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Youngstown All-Stars rally after tourney loss.
By Greg Gulas
STRUTHERS
After suffering their first tournament loss earlier in the day, the Youngstown All-Stars bounced back with a 12-8 decision over Butler to advance to the COLT 15U East Zone championship game today against North Allegheny McCandless.
Youngstown will need to win twice for the title with the championship game slated for 5:30 p.m. at Bob Cene Park.
The “if necessary game” will follow immediately after the first contest.
Devin Turvey pitched 5 2/3 innings of relief for the win, also going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and a run batted in.
“I knew that we had the bats to come back, so I just wanted to throw strikes and limit the damage,” Turvey said.
Trailing 7-2 after two innings of play, Youngstown rode a six-run fourth inning to an 8-7 advantage.
They sent 11 batters to the plate with the key blow a two-run double by Matt Senchak.
When play resumed after a 40-minute rain delay, Butler knotted the game at 8-8 in the sixth when John Herold crossed the plate on a Kevin King single.
Youngstown stayed hot when action resumed, scoring four times in their half of the sixth inning for a 12-8 lead.
Run-scoring singles by Johnnie Mikos, John Ritter and Senchak, and a passed ball that allowed Carter Chinn to cross the plate were the big blows.
Both teams then endured a second train delay, this time for 34 minutes with both teams failing to mount any scoring threat after action resumed.
COLT 15 EAST ZONE TOURNAMENT
N. ALLEGHENY McCANDLESS 10, YOUNGSTOWN ALL-STARS 4
The Youngstown All-Stars lost their initial game of the tournament, falling by a 10-4 count to McCandless to fall to loser’s bracket play.
After outscoring opponents by a 27-5 count in their first two games, McCandless pitchers Drew Palmer and Anthony Hattrupt held Youngstown to just three hits and an earned run for their third consecutive win.
Youngstown took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Ritter’s sacrifice fly plated Turvey with the game’s initial tally.
They increased their lead the following inning when Tyler Hurd’s grounder scored Braden Olson with their second run of the game.
A four-run third frame gave McCandless a 4-2 margin, making it 9-2 after four frames when they sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth stanza.
Single runs by Youngstown in the fifth and six innings cut the lead to 9-4, but McCandless added an insurance marker in the sixth inning to secure the victory.
Turvey, Bobby Cavalier and Chinn had Youngtown’s three hits while Turvey scored two of Youngstown’s four runs.