A.L.L. Majors rebound from 6-0 hole, win in last at-bat

Jake Dominy walked slowly toward the mound, stealing a quick glance at the scoreboard. It read 5-0, in favor of Chandler National North.

As the manager of Ahwatukee Little League's Majors All-Stars, that in itself was a problem.

It was the top of the third inning. Dominy approached the mound where his pitcher, Garrett Rupp, was nearing tears.

"Coach, I'm sorry," said Rupp, who had surrendered five earned runs on a bases-loaded walk in the first and two home runs in consecutive innings after that.

"They're going to pick you up," Dominy replied. "They're going to pick you up."

"I'm sorry, coach," Rupp reiterated. "I didn't do my part."

"You'll get to do your part," Dominy said. "They'll pick you up."

Dominy gave the ball to Bryce Redaja, then he and Rupp took a long walk to right field, where the coach continued to calm his player.

"When I came off the mound, I really thought that I let my team down," Rupp said afterward.

Redaja struck out the next batter, Chandler National's Austin Filiere, who was 2-for-2 with a home run to that point.

But Ahwatukee's offense continued to struggle. After a one-two-three inning, the team's lone hit continued to be Zach Kelly's single as the second batter in the first inning.

Chandler National added yet another run on an RBI single in the top for the fourth, and, once more, Ahwatukee failed to respond in the bottom half. Suddenly, Chandler seemed to be in complete control after four complete innings.

"When we got down 6-0," Kelly said, "I was just like, ‘Oh my, c'mon guys, we've got to start playing some baseball.'"

Chandler National started to take some of its key cogs out of the game, including Taylor Martin, who had homered in the third.

Redaja retired the first batter he faced in the fifth, but then C.N.L.L. loaded the bases.

The next batter, Ethan McCann, hit a fly to left field for the second out of the inning that allowed Austin Stump to tag up and cross the plate, apparently for a 7-0 lead.

But Ahwatukee thought Stump left early, and threw to third to see if he had indeed tagged up properly. After the appeal, Stump was called out for leaving early. Redaja and A.L.L. were out of the jam.

In Ahwatukee's dugout, something was changing. After all, Chandler National North was a team A.L.L. had beaten 6-2 just 10 days earlier.

"We came in that dugout, and we said, ‘We know Chandler National, and we know that they think we're dead right now,'" Rupp said. "They had taken all their good guys out of the game. And so we said, ‘Let's go get them.'"

Nick Marciano, coming off the bench, led off top of the sixth.

"We needed to start something badly," Marciano said, "because we were starting to fall apart."

Indeed, it was Marciano who sparked the team, his leadoff single sending a ripple of energy through the dugout.

But if Marciano was the spark, Billy Andrew, the next batter, was the flame. He laced a double to right-center field, and suddenly, Ahwatukee had runners on second and third with no outs.

Then a ball got away from Chandler pitcher Sean Rackoski, who had been nearly flawless through four innings. It allowed Marciano to score.

Logan Adam then singled, scoring Andrew. Ahwatukee now trailed 6-2. A.J. Valencia followed that with a single of his own.

That brought up Zach Kelly, who had homered against Chandler National North in the earlier win.

The first pitch broke near the plate - "a really good pitch," Kelly said - but it irked Kelly when it was called a strike. On the following pitch he took out his frustrations, drilling it over the wall in center field for a three-run home run. It was now 6-5.

A few batters later, Rupp scored from third on the second half of a double steal. Tie game.

"I think that inning just sparked us, after we got the two runs, that we could still come back," Marciano said. "Then when Zach hit the home run, we knew we had it."

But first, Ahwatukee had to hold Chandler National North in the top of the sixth.

Redaja walked Rackoski to start things off, but then struck the next two batters out.

After a single, Chandler had runners on first and third and was once more threatening to take the lead.

But Redaja notched yet another strikeout. Ahwatukee was out of the inning, with all the momentum squarely on its side.

"I just threw hard," Redaja said. "I was hoping that nothing bad was going to happen."

Andrew struck out to lead off the next inning for Ahwatukee. But the magic was still there.

Adam singled, Valencia bunted for a single, and an infield single from Kelly loaded the bases.

As Redaja dug in, he worked the count in his favor. Then a pitch got away from McCann, who at that point was on the mound for Chandler National. Adam, on third, broke for the plate and slid toward home.

Ahwatukee's dugout went nuts. They thought he had scored. Chandler National's dugout was equally as crazy. They thought he was out.

It turns out Chandler was right - at least in the home plate umpire's mind. Adam was out.

Redaja finished his at-bat, drawing a two-out walk and again loading the bases.

Ahwatukee's next batter came to the plate. It was Garrett Rupp.

As he dug into the right-handed batter's box, Rupp had the chance to be the hero. But quickly, two strikes flashed across the plate.

Rupp stepped out of the box, thinking back to everything that had led him to this moment.

There were thoughts of the July 7 game against Tempe South earlier in the tournament, when Rupp had failed in this very same situation, hitting a blooper to the shortstop.

There were thoughts of Dominy, and how he had moved Rupp up to the No. 4 spot in the order despite that failure.

There were thoughts of the work he and his dad had put in earlier that morning, and the words he was left with: "All you have to do in that position is just knock it into right," his dad had told him.

Then, Rupp thought of Jay Bell, the former Arizona Diamondback whose sons play in Ahwatukee Little League and who was Rupp's coach during the regular season last year.

"He would always say to me, ‘Center, right-center,' because I used to be a dead-pull hitter," Rupp said, "and so I just thought, ‘Center, right-center.'"

Finally, there was this: Now is my chance to pick up my team, since they picked up me this whole game.

Rupp drilled the next pitch off the fence in right-center field, scoring Valencia for the run that clinched the District 13 Tournament.

"It felt awesome," Rupp said. "I was down the whole game, but, finally, I was the good one."

Ahwatukee Little League had come all the way back from down 6-0 to win 7-6 and become district champions.

"You know, you get 18 outs," Dominy said with a wide grin, standing off to the left of the field amidst a continuing celebration. "I told them, ‘You get 18 outs. Play it out. However many outs you get, play it out.' They played it out."