Little League: Back Mountain National rolls in Major Baseball state opener

The bottom of the batting order set things up for Back Mountain National on Wednesday. The top of the order took care of the rest.

National scored six times in the third inning — with all runs coming with two outs — as it opened the Little League Major Baseball State Tournament with an 8-0 victory over Coventry at the Newville Little League.

Section 5 champion National will play Section 3 champion Tri-Town at 10 a.m. Thursday in a winners bracket semifinal. Section 8 champ Coventry plays Section 2 champion West Point at 4 p.m. in an elimination game.

Nick Federici’s grand slam highlighted the six-run inning, but credit for keeping the inning alive goes to the 11th and 12th hitters in the batting order. Mitch Ronczka was hit by a pitch and Liam Dieffenbacher walked as both reached base with two outs and flipped the batting order.

Leadoff hitter Kellan DeFalco then singled home Ronczka. Carter Samanas singled in Dieffenbacher, and Ben Nulton walked to load the bases. Federici then crushed a pitch over the left-center fence for a grand slam and a 6-0 lead.

National used another home run to increase the lead to 8-0 in the fifth. Dieffenbacher singled up the middle with one out and DeFalco followed with a homer to right.

Coventry managed just two hits against four National pitchers. Aaron Duff had an infield single in the third and Trent Vermillion dropped a single into left in the fourth. The fourth inning was Coventry’s best chance to score as it had runners on second and third with two outs.

Samanas started for National and pitched 1.1 innings of no-hit ball with three strikeouts. Medrano followed and threw one inning to pick up the win. Nulton pitched an inning and Logan Van Valkenburgh closed out the game with 1.2 innings on the mound.

DeFalco finished 2-for-3 with three RBI. Samanas was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

If National wins Thursday, it will play in the winners bracket finals at 4 p.m. Saturday. If National loses, it plays 4 p.m. Friday in an elimination game.

Major Baseball State Tournament

Back Mountain National 8, Coventry 0

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

DeFalco c`3`2`2`3

Samanas p`3`1`2`1

Nulton cf`1`1`1`0

Federici rf`3`1`1`4

Lapidus 1b`2`0`0`0

Medrano 3b`2`0`0`0

Engel eh`2`0`1`0

Kovach 2b`2`0`1`0

Van Valkenburgh ss`2`0`0`0

Greblunas lf`2`0`0`0

Ronczka eh`1`1`0`0

Dieffenbacher eh`1`2`1`0

Totals`24`8`9`8

Coventry`AB`R`H`BI

Kirby ss`1`0`0`0

Neill 2b`2`0`0`0

Vermillion p`2`0`1`0

Brilla c`2`0`0`0

Kernan 2b`2`0`0`0

Emerich cf`0`0`0`0

Mungin 3b`2`0`0`0

Wadsworth lf`2`0`0`0

Raab eh`2`0`0`0

Duff 1b`2`0`1`0

Wallace eh`2`0`0`0

Shady rf`1`0`0`0

Totals`20`0`2`0

Coventry`000`000 — 0

Back Mountain National`006`02x — 8

HR — DeFalco, Federici.

Coventry`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Vermillion (L)`2.2`1`2`2`1`4

Kirby`0.2`3`4`4`1`1

Brilla`1.0`4`2`2`0`2

Neill`0.2`1`0`0`0`0

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

Samanas`1.1`0`0`0`0`3

Medrano (W)`1.0`1`0`0`1`1

Nulton`1.0`1`0`0`1`1

Van Valkenburgh`1.2`0`0`0`0`2