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MC Babe Ruth 14s advance to States; Babe Ruth round up

By BRIAN CARSON

 

MILROY – Mifflin County fell behind early and couldn’t catch up to Altoona in an 8-3 loss in the finals of the District 8 Babe Ruth 14-year-old Tournament Sunday afternoon at Armagh Field.

 

Altoona scored five runs in the sixth inning to break the game open. Mifflin County scored its three runs in the seventh. Despite the loss, Mifflin County advanced to the state tournament at Williamsport beginning Thursday, July 11.

 

“We had way too many walks. We were walking the lead-off batter almost every inning and it will come back and bite you every time.” Mifflin County manager Justin Yoder said. “We have to come and play ball. These kids are good enough to win it. Theyáre going to have to fight and play the way they are capable of playing.”

 

Altoona scored a run in the first on an RBI knock from starting pitcher Evan Alwine that plated Hunter Rossman. The team from Blair County made it 3-0 with two runs in the second. Gavin Ridgeway led off with a single to left, stole second and came home on a wild pitch. Izaha Murray walked and later scored on a ground out by Ethan Brown.

 

In the sixth, Ridgeway drove in two runs with a triple to right for his second hit of the game. Ridgeway latter crossed on a wild pitch, Brown notched his second RBI with a base hit up the middle and Ethan Hileman drove home a run with a double to left.

 

Mifflin County avoided the shutout when Zach Snook led off with a single and came home on a double by Kaden Mitchell. Julian Krainak and Preston Arbogast reached on consecutive walks and Isaac Wilson brought them home with a double to left-center.

 

Alwine picked up the win, giving up one run on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk in six innings of work. Wilson suffered the loss for Mifflin County.

 

Mifflin County 13, West End 1

Earlier in the day, Mifflin County scored 11 runs in the sixth inning to blow open a close game and advance to the District 8 final with a 13-1 win over West End. The game was called after six because of the 10-run rule.

 

Krainak went the distance for Mifflin County for the win. He allowed only one run on three hits with four strikeouts and four walks.

 

“Krainak threw a wonderful game. He worked ahead of the count. He had his off-speed pitch working and he kept them off-balance,ã Yoder said. â He pitched a great game.”

 

Mifflin County saw 14 batters come to the plate with 11 of them scoring runs in the big inning, with everyone in the lineup scoring. Wilson had a three-run triple, Jaron Yoder brought home two runs, Cole Chilson connected on a two-run triple and Krainak brought home a run with a knock to left.

 

Chilson led the way for Mifflin County with three hits, while Matthew Weimer, Arbogast, and Wilson had two hits each. Mifflin County outhit West End 12-3.

 

Joey Signor took the loss for West End. He pitched five innings, surrendering six runs, three earned, on six hits. West End committed six errors in the game.

 

 

By BRIAN CARSON

 

MILROY – The excitement of playing the 1,000th game in Mifflin County Babe Ruth playoff history went from elation to dejection in a matter of minutes Saturday morning.

 

The 14-year-old team went to bed Friday night believing they defeated West End (Williamsport) and would play Saturday afternoon in the winnerás bracket of the District 8, 14-year-old all-star tournament against Altoona, and that would be the leagueás 1,000th contest.

 

Instead, a protest from Juniata County ä that Mifflin County used an ineligible player against West End ä resulted in a forfeit victory for the team from Williamsport, pushing Mifflin County into the early elimination bracket game against Juniata.

 

Mifflin County, behind solid pitching from Jaron Yoder and hot-hitting throughout the lineup, made lemonade out of lemons in a 12-2, five-inning defeat of Juniata County Saturday afternoon at Armagh Field.

 

“Thereás always a concern when you have something like that happen, especially with 14-year-old kids. Before the game, we got together and had a talk about the situation and what was going on,ã Mifflin County assistant coach Jason Yoder said. âWe have to do what we can do to handle it and how we handle it is to play ball. They were very motivated.”

 

Juniata County saw its tournament end with the loss, but manager Ed Jamison was happy for his club and the experience it picked up.

 

“It’ss exciting for us to be here. We had more kids in the teener age group than we have in years. Itás nice to see the kids play. That’s what we want. We want them to play baseball,” Jamison said. “We want to develop them in the younger age groups so when they are 13 and 14, theyáll play better baseball. That’s what we are after. The goal is to get more kids to play.”

 

Prior to this year, Juniata County played Little League Junior baseball, and has also had Junior American Legion and even Babe Ruth ball in the past.

 

Jaron Yoder went the distance for the win, going five innings, giving up two runs on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks.

 

“Before the game, I said to Jaron, The key thing is itás an all-star game. You have eight all-stars behind you,” Jason Yoder said. “You don’t have to do it all yourself. You don’t have to strike out everybody. Use your defense and good things will happen and that’s what he did.”

 

Mifflin County scored 12 runs on seven hits picking up four runs in each of the first three innings to put the game out of reach early.

 

Jessie Herman was 2-for-3 with four RBIs to lead the victors. Teammate Julian Krainak had two RBIs.

 

Mifflin County, down 1-0, scored four in the bottom of the first on RBI singles from Preston Arbogast, Herman and Cole Chilson with Arbogast plating on a Juniata County error.

 

Krainak had a two-run knock in the second with Herman and Logan Stimely getting consecutive RBI doubles.

 

Mifflin County plated its final runs in the third when Kaden Mitchell came home on a passed ball, Krainak on a wild pitch and Herman had a two-run single to left.

 

“We came out hitting, fielding and playing the way you should play ball,” Yoder said. “The kids played hard and took control early.”

 

Juniata County scored a run in the first on a sacrifice fly to center by Danny Freed and a run in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Joel Davis. Tait Jamison led Juniata County, going 2-for-2. Owen Dressler took the loss on the mound.

 

“It’s great to come up here and play and play everybody else. The kids played hard. They never gave up. The only thing that really got us was some mental mistakes and some errors,” Jamison said. “Everybody developed, everybody got better as the year went on. It was good for us. It was a short tournament, but this is the first time weáve ever had a 13 and 14 team entered. It’s a learning experience for us.”

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