WEST DEPTFORD, N.J. – The Scarborough Senior Little League all-stars will hold on to the joy they felt by winning the state championship last Saturday and forget about their opening game Friday in the Eastern Regional.
Making its first appearance in the double-elimination regional, Scarborough lost 35-0 to Auburn, Mass.
Despite the lopsided score, the game was not stopped until the completion of five innings, as is mandated by Little League rules.
Scarborough will play an elimination game at 11:30 a.m. Sunday against Talbot, Md., or Upper Moreland, Pa.
The regional concludes Wednesday, with the winner earning a trip to the Senior Little League World Series beginning Aug. 12 in Bangor.
Perhaps getting that first game out of the way will help the Scarborough boys settle down in their second game.
The game started 94 minutes after its scheduled time because of a lightning delay earlier in the day. Once the game began, Scarborough ran into trouble immediately, as Auburn scored three runs in the top of the first inning on three hits, highlighted by Lincoln Bais’ two-run, two-out single. Ryan Collins, Scarborough’s starter, labored through the inning, delivering 33 pitches against the patient Auburn hitters.
The Maine team went down quietly in its half of the first. Auburn then added to its lead, scoring six runs in the top of the second on just two hits.
Collins was lifted after starting the second inning by hitting the leadoff man and walking the No. 9 hitter. Austin Pemberton came on in relief, and the left-hander promptly walked his first three hitters forcing in two runs.
It didn’t get better for Scarborough in the third inning, when Auburn scored nine more runs on seven hits off Pemberton and right-hander Ian Corey. The biggest hit of the inning was a three-run homer by Tyler Desjardins.
Unfortunately for Scarborough, it didn’t get better after that.
Auburn finished with a record total of runs for the Senior Little League Eastern Regional, but no one was celebrating. Fans of the Massachusetts champions only politely applauded hits, showing good sportsmanship, and tournament officials compassionately removed the score from the scoreboard in the fourth inning.
Collins had the lone hit for Scarborough.
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