Trumbull County tops Mahoning in Classic

June 14, 2015 at 12:09a.m.

NIlES

For Girard Indians twirler Kyle Harris, it doesn’t matter whether he pitches or plays the field just as long as he has an opportunity to showcase his skills at the plate.

On Saturday at Eastwood Field, he showcased both his arm and bat as he led Trumbull County to a 7-6 victory over Mahoning County in the third annual High School Valley All-Star Classic.

Harris ended his scholastic career by pitching two scoreless innings, striking out three and not allowing a hit while pounding out an inside-the-park home run and double. He scored a run and drove in two others.

Seven Trumbull pitchers combined to limit Mahoning County to just two hits on the day.

For his efforts, Harris was named game’s Most Valuable Player.

“There were great players on both sides today so it was fun just to come out and enjoy the day. I was a little shaky on the mound in the first inning, but settled in after that and had a better second inning,” Harris said. “This was a highly competitive game with everyone getting a chance to show off what they’ve learned. Everyone was fundamentally solid.”

The game was scoreless through the first three innings before Trumbull’s offense finally kicked in, plating three runs in the fourth as they forged a 3-0 advantage.

Nick Ferguson of Mineral Ridge, who opened the inning with a double, Mathews High School’s Mike Kennedy and Justin Len of Southington each scored with Len and Preston Caparanis driving in runs.

Mahoning County answered in the fifth inning with two runs of its own, all without the benefit of a hit, thanks to five walks.

Trumbull County added to its margin in the sixth inning when Dante Munno of Warren JFK reached on an infield error and scored on Harris’ two-out, inside-the-park blast up the centerfield gap for a 5-2 lead.

Mahoning starting pitcher Kyle Kovach, who like Harris also pitched two scoreless innings, opened the seventh with a single and later scored on an infield error to narrow the gap to 5-3.

“I had a few butterflies, but trusted my teammates and [Poland] catcher Ricky Svetlak because they are all excellent defensively,” Kovach said. “It was a great experience just to be chosen and a real honor to be asked to start the game.”

A run-scoring single by Cobie Pratt of Mathews in the seventh keyed a two-run rally as Trumbull County increased its lead to 7-3.

Pratt’s single turned out to be the difference in the game.

“Today was fun because while it wasn’t as serious as a regular-season game, it was still highly competitive,” Pratt said. “In an all-star game like this you still go as hard as you can while playing to win.”

Mahoning County then added two runs in the eighth inning to cut Trumbull’s lead to 7-5.

In the ninth inning, Western Reserve’s Evan Nesbitt’s bounced into a fielder’s choice that scored Ryan Miller of South Range to cut the lead to a run, but that was as close as Mahoning County could get.

“It was a new experience for me, playing with so many players that I played against in the regular season,” said Svetlak of the Division II state runner-up Bulldogs. “It was an honor just to be selected to play in the game.”

Winning coach Rick Yauger of Champion High said winning the all-star game was a great way to end his season.

“This was my first year at Champion and we had an excellent year, so to end it with a win is a very special feeling,” he said. “We had a great group of kids that played together as a team. The tough part was trying to get all 29 players a couple at-bats and several innings of work in the field.”

Mahoning coach Ed Anthony of Western Reserve echoed Yauger’s feelings.

“It’s never fun to lose, but today was fun because players on both sides were able to showcase their talent,” he said. “It was a very competitive game and we still had a chance to win it all in the ninth inning. It didn’t matter what school the players came from because today they represented their respective counties.”