Back Mountain National falls in 8-10 opener

DALLAS TWP. — Back Mountain National’s Jack Katyl tucked an RBI double just inside the left field line in the first inning.

That was the extent of the offense Monday in a rainy night at Back Mountain Little League.

Ridley Area starter Alexei Revak shut down National’s bats over 3.2 innings in a rain-shortened 8-1 victory in the Little League Baseball 8-10 state tournament.

Section 8 champion Ridley Area will play Section 2 champ West Point at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the winners bracket semifinals. Section 5 champion National plays in an elimination game at 1 p.m. against Section 3 champion Ashland.

“These guys respond,” National manager Brian Wielgosz said. “We’ve been in positions before where we lost a game in sectionals, came back and put a lot of runs the next day. So I’m not worried about how they’ll respond. Getting here in this tournament and playing at our home field is a privilege and an honor for these kids. They’re not ready to go home tomorrow so they’re going to fight. They’ll be ready to play.”

The game was called after National batted in the top of the fourth as field conditions worsened. The game started late because the third game of the day was delayed for 90 minutes. Then there was a 38-minute rain delay.

National’s Bruce Knowles walked with two outs in the first and Katyl followed with his RBI double. National’s only other hit was a little looper by Max Kovach in the third inning that landed in the grass in front of shortstop.

Revak struck out six before exiting at 50 pitches to keep him eligible to throw Thursday if needed. He also had run support early.

Taking advantage of some walks and an RBI double by Jack Scanlon, Ridley Area turned a one-run deficit into a 3-1 lead after one inning.

Walks were troublesome again for National in the third inning as Ridley Area scored five times. Kevin Scanlan had an RBI single followed by a two-run double by Revak for the 8-1 lead.

Hollidaysburg 10, Meadville/Vernon 0

Ronan Diehl, Tyson Roland and Zion Shubik all had two hits and two RBI as Section 4 champ Hollidaysburg opened with a shutout of Section 1 Meadville/Vernon.

Colt Conner added a double and an RBI for Hollidaysburg, which will play Section 6 champion Council Rock Newtown in the winners bracket semifinals at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Winning pitcher Blake Chamberlin and relievers Aiden Anderson and CJ Burger combined to strike out 11.

Emmett Redden and Sebastian Kotlar each had a hit for Meadville/Vernon, which plays Section 7 champ East Side in an elimination game at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Council Rock Newtown 8, East Side 5

Section 6 champion Council Rock Newtown scored three runs in the fifth to take the lead and tacked on three more in the sixth to defeat Section 7 champion East Side.

Graeme Bracker had a hit, two RBI and two runs scored for Council Rock, which will play Section 4 champion Hollidayburg in the winners bracket semifinals at 4 p.m. Tuesday. TJ Wengert and Luke Bovell each had a hit and an RBI. Arin Shah scored twice, Lewyton McConnell had a hit and run scored and Logan Bovell had a hit. Bovell pitched 3.1 innings and surrendered one hit.

Cole Warner had a hit, two RBI and a run scored for East Side, which plays Section 1 champ Meadville/Vernon at 10 a.m. in an elimination game. Colt DiGrazio had a double and an RBI. James Martin had a single, RBI and run scored. Patrick Corless and Dillon DiGiuilo each had a hit.

West Point 13, Ashland 2 (4 inn.)

A six-run first inning helped lead Section 2 champion West Point cruise to a victory over Section 3’s Ashland.

Finnigan Walker had a two-run double in the first to help West Point jump out to an early lead. West Point added six more runs in the top of the fourth, with five bases-loaded walks pushing runs across one at a time.

Carter Finley had a hit, an RBI and two runs scored for West Point, while Sebastian Worman drove in two runs. West Side will next take on Section 8’s Ridley Area. That game will be played at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Conner Damiter and Trevor Staudenmeier each drove in runs for Ashland in the loss. Ashland will play Back Mountain in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

8-10 Baseball State Tournament

Ridley Area 8, Back Mtn. National 1

(game called because of rain)

Back Mtn. National`AB`R`H`BI

Wielgosz 2b`2`0`0`0

Bross ss`2`0`0`0

Knowles p`0`1`0`0

Katyl 1b`2`0`1`1

Wycallis c`1`0`0`0

Tribendis lf`1`0`0`0

Hanson cf`1`0`0`0

Salko 3b`1`0`0`0

Page eh`1`0`0`0

Rollins rf`1`0`0`0

Kovach eh`1`0`1`0

Dennis eh`1`0`0`0

Totals`13`1`2`1

Ridley Area`AB`R`H`BI

Paup lf`1`2`1`0

J.Scanlan ss`1`2`1`1

Mitnick 3b`1`1`0`0

K.Scanlan cf`2`1`1`1

Revak p`1`1`1`2

Burkhardt 1b`1`0`0`0

McFadden eh`0`1`0`0

Ryder 2b`1`0`0`0

Stickney c`2`0`0`0

Larkin eh`1`0`0`0

Stranix rf`1`0`0`0

Kelly eh`1`0`0`0

Totals`13`8`4`4

Back Mountain National`100`0 — 1

Ridley Area`305`x — 8

2B — Kaytl, J.Scanlan, Revak.

Back Mtn. National`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Knowles (L)`0.1`1`3`3`5`1

Katyl`1.2`2`3`3`1`2

Hanson`0.2`1`2`2`2`1

Ridley Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Revak (W)`3.2`2`1`1`2`6

Burkhart`0.1`0`0`0`0`1