District 24 Little League: Blue Mountain hangs on against Pottsville to win Majors Southeast Championship
· Yahoo Sports
POTTSVILLE — Chase Goodman did just about everything right on the baseball diamond to lead Blue Mountain to a 9-6 win over Pottsville to win the District 24 Southeast Little League Championship at Rotary Park on Friday.
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Goodman blasted a first inning solo home run over the left field fence and starred on the mound, throwing 5.1 innings and allowing three runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts.
“I was just looking for a first pitch fastball to jump on it and do some damage to help my team win,” Goodman said. “The momentum carried into my pitching and helped keep the team strong throughout the game.”
Blue Mountain advances to the District 24 Little League Majors Championship on Sunday.
Blue Mountain broke through with a six-run fourth inning which included Anthony Grimminger, Jayse Callaghan and Christian Machamer RBI singles. Grimminger then came on to pitch for the Eagles in the sixth and allowed four runs before ending the game by recording a swinging strikeout ahead by three runs.
“This group rallies off each other and they fed off last year’s run that we had and are hungry to do that again,” Blue Mountain coach Cory Porrino said. “We’re ready for Sunday to hopefully get a district championship.”
Enzo Ritter, Joe Minnick, Owen Borger, Machamer and Grimminger each led Blue Mountain with two hits while Ike Schneider drove in two runs. Grimminger and Ritter each scored two runs.
Goodman struck three at bats into the game against Pottsville starting pitcher Jace Spiess when he lifted a solo home run over the left field fence for the initial 1-0 lead.
“We needed some momentum to start, Spiess pitches well and he’s hard to get runs off of, so hats off to him and held his composure,” Porrino said.
Goodman took the mound in the bottom of the first and recorded three strikeouts after allowing a leadoff single.
Blue Mountain struck again in the top of the second when Minnick doubled on a fly ball to left field to score Grimminger for the 2-0 lead. Spiess then sat down the next two batters to end the scoring there.
Goodman allowed another leadoff base hit to start the bottom of the second before striking out three in a row, including a swinging strikeout to end the inning. He then retired the side in order in the bottom of the third, capped with a Max Stank groundball double play to first base.
“It’s good to get back to the championship game and show out like we did,” Goodman said. “The fourth inning really got us going and got the momentum going.”
Blue Mountain broke it open in the fourth inning when Jayse Callaghan singled on a groundball to left field to score Ritter for the 3-0 lead. Ben Ciccone scored on a passed ball before Grimminger singled on a groundball to center field to score Callaghan for the 5-0 lead.
Ike Schneider grounded into a fielders choice to second base to score Grimminger and Minnick for the 7-0 lead. Machamer then singled on a fly ball to left field to score Schneider for the 8-0 lead.
“The depth of our lineup being able to hit and challenge pitchers throughout the game, we eventually wear pitchers down,” Porrino said. “We had to keep pressure on their pitching and defense.”
Goodman recorded a pair of groundouts in the bottom of the fourth before Pottsville brought two runs home. Lynn doubled on a fly ball to center field to core Spiess for the 8-1 difference.
Hayden Whalen reached on a dropped third strike to plate O’Neill for the 8-2 score just a batter later.
Ritter doubled on a fly ball to left field to lead off the fifth inning for Blue Mountain before coming around to score on a wild pitch for the 9-2 lead.
Goodman started the bottom of the sixth on the mound for Blue Mountain and recorded just one out before Grimminger came on to close it out.
Pottsville got on the board first when O’Neill doubled on a line drive to left field to score Spiess for the 9-4 difference. Lynn then doubled on a groundball to left field to score two runs for the 9-6 deficit.
Grimminger then stepped up in a big way and notched a strikeout looking to end the game for Blue Mountain’s 9-6 win.
“Keeping composure and focus is so important and we can’t worry about what the other team is doing,” Goodman said. “We just have to keep on going.”
O’Neill and Lynn led Pottsville’s lineup with two hits apiece while Lynn drove in a team-high three runs.
Blue Mountain 9 — Porrino 2B 3 0 0 0, Ritter C 3 2 2 0, Goodman P 3 1 1 1, Ciccone RF 1 1 0 0, Callaghan SS 3 1 1 1, Grimminger LF 3 2 2 1, Minnick 3B 3 1 2 1, Borger CF 3 0 2 0, Schneider 1B 3 1 0 2, Marx 2 0 1 0, Machamer 2 0 2 1, Gombar 2 0 0 0. 31 9 13 7.
Pottsville 6 — Harrison C 3 0 1 0, Spiess P 2 2 1 0, Chiccini CF 3 1 1 0, O’Neill 2B 3 2 2 2, Checcini 0 0 0 0, Lynn 1B 3 0 2 3, Whalen SS 3 0 1 1, Orndorff LF 2 0 0 0, Cecchini 2 0 0 0, Kutsmeda 2 0 0 0, Selinko 3B 2 0 0 0, Kalyan 1 1 1 0, Stank RF 2 0 0 0. 28 6 9 6.
BM;1;1;0;6;1;0;—9
P;0;0;0;2;0;4;—6
Blue Mountain
IP H R ER BB K
Goodman 5.1 5 3 3 1 10
Grimminger 0.2 4 3 3 0 1
Pottsville
Spiess 4.1 12 9 9 1 1
Lynn 1.2 1 0 0 1 2