Point. “I screwed up.”
What Kalinkos did, or more appropriately didn’t do, was get all his players into the game, a rather recent Little League rule when it comes to District tournament play. So when Bayside scored its 10th run in the fourth inning, brining the mercy rule into play, the game was called and awarded to Bayside.
But College Point protested the fact that one player on Bayside’s team, who, Kalinkos said, was standing in the batter’s box, had not played. The game was awarded to College Point on a rules violation.
A follow-up protest by Bayside to Little League headquarters in Williamsport, Pa. was subsequently denied, giving the game to College Point.
“If we would have lost I would have put ii on myself,” Kalinkos said. “The forfeit really fired the kids up.”
Bayside responded with a 12-1 win over Elmjack and a 5-2 victory over Glen Oaks before facing College Point again July 11. The 5-3 win was not as convincing as Kalinkos may have liked, but it kept the team rolling toward its eventual goal of a District title.
A 9-2 win over MidQueens-Fresh Meadows set up Saturday’s encounter with unbeaten Forest Hills. A loss and Bayside would have been eliminated from the tournament, but the team’s 6-5 win forced a final game Sunday to determine which team would represent District 26 in the Sectionals.
The two teams met Sunday at Sy Speiler Field in Oakland Gardens and, led by star Sun Ho Kim on the mound and at the plate, Bayside cruised.
A lead-off single by Alex Kalinkos started things off for Bayside in the second inning. Alex Kalinkos stole second, setting up Mike Karcinski, who smacked an RBI-double to give Bayside the lead.
Kim manufactured a run in the third almost single-handedly, singling then stealing second and third and scoring on a wild pitch to make the score 2-0.
Bayside blew the game open in the bottom of the fourth when Rich Marchisello singled, Gerard Cash bounced into a fielder’s choice and Robert LaRusso singled. Tim Doephner then singled to bring home Cash and make the score 3-0 with runners on first and third.
Kim stepped to the plate and blasted a shot to right-center field that cleared the fence for a three-run homer to make the score 6-0.
“That kid has a future,” Kalinkos said of Kim, who broke the Bayside Little League single-season home run record this year. “He just loves the game.”
Forest Hills threatened in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with one out and Kim walked in a run. But Kim got the next batter to bounce back to him and he tossed the ball to the catcher for the final out of the inning.
Kim retired the side in the top of the sixth to close out the game.
“This is a good team,” Kalinkos said. “They love to play. It’s they’re game. They did all the hitting and all the pitching. They got the final out.”
Bayside will play the winner of District 24 Sunday, July 22, at 11 a.m. in Staten Island.
In other District 26 action, Bayside is still in the hunt for the 9- and 10-year old championship and will play the winner Monday’s game between Forest Hills and MidQueens-Fresh Meadows for the title on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Sy Speiler Field.
Bayside also won the 13- and 14-year old Junior Division crown, sweeping through the tournament without a loss and beating Little Neck/Douglaston Friday in the finals.
Elmjack won both the 15- and -16-year-old Senior Division and 17- and 18-year-old Big League crowns with wins over MidQueens-Fresh Meadows and Forest Hills, respectively.
In the only softball action in District 26, Glen Oaks defeated Little Neck/Douglaston twice for the 11- and 12-year-old title, but had to forfeit the crown because of a rules violation. Little Neck/Douglaston was awarded the title, but lost its first game in the Sectionals to Eastchester Sunday, 16-6.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
