Little Leaue baseball: Avon’s 11-year-olds and 9-10 team win district series openers
Jerry Henson | The Chronicle-Telegram
AVON – Avon’s 11-year-olds made sure they would feel right at home again with a 15-2 mercy-rule victory over Cuyahoga Falls North on Saturday in the first game of the District 3 championship series at Veterans Memorial Park.
With the victory, the winners earned the right to host the second game of the best-of-three series Monday at 6 p.m. An Avon win would send manager Pat Collins and his team to the state tournament in Ashtabula.
“Our kids have been hitting the ball very well in practice and in our previous games,” Collins said. “We let them make their own decisions in this game. They were aggressive and kept coming through with the hits to score our runs.”
Avon wasted no time in flexing its muscles, scoring seven runs with one out in the opening inning.
Seven hits, including consecutive doubles by Tim Moroz, Alex Guzik and Vince Mingo, along with a walk, two stolen bases, an error, two wild pitches and a passed ball, played roles in a rally that saw 10 batters come to the plate.
Avon’s first four batters in the second hit safely and scored. A Jonny Morales double and a Mingo triple helped fuel an 11-0 lead.
North scored its first run on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the second but left the bases full. The winners scored their last four runs with two out in the third. Mingo’s three-run homer over the right-center-field fence produced the final three runs.
North’s second run came in the bottom of the third when leadoff hitter Thomas Finegan scored on a misplayed ground ball with two out. Once again, North left the bases full, when a called strikeout put an end to the rally.
After a double play meant no more runs for Avon in the fourth, winning pitcher Alex Stump set Cuyahoga Falls down in order in the bottom of the inning. Three ground balls on seven pitches invoked the 10-run lead (mercy rule) as a light rain began to fall.
“We hit, we ran the bases and we scored,” Collins said. “It was a good team effort. We hope to keep things going our way so that we move forward again. Our defense, especially shortstop Jonny Morales, made a lot of nice plays.”
“My best pitch was my fastball,” Stump said. “Mr. Collins calls the pitches in the dugout and relays them to our catcher (Cory Ohradzansky). They called the pitches that I wanted. I didn’t get the calls at times, but I didn’t worry about that. I just went about my business. That early lead was a real blessing. I also knew that our defense was behind me.”
“When Alex didn’t get the calls, I told him not to worry,” said Collins. “I told him to put the questionable calls behind him and just concentrate on his next pitch. He did that and you can see what happened.”
“We knew that we wanted to get an early lead,” Mingo said. “We kept building our confidence after we got the early lead. We did all that we could with our hits and didn’t let up. We played our hardest and also played well defensively.”
Contact Jerry Henson at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
Third inning good to Avon 9-10 All-Stars again
Matt Florjancic
The Chronicle-Telegram
AVON — As it was against Elyria East on Wednesday, the third inning was the charm for the Avon Eagles 9-10 year-old Little League All-Star team Saturday.Against a previously-unbeaten Tallmadge Blue Devils squad, the Eagles posted seven runs in the third inning. In their next at-bat, the Eagles scored one more run to seal the 13-3 victory.Since Avon and Tallmadge each entered the weekend without a loss, the two teams will meet again Monday in Avon. A win for the Eagles means a trip to the state tournament. However, a Blue Devil victory means a winner-take-all third game
.“It’s one step closer to making states,” said Avon coach Steve Sopko. “They’ve got a very good team. They’ve had strong pitching and we got a great start out of Brian Fielding. We rode him the whole way. He was throwing strikes and the defense was playing behind him. The kids hit great tonight. We just did a great job there and it was a total team effort. Everybody contributed in some way.
Fielding went all four innings in the run-shortened win for the Eagles. He had four strikeouts against one walk and allowed just three runs on five hits. At the plate, Fielding helped his own cause by scoring a run in the third inning after reaching base on an error.
“We’re just going to have to be more confident (and) more patient,” Tallmadge coach Kevin Pratt said. “Our kids are great hitters and I think they were just a little too anxious at the plate today. They were out in front of everything that they were hitting.
“We’ve always been known for our great defense and we threw the ball around a little bit today. We didn’t back up. I think the kids were just excited, maybe a little too much excitement. We’ll have them ready. They’ll be ready to go on Monday.”
Before the third inning, Avon held a 5-0 advantage and Fielding had allowed just one hit. In the bottom of the third, the Eagles sent 11 batters to the plate. Catcher Chad Botson led off the inning with a single to left field. Donnie O’Brien then followed with a single to center.Following a strikeout and a wild pitch that allowed Botson to score, pinch-hitter Parker Reynolds singled to the pitcher. With the bases loaded for Will Heilman, the center fielder drove in a run on a groundout to first base. Dominic Massa, Nico Mostardi and Botson strung together three consecutive singles. Botson’s hit to center field scored Massa and Mostardi.
“I guess we just got our groove going by then,” Sopko said of the third-inning success. “I don’t know what it is with the third inning. It’s kind of been like that through this whole tournament so far.”
With only three outs needed to clinch a victory, the Eagles let the Blue Devils score three runs, making it a 12-3 deficit. Brandon Santomauro singled to start the top of the fourth inning, but was out on runner’s interference when he was hit by the ball while heading to third base.
Despite the misstep, Tallmadge scored three runs on singles from Gavin Dillard and Christopher Punka, as well as a groundout from pinch-hitter Jacob Jascoe.
Carter Rudy led off the bottom of the fourth inning for Avon by drawing a walk from relief pitcher Jordan Skeriotis. Jake Sopko followed with a single to center field. However, it was pinch hitter Josh Chokan who had the big hit. On a 1-0 pitch from Tyler Duben, Chokan lofted a single to right field and the relay throw sailed high, allowing Rudy to score the game’s final run.
Contact Matt Florjancic at 329-7136 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Jerry Henson | The Chronicle-Telegram July 20th, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 2% |
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