Fire Department won its first two games to take the early National League lead in the first week of the 2008 Rutherford Little League season.

Brandon Danny threw 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball to lead Fire past V.F.W. Post 227, 3-0, in their opening game. Danny struck out 11, and also led off the bottom of the first with a home run. Donovan Tucker added an RBI double in the fifth inning. Chris McCarthy, the V.F.W. pitcher, doubled in the fourth inning for his club's only base hit.

Fire erupted for five third-inning runs and defeated Kurgan-Bergen Realtors, 8-3. Winning pitcher Bobby Fisher tied the score with a two-run single, with Sean Gibney and Diego Miguens knocking in runs later in the inning. Andrew Podobinsky's third-inning double had given Kurgan (1-1) a 2-0 lead.

Kurgan had opened its season by rallying for six runs in the fifth inning and defeating P.B.A. Local 300, 8-4. Rey Rodriguez had the only hit of the inning, singling home Podobinsky, who drove in three runs with a double and a walk. Thomas Conroy had three RBI for P.B.A., on a double and a single.

P.B.A. (1-1) bounced back and topped Boiling Springs Savings, 13-2, receiving successive doubles from Nick Birchby, Eric Fries, and Thomas Conroy in the second inning. Austin Kauker added an RBI triple in the fourth, and Jack Korosy brought him home with a squeeze bunt. Ben Isola doubled and Julian Arena had an RBI single for Springs.

Earlier, Springs (1-1) topped A.W. Van Winkle & Co., 8-3. Winning pitcher Vishal Kamdar got the scoring started with a two-run double, and Quamel Pope added a two-run single, followed by an RBI triple from Ben Isola. Quinn Tormey scored two runs for Van Winkle (0-2), and Kyle Guenther doubled.

V.F.W. (1-1) scored four runs in each of three innings and downed Van Winkle, 12-0. Kevin Guzman had two triples, a single, and four RBI, while Matt Keenan had an RBI triple and Chris McCarthy added a two-run double. Tim Derner worked three innings and struck out six. Jack Cairns and Sahil Gandhi had hits for Van Winkle.

In the American League, Keller-Depken Oil rallied from a 4-0 deficit to defeat Tancredi Plumbing, 8-5. Stephen Kinzler got Keller on the board with a third-inning homer, and Robert Wong's fourth-inning triple cleared the bases. Matt Lambie scored the winning run in the fifth, making Wong the winning pitcher in relief. Billy Murray, Mike Perchun, and Adam Fernandez had two hits each for Tancredi.

Boiling Spring Masons had a pair of double-digit innings in their 27-0 victory over Elks. Kevin Van Dyk had five hits and knocked in six runs, and Ernie Armitage drove in five with a triple, two doubles and a single. Trevor Herrmann's first-inning single was the only hit Elks mustered off Van Dyk and Manny Medina.

Cedola's Friendly Service tallied five sixth-inning runs and topped Lions, 7-3. Matt Kelly and Anthony Biancamano had the only two hits of the inning for Cedola, who also got a double from Anthony Zembryski and a triple from Andrew Ortega. Lions received a first-inning RBI single from Mike Finelli.

Updates, including rainout information, are available on the Internet at http://www.rutherford-ll.info/ or by calling the Rutherford Little League Scoreline at 201 939-SCOR (939-7267).