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Creekside Fitness falls in Connie Mack final
Photo
Stanford Baseball Academy Aces baserunner Derek Turocy is tagged out by Creekside Fitness catcher Tyler Walters as he tries to slide into home plate to score during the fourth inning of the Connie Mack semifinal Thursday at Cene Park in Struthers. Creekside ousted SBA, 6-4, to advance to the championship later that afternoon against the Diamond Boys. But the quick turnaround between games and an early deficit were too much to overcome, and Creekside fell 9-6.
Creekside Fitness falls in Connie Mack final
By Ryan Buck
Struthers
Creekside Fitness’ run at the American Amateur Baseball Congress Connie Mack State Tournament came to a disappointing end with a 9-6 loss to Solon-based Diamond Boys on Thursday afternoon at Cene Park.
After knocking off Stanford Baseball Academy Aces in their first game of the day to advance to the championship game, Creekside waited a mere 30 minutes to step in against Diamond Boys, who had the luxury of a bye on a day that saw temperatures approach triple digits around the Cene Park facility.
The quick turnaround and an early deficit were too much to overcome
“We came back hard, we fought,” said Creekside manager Terry Landis. “We played good ball today except here and there.”
After Dylan Jones singled and scored in the bottom of the first inning, Diamond Boys had a quick and decisive response.
Tyler Alders and Jacob Carpenter led off the second with back-to-back singles off Creekside starter Kevin Yarabinec. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from Adam Gray scored Alders to tie the game.
Diamond Boys added three more in the third.
With two on and two outs, Alders ripped a triple to right, scoring Aaron Cain and Mike Poole. Alders later scored on Carpenter’s second hit of the game.
Sean Trexler and Alex Simun both came around to score in the fourth to give Diamond Boys a 6-1 lead.
“It was very important, especially with the [Diamond Boys poor] defense that took place later in the game,” said Diamond Boys manager Brian Chad, who knew his team would see a rally from Creekside.
It came in the fifth, thanks to some help from Chad’s infielders.
With one out, Jones and Steve Sada singled consecutively. Jared Wiesen followed with a drive to the left side that skidded past Poole at shortstop. Poole then snared a pop-up from Dan Ferguson before Tyler Walters drilled a single to score Jones and Sada.
Scott Pierce smashed a two-out double to left field, scoring Wiesen and Walters to cut Creekside’s deficit to two.
“I saw a fastball a little inside and low and just took it to left field,” said Pierce, a senior at Austintown Fitch. “We’ve played a lot of games the past three or four days. A couple doubleheaders and it was really hot today, but I knew our team could come back.”
Like they had earlier, Diamond Boys also came right back. Adam Gray singled home Sean Trexler for their seventh run. Three straight walks led to two more runs an insurmountable deficit for Creekside.
“I told them they could either get down in the dumps about it or come back and get it back,” said Chad, who trusted his veteran lineup to preserve their lead.
In the seventh, Ferguson reached on an error and came around to score on a one-out single from Nick Stotler.
Any hopes of a Creekside rally died when Harrison Wagner was called out in a close play at first base on a game-ending 1-6-3 double play that infuriated Landis.
“To lose a game on a call like that, I’m very unhappy about it,” said Landis. “He was safe and he called him out before he got to the bag. That’s disturbing to me.”
In an earlier game, Creekside dispatched SBA, 6-4, on the strength of four first-inning runs. They added two more in the fourth before withstanding a four-run rally from SBA in the bottom half of the inning.
Sada scored two runs and David Lemasters pitched two innings of scoreless relief to send Creekside to the title game.