Little League: Back Mountain falls to Abington in 9-11 winners bracket finals

DORRANCE — Back Mountain managed to wiggle out of trouble in the first inning with minor damage Wednesday night.

There was no escaping it in Abington’s second trip to the plate.

Abington scored seven runs in the second inning, setting the tone for a 12-2 victory in four innings over Back Mountain in the Section 5 9-11 Baseball winners bracket finals.

District 31 champion Back Mountain will play District 16 champion Mountain Top at 6 p.m. Thursday in the elimination bracket finals. The winner will play undefeated District 17 champion Abington at 6 p.m. Friday and again Saturday if necessary.

“I knew we had to play a flawless game,” Back Mountain manager Chris Mayerski said. “Our boys are capable of it. We talk a lot about next pitch and that was the message after the game — next pitch.

“So we’ll come back tomorrow and put our best game together and try to get back to Abington on Friday.”

Abington scored just one run in the first inning as Grady Tomachick reached on an error and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Back Mountain made three errors in the inning, but Abington couldn’t take advantage and left the bases loaded.

Abington had one hit in the first inning — a single by Max Vazquez — but had six hits in the second to take an 8-0 lead. Julian McDonough drove in two runs with a single. Tomachick had an RBI single. Vazquez doubled in the left-center gap to plate two more runs. Dylan Lyle knocked in two with a single.

“When we can hit one through 12, it’s great,” Abington manager Paul Locker said. “I changed my lineup a little bit today. The moves I made came through. I moved Grady to the leadoff. His on-base percentage was about .900 coming into the game and he came through with a couple big hits. Every kid produces and pitches in.”

Tomachick added a two-run double in the third as Abington increased its lead to 11-0. Noah Tajan scored the first run on a wild pitch.

Back Mountain was able to hold off the 10-run rule temporarily. Logan Hornak reached on a wild pitch third strike to start the fourth and Joe Bonomo followed with a walk. Both scored when Dante Pietraccini doubled into the left-center gap.

Abington ended the game with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Vazquez hit his second double and scored on a single by Oliver Giroux.

Other than Pietraccini’s two-run double, Back Mountain had two other hits. Bonomo singled in the first and Coltrane Scavone doubled in the third.

Section 5 9-11 Baseball

Winners Bracket Finals

Abington 12, Back Mountain 2 (4 inn.)

Back Mountain`AB`R`H`BI

Hornak p`2`1`0`0

Bonomo 3b`1`1`1`0

Coach ss`2`0`0`0

Mayerski 2b`2`0`0`0

Pietraccini rf`2`0`1`2

Suchdolski c`1`0`0`0

Liparela 1b`1`0`0`0

Scavone cf`1`0`1`0

Neiman 1b`1`0`0`0

Walton eh`1`0`0`0

McCormick eh`1`0`0`0

Totals`15`2`3`2

Abington`AB`R`H`BI

Tomachick 2b`3`2`2`3

Eckenrode ss`2`1`0`0

Vazquez 3b`3`2`3`2

Lyle p`3`0`1`2

Giroux cf`3`0`2`0

Johnson 1b`2`0`0`0

Keeler lf`2`0`0`0

Tajan eh`0`2`0`0

Snyder eh`2`2`1`0

Hillebrand eh`2`1`1`0

McDonough rf`1`2`1`2

Kane c`1`0`0`0

Totals`24`12`11`9

Back Mountain`000`2 — 2

Abington`173`1 — 12

2B — Pietraccini, Scavone, Vazquez 2.

Back Mountain`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Hornak (L)`1.1`4`6`4`1`1

Pietraccini`1.1`4`5`3`2`2

Bonomo`0.1`3`1`1`1`1

Abington`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Lyle (W)`2.2`2`0`0`0`4

Vazquez`1.1`1`2`2`1`4