Monday, July 27, 2015
By Greg Gulas
STRUTHERS
A day after scoring 44 runs to punch their semifinal ticket, the Astro Falcons found both runs and hits at a premium and were eliminated Sunday by the Michigan Bulls, 7-2, in the NABF Senior Division World Series at Cene Park.
Trevor Friday tossed a complete game, scattering five hits and striking out seven while Alexa Manasa went 5-for-5 with a double, a RBI and a run for the Bulls.
For Jared Kapturasky, who had one of the Astros’ five hits, the only drawback to an otherwise successful 42-7 season, was falling short of the title.
“I knew that we would have a strong team because our manager, Andy Timko and his staff have a way of making players mesh and come together as a team over the course of a season,” Kapturasky said. “We had a group of competitors that never gave up, fought to the end and today, we just came up a little short. The Bulls are an excellent team and they got us today. The outcome might be different in a series, but today they were the better team.”
Astros took the early 2-0 lead in the second inning on back-to-back run-scoring singles by Riley Campbell and Jared Houser.
That was the inning that Friday, who threw 120 total pitches, pointed to as the one that gave him his second wind.
“As we went to the third inning I was feeling a little tired, but my teammates picked it up offensively and I was able to catch a second wind. I just located my fastball and changeup while my sinker kept them off-balance as well,” Friday stated.
The Bulls cut into the Astros’ lead on back-to-back doubles by Joe Popp and Justin Steele to start the fourth frame, then sent eight batters to the plate the following inning, scoring four times to open a 5-1 advantage.
Manasa started the rally with a single, his second of four on the day.
“It’s a special feeling to be going to the first World Series championship game for our organization. We’ve worked hard all season in order to achieve this goal,” Manasa added. “The last couple of weeks we played to our competition’s level and in this tournament, played like we expect ourselves to play as a team.”
The Bulls added two more insurance runs in the seventh inning to round out the scoring.
Wadsworth native Riley Campbell, who is headed to the University of Toledo this fall and will play baseball for the Rockets, said this season was everything he had hoped it would be.
“We fought tooth and nail all season long and for me, it was an absolute blast. This team came to play every single game,” Campbell said. “I made new friends and had a great group of teammates that were absolutely passionate about the game.”
Timko, who used five pitchers on the day, will now manage the Class B All-Stars in the upcoming PONY Palomino Zone Tournament, which begins Thursday at Cene Park.
“Any of the four remaining tournament teams could win it all and that says a lot about this year’s field,” Timko noted. “We had a great season and this group of players cames ready to play every game. I cannot be any more proud than I am of this group of players.”
MARYLAND HCYP RAIDERS 4, SAYO GRAYS 2
James Cain scattered five hits, struck out five and allowed just one earned run to pitch Maryland into the title tilt.
Cain, who needed just 96 pitches, also had one of his team’s seven safeties and scored two of their four runs.
Richard Palacios had two hits for the Grays, who finished 3-3 in the tournament.
MARYLAND HCYP RAIDERS 7, MICHIGAN BULLS 5
The Maryland HCYP Raiders won their first ever Senior Division crown in the championship game.
The Raiders got three runs in the opening inning, fell behind 4-3 in the fourth frame and then added three more tallies in the fourth.
Ricky Williamson had three hits and a RBI while Cain and Jack Finn each drove in two runs for the Raiders (7-0).
Greg Wills was the winning pitcher while Ravi Mahanti suffered the loss.
Manasa and Colin McClelland each had two hits for the Bulls with McClelland driving in three of the Bulls’ runs.