SANDLOT BASEBALL Astro Falcons, Express in Little 'b' title series

The two eliminated Becdir and Line Drive Academy in two straight games Thursday.
STRUTHERS -- Astro Falcons and Youngstown Express will begin a best-of-5 series for the Class Little "b" championship Saturday at 2 p.m. at Cene Park. Those teams won both games of doubleheaders Thursday in the semifinals.
Astro Falcons, the league's regular season champion, swept Becdir 9-1 and 8-3, while Express swept Line Drive Academy 13-10 in eight innings and 9-1.
Falcons-Becdir
In the first game, Astros scored four times in the first inning, and five more in the fourth. Robert Shannon allowed just four hits, striking out seven and walking three, while Chris Tremblay and Bill Christian had two hits each. Tremblay had a double and a triple, while Mike Pulokous had a double.
For Becdir, Gary Bucuren had a triple and Chris Melnik a double.
In the second game Astros scored four in the second inning. Dan Bertolini struck out 10 in the complete game victory. Nathan Porter had a double and two singles and three RBIs, while Christian and Justin Montgomery added two hits each. Mike Claudio had a triple, and Jeff Shaffo a double for the winners.
Luke Srock had a run scoring single to cap a three-run third for Becdir.
Express-Line Drive
The Express won a slugfest in extra innings in the opener, then got a one-hitter from Mark Tanner in the nightcap to advance to the championship round.
In the opener, Mike Busin hit two home runs, including a grand slam in the eighth inning. Busin finished with six RBIs and three hits. Mark Tanner had four hits for Express, while Tim Novotny added three hits, including a double, and Matt Geramita had two doubles and a single. Shawn Carr and Ryan Jones had doubles.
For Line Drive, Craig Dobos homered and doubled, while Mike Eliseo, Justin Byler, and Mark Delisio also had two hits. Eliseo, Adam Solich and John Mang all doubled.
In the second game, a four-run first inning powered the Express to the win. Ryan Jones went 3-for-3, including a triple and double, with two RBIs, while Tanner struck out seven, walked one, and allowed just one unearned run.
Doug Brown had a home run as the Express pounded out 31 hits in the two games. Matt Geramita also tripled.