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New Albany outslugs Boardman’s batters
Gallery
By Tom Williams
ASHTABULA
The Boardman 11-12 baseball team hit its first detour on the road to the Little League regional tournament in Indianapolis.
New Albany hit three home runs in the top of the first inning for a six-run lead in the winner’s bracket final of the state tournament Thursday.
New Albany scored three more runs in the sixth inning for a 12-6 victory that knocks Boardman into the loser’s bracket final.
Boardman will play Hamilton today at 3 p.m. at Cederquist Park. Hamilton won the 10-11 state tournament last year and the 9-10 state tournament in 2011,
The winner will face New Albany on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Boardman manager Brian Fonderlin said he told his players after their first loss that the key, “is how you come back, how you respond. Are you gonna come out swinging tomorrow or throw your hands in the air?
“We know [Hamilton] is a strong hitting team,” Fonderlin said. “We’ve got to match [Hamilton with hits].”
On Tuesday, New Albany rallied to defeat Hamilton, 10-9. In Thursday’s other game, Hamilton pounded pitching-depleted Wheelersburg, 35-9.
“I can’t wait,” Boardman first baseman Cameron Kreps said. “I think it’s going to be really fun. We just need to hit the ball.”
One of Boardman’s losses in last year’s tournament was to Hamilton.
“They are a good team,” third baseman Michael Fetsko said. “We want to beat them. We have a better team since last year.”
After falling behind 6-0 before his batters came to the plate, Fonderlin was pleased that Boardman cut the lead to 6-5 in the second inning.
Travis Harvey hit a solo home run to lead off Boardman’s first at-bat, then hit a grand slam in his next at-bat, scoring Nick Yallech, Fetsko and Shay Eicher.
“We needed that — it really fired them up,” Fonderlin said. “Their bats came alive.”
Boardman sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning. After Harvey cleared the bases, Boardman reloaded them when Jake Fonderlin and Alex Cardona drew walks off New Albany starter Parker Thompson and Kreps singled into left field.
Sam Smith relieved Thompson and on his first pitch, Michael O’Horo smacked a line drive that third baseman Kenton Stankowski snagged to keep New Albany ahead.
Alex Cardona relieved Harvey in the first inning and pitched into the sixth inning.
Harvey doubled and scored Boardman’s other run when he took third base on a wild pitch and came home on a throwing error. In Smith’s four-and-a-third innings, only three other Boardman batters reached base.
“We tend to hit a fastball pitcher better, we always have,” said Brian Fonderlin, explaining that Smith “wasn’t slow but he was very effective. He had our number. We didn’t wait on the ball.”
Thompson hit two two-run homers. Stankowski hit a three-run homer and Ben Smith a solo shot.