Dover Junior Little League takes state championship

The State title of Junior League baseball was just an out away in the bottom of the ninth inning as Cape pitcher Jon Warren faced Dover power hitter Nick Spadafino with a 4-2 lead.. Kyle Mace was on base after a first pitch single. Warren had struck out the previous two batters.

And then with static electricity flickering in the sky behind home plate Spadafino went “Thunder Dome” and launched a bolt of baseball lightning way over the centerfield fence tying the game at four.

Dover came back to win the game 5-4 in the bottom of the 10th after Cape couldn’t push a run home in its half of the inning with runners on second and third and only one out.

Dover moves on to the Eastern Regional Junior League Tournament which begins in Freehold, New Jersey on August 6.

Cape had tied the well played game at 2 in top of the seventh inning on a suicide squeeze as Brandon Keller bunted the ball fair as Kai Vitella crossed home plate. Cape had taken the lead in the top of the ninth 4-2 as Griffin Kammerer and Hunter Engel each stroked two out RBI’s singles.

Bob Haddick of Dover hit a two run homer in the bottom of the first inning that tipped the glove of Jon Warren then bounced on the rubber railing of the centerfield fence and into the tailgaters section.