Bair facts: Canfield win sets up finals rematch

By BOB ETTINGER

sports@vindy.com

Jefferson

Tyce Bair didn’t get the perfect pitch, but it was close enough for him to take a hack. Bair drove the ball back up the middle for an infield single to put Canfield ahead in a 4-2 victory over Lebanon in the 10-U Little League State Tournament at Lehotsky Field in Jefferson on Friday night.

“I was just looking to bring in the run,” Bair said. “I just wanted to get on base.”

Bair’s two-out single scored Gio Altomare for a 3-2 lead in the top half of the fourth.

“I was looking for a pitch a bit higher, but that pitch was almost on the point,” Bair said. “I was trying to hit it a bit farther, but the shortstop got it [deep in the hole near second base]. I was very excited because we just went up. All we had to do was hold them.”

Canfield will get a rematch with Tuscarawas County, which knocked off the Cardinals on Thursday night, in the with the state championship on the line at 10 a.m. today. Should Canfield emerge victorious, the teams will play again at 1 p.m. in a winner-take-all battle.

“We just have to remind them we were right in the game until the fifth inning [on Thursday night],” Canfield manager Pete Patellis said. “We’ve got nothing to lose. We made it to the state championship game. We have to go out, cut it loose and go after it. You never know what’s going to happen. We have to give 100-percent effort and let the chips fall where they may.”

Bair’s dribbler in the sixth scored Jake Dovich with an insurance run.

“I crushed that ball,” Bair joked. “It looked like a bunt.”

Will Murphy held Lebanon scoreless over the final three innings for the win. He struck out a pair, walked a pair and allowed one hit.

“I was thinking of how exciting it was going to be when the team won [in those tougher moments], Murphy said. “I just want to win a state championship tomorrow. I just tried to focus on one pitch at a time. It calms me to know I have a good infield and outfield behind me.”

In the third, Lebanon had runners at the corners with two outs and used a ground ball to shortstop Joey Pannunzio to end the inning. With runners at second and third in the fourth, Murphy fielded a sacrifice bunt and threw out the runner at first and used a ground ball to Logan Patellis at first base to quell the threat. Then, in the sixth, with the tying runs on second and third, he induced a ground ball to second baseman Louie Zorella for the final out of the contest.

Owen Franciscus reached on an error and scored to put Lebanon ahead, 1-0, in the bottom half of the first.

Bair walked and scored on a single by Ryan Weibling to knot the score, 1-1, in the third. Weibling later scored on a groundout by Murphy for the lead.

Mason Hurst walked and scored on a single from Thomas Barnhart as Lebanon tied the score at 2 in the third.

Logan Patellis started and worked the first three innings for Canfield. He struck out four and walked four, allowing four hits and two runs, one of them earned.

“I just talked him down,” Pete Patellis said. “I try and get him to reset and, usually, he’s OK. He ground it out. He only allowed the two runs. He’s been in those situations before. It isn’t anything new. They’re 10. Sometimes, it’s tough to focus. You have parents yelling, kids chanting. For him to stay focused, and for Will to stay focused at the end, I’ve got to give them credit.”

Bair had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Canfield offense and Weibling, Pannunzio, Danny Chaplow and Luke Stroney each added a hit.