By GREG GULAS

July 28, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

STRUTHERS

The PONY Baseball Colt-15 Zone double-elimination tournament begins today with eight teams set to take part at Bob Cene Park.

“When we first started this age-level tourney six years ago, we realized that this is an in-between group of players. Often times they do not see any considerable action due to their 16-year old counterparts,” said Bob Richards, PONY Baseball West Region director. “It is our hope that this age-group tourney, while being done on an experimental basis in just our zone, will eventually become a sanctioned World Series tournament.”

Along with host Youngstown, the field includes four Cleveland entries, two New York teams and a Pennsylvania all-star squad.

The Youngstown team is managed by Bob Beam and will include assistant Matt Weymer on staff.

“Each team will be bringing the best of the best from their league so expect some top-notch competition over the next three days,” Beam said.

Players on the Youngstown roster include Lou Cardona, Chris Lewis, Eric Ostrowski, Travis Jones, Jared Jay, Noah Laster and T.J. DeShields of Astro Falcons; Chayne Cefalde and Alex Schlosser of Roth Brothers; Mike Grazier of Ohio Glaciers; Danny Joyce of Bel-Park Pharmacy, and a Creekside Fitness contingent that includes Don Drummond, Bryce Richey, Noah Suarez and Pad O’Shaughnessy.

Rounding out this year’s field are Steve’s Sports, Players I, Lake Erie Bull Dogs and Warhawks from Cleveland; New York’s Youth Service League (Brooklyn) and Waterford (Albany), and Vesta from California, Pa.

Eight games are on tap today beginning at 10 a.m. Youngstown plays its first game at 12:30 p.m. against Waterford. The Colt 15 Zone tournament is directed by Jim Keenan with help from Bob Burke.

The tournament will be the last action at Cene Park this year. All three infields are scheduled for resurfacing beginning Aug. 5 by Dura-Edge, LLC, a league sponsor and a company responsible for the upgrade of multiple Major League Baseball fields.

“We’ve hosted seven tournaments this year and will have played nearly 700 games overall (at the park),” said Scott Ruark, Class B League president and NABF board member. “It’s easy to play host when you have a complex like ours, can tarp all three fields when rain is expected and everything is located within a hop, skip and jump from each other. The upgrades to the fields will only make things better for everyone next season.”

NABF JUNIOR WORLD SERIES

Astro Falcons 16U team dropped a 9-3 decision Sunday at Toledo to the Sayo Grays of New York in the championship game of the NABF Junior Division World Series.

The local team beat Sayo earlier in the tournament in pool play. Astro Falcons finished 5-1 in the tournament and 46-9 on the season including the Class Little b regular-season and playoff championships.

On Sunday, Jared Burkett had two hits, Dalton Donachie drove in two runs and Chris Lewis had a single and an RBI.

Colt zone Championship

Donald Drummond had a triple and Jaydon Johnson added a single for Creekside Fitness which lost 10-0 on Sunday to Greensboro White in the championship game of the Colt Zone Championship at Greensboro, N.C.

On Saturday, Creekside beat New York, 12-11, to reach the final. Lake Sankey had four hits and scored three runs, Antonio Biviano had three hits and two RBIs and Pad O’Shaughnessy had the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh.

NABF Senior World Series

Ohio Glaciers and Creekside Fitness both won afternoon semifinal games that set up their Sunday night championship game in the NABF Senior Division World Series at Cene Park in Struthers.

Josh Lapiana went the distance, striking out six as the Glaciers beat the Maryland Monarchs, 6-2.The Glaciers had five hits after two were out in the third inning to open a 5-0 lead. Greg Popatak had two doubles for Ohio Glaciers.

Creekside Fitness eliminated the Michigan Bulls, 13-6, to advance to their second consecutive World Series title game. Tyler Walters led Creekside’s 15-hit attack with two hits, three RBIs and four runs scored while John Schrieber picked up the win, striking out six. Ted Williams, Nick Longo, Kyle Wise and Gino DiVincenzo also had two hits for Creekside as they opened an 11-0 advantage after five innings.

PONY LEAGUE satellite tournament

Youngstown Blue defeated PNA Moxham, 14-4, before losing to eventual champion, Hempfield, 12-1, on Sunday in the Pony League Satellite Tournament at Cranberry, Pa. Hempfield earns a berth in the Host Area Tournament beginning Friday.