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OTTAWA — About every baseball player has played out in their head the situation Adrik Gaworski faced in the top of sixth inning of Saturday’s Ottawa Little League 12U City Championship game.
Tied game, bases loaded, two outs.
After a first-pitch swing and miss, Gaworski smacked the next pitched over the fence in left-center field at Varland Park on Ottawa’s south side for a grand slam.
“My first swing wasn’t the greatest, but the next one felt pretty good,” Gaworski said. “I was just glad to help my team.”
The Jimmy John’s of Ottawa Cardinals then held off a rally in the bottom of the frame from the Cam’s Corner Red Sox to claim the title with a 9-7 victory.
“I had a good feeling something good was going to happen,” said teammate Marshall McGuire of Gaworski’s blast.
McGuire got things going in the top of the first with a two-run triple to right-center and later scored on a passed ball that gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
“The pitch was kind of inside, but I was able to put the bat on it,” McGuire said. “It felt pretty good off the bat, and it was exciting to see it fall in for a hit.”
The Red Sox responded in their half of the inning as Crosby Timm led off with walk and eventually scored on a ground out, while Jack Johnson also reached base and scored to make it 3-2.
Gaworski’s solo homer to dead center in the third made it 4-2. The Red Sox used a trio of two-out walks and a wild pitch in the fourth to get that run back.
“I’ve been around 20-some youth teams over the years, and this is the best group of kids I’ve been around in terms of how they interact with each other and support each other,” Cardinals manager George Gaworski said. “They work hard, and they listen.
“I know Adrik had an epic game, but today was like all of our games this season, everyone contributed in some way. Marshall did a great job of getting us going in the first inning.”
In the Cardinals’ sixth, Beau Friestad and Wyatt Weibel were hit by pitches with one out. Then with two away Sullivan Auter walked to load the bases to set up Adrik Gaworski’s aforementioned clout.
Brady McDonnell followed with a double to right and scored on a base hit from Georgie Gaworski IV.
“Today was a tough one, we kept fighting, but that’s baseball sometimes,” Red Sox manager Jay Timm said. “From the very first practice my guys have worked hard to get better, and there is such a difference. All of them have improved, whether it be in just the fundamentals of the game or being better teammates. We came a long way, and I’m very proud of them.
“Hats off to Adrik Gaworski, he pitched well and obviously hit the ball well. He had a heck of a game.”
In the Red Sox sixth, Ailor, Abbett Leal and Emmett Burkhead walked to begin the inning, and Austin Julian earned a tough RBI being hit by a pitch. Crosby Timm then lined a two-run base hit to center to close the gap to two.
But from there McDonnell (2 IP, 5 K) was able to strike out the final three batters to close out the win.
Adrik Gaworski started the game on the mound for the Cardinals, going four innings with 12 strikeouts.
Starter Crosby Timm (4 ⅔ IP, 6 K), Elliott Edgecomb (1 IP, 1 K) and Leal (⅓ IP) combined efforts on the mound for the Red Sox.
“I was mostly just throwing my fastball, but mixed in a couple curveballs,” Adrik Gaworski said. “I also have a changeup, but really didn’t throw it today. I just wanted to try and throw as many strikes as I could.”