B&W Smith Finishes Second In 2014 Field Of Dreams Baseball Classic (06/04/14)
(By Kenn Staub)
A team of Clarion-area 11- and 12-year olds sponsored by B&W Smith Excavating traveled to Ohio over Memorial Day Weekend to participate in the 2014 Field of Dreams Baseball Classic. The Clarion boys acquitted themselves well in Boardman, going 4-1 in the two day event to claim the tournament’s runner up spot in the nine team field.
(Photo by Monica Goheen) B&W Smith Team: Seated (L – R) Cole Slaugenhoup, Daniel Ketner, Skylar Rhoades, Hayden Callen, Josh Craig, Ben Smith Standing (L- R) Nate Datko, Lake Staub, Jake Smith with Curvin Goheen, Nick Frederick, Cal German
Saturday was devoted to pool play, as teams battled it out in three team divisions to determine their seeding for Sunday’s single elimination championship round. The B&W Smith team stormed through their pool, scoring 30 combined runs while giving up only 1 in the two games they played, with the “mercy rule” applied in both.
B&W Smith opened pool play with an 11-1 victory over the Grand Valley Stallions out of Orwell, Ohio. The game was close for the first two innings, with the Clarion team clinging to a 2-1 lead. After shutting out the Stallions in the top of the third, however, the B&W Smith boys parlayed three hits and multiple Grand Valley errors into seven runs for a 9-2 lead.
The Clarion team added two insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth, with the game clinching score coming when Daniel Ketner stole home from third to invoke the “mercy rule”. Ketner (two singles) and Hayden Callen (two singles, double) had multi-hit games for B&W Smith, with Ben Smith, Josh Craig, and Nick Frederick chipping in singles.
Skylar Rhoades hit a two out, solo home run in the bottom of the first.
Curvin Goheen started for Clarion and earned the win, striking out five of the eight batters he faced in his two innings of work. Rhoades pitched two scoreless innings of relief, fanning all seven batters who came to the plate against him (a single batter reached first on a dropped third strike).
(Photo by Monica Goheen) Skylar Rhoades being greeted by the B&W Smith team after hitting a home run against Grand Valley.
A first inning explosion propelled B&W Smith to a 19-0 “mercy rule” victory over the Freeport (OH) Freedom in the Clarion team’s second game of the afternoon. After holding the Freedom scoreless in the top of the first, B&W Smith took advantage of seven hits, three Freeport errors, and three walks to score thirteen runs in the bottom of the frame, eight of which came before a single out had been recorded.
A second inning scoring drought by both teams was broken in the bottom of the third, when Clarion scored six runs on five hits to set the game’s final score. Ketner had B&W Smith’s only extra base hit of the game, a double in the first inning.
Cal German and Rhoades each had three singles, Callen and Smith two, and Craig, Nate Datko, Nick Frederick, and Lake Staub one apiece.
Callen started the game for B&W Smith, pitching two innings and striking out five on his way to the win. German struck out two in his one inning of relief and Datko punched out one in an inning of work.
(Photo by Monica Goheen) Cole Slaugenhoup puts the ball in play.
On Sunday, the Clarion team used a fine pitching performance by German as a catalyst for a 5-1 quarterfinal victory over the host Boardman 12’s. German pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and striking out nine for the win.
Following a scoreless first inning, B&W Smith got on the board with a pair of runs in the top of the second, the product a two RBI double by Ketner. They added to their lead in the top of the third, as Callen tripled and was driven home on a sacrifice by Datko to put the Clarion team up 2-0.
After scoreless fourth and fifth innings, Clarion plated two in the top of the sixth when German helped his own cause with a two run double. Boardman attempted to come back in their half of the frame, but could only manage a single run while stranding two. German (two doubles) and Craig (two singles) notched multi-hit games, with Callen (triple), Rhoades (double), and Ketner (single) also adding hits. Callen pitched the final inning in relief of German, striking out two.
(Photo by Angie Smith) Manager Garrett Goheen prepares to send his players out on the field.
B&W Smith next met the Blackhawk Bucks (Beaver Falls, PA) in one of the tournament’s semifinal match-ups. The Bucks used four singles and a home run to score six in the top of the first, but B&W Smith played shut out baseball the rest of the way to prevail 11-6.
The Clarion boys, undeterred by Blackhawk’s opening offensive assault, knotted up the game by scoring six runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. German and Frederick each singled, plating a run apiece, with Goheen hitting a three run, two out triple and scoring himself with some heads up base running on the play to tie the game.
B&W Smith plated the go ahead run in the bottom of the second when Datko scored from third on a sacrifice by German. The Clarion team went up 8-6 in the bottom of the fourth when Callen ran home from third on a passed ball. B&W Smith closed out the game with three additional runs in their half of the fifth, the final blow coming on a two out, two run triple by Callen.
Callen had three hits (triple, two singles), Datko and Frederick each recorded two singles, and Goheen (triple) and German (single) collected a hit each. Callen pitched three innings, striking out six as he earned the win. Rhoades pitched in relief, fanning nine of the thirteen batters he faced.
(Photo by Monica Goheen) Josh Craig takes off for first in the game against Boardman
In the title game B&W Smith took on the Guernsey County Miners from Byesville, Ohio. Guernsey County, playing as the away team, scored three in the top of the first. Their lead was short lived, however, as the Clarion team tied the score by plating three in the bottom of the frame. B&W Smith’s runs came when Callen scored from third on a passed ball, Ketner hit a one run single, and Craig walked with bases load to force Datko across the plate.
The Miners were held scoreless in the top of the second, allowing B&W Smith to take 5-3 lead when Rhoades hit a two run homer in the Clarion half of the inning. Guernsey County battled back, putting up five in the third and two in the fourth to grab a 10-5 lead. The bottom of the fourth saw B&W Smith begin to mount a comeback, as singles by Frederick and Staub plated two runs.
Rhoades hit a solo homer in the bottom of fifth, his second of the game and third of the tournament, to draw B&W Smith within two, 10-8.
Though they threatened in the sixth, scoring a run when, in a show of respect, Guernsey County intentionally walked the power hitting Rhoades with bases loaded, B&W Smith was ultimately unable to complete the comeback and fell 10-9.
Callen (single, double), Rhoades (single, two home runs), Frederick (two singles), Staub (single, double), and Ketner (two singles) had multiple hits.
Craig, Datko, and German each singling. Rhodes pitched three innings, striking out 6, with Goheen fanning two in two innings of work and German one in the inning he pitched.
(Photo By Monica Goheen) Players and coaches from B&W Smith and the Guernsey County Miners pose for a picture as part of the awards ceremony.
Following the game, the tournament director had very kind words for the B&W Smith team and introduced each coach and player as he presented them with pins during the awards ceremony. He singled out Rhoades for special mention, noting that the Clarion player’s performance in the championship game was one of the finest he had ever witnessed.
The day of baseball came to an end with both teams posing for a group picture.
(Thanks to Coach Staub for this article and to Angie Smith and Monica Goheen for the photos. Congratulations B&W Smith!!!!)