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11-12 Baseball All-Stars Complete Great Post-Season (08/06/14)

The Clarion Little League 11-12 Baseball All-Stars completed a great Post Season run. The team won both the District 25 and Section 1 crowns and advanced to the State Tournament. Clarion Manager, Garrett Goheen provided information on the Section 1 Tournament and Susan Reed of the Skippack Little League (the State Tournament host) provided coverage of Clarion’s State Tournament action. Monica Goheen provided the photos.

2014 Clarion 11-12 Baseball All-Stars - Section 1 Champions

(All photos by Monica Goheen) 2014 Clarion 11-12 Baseball All-Stars – Section 1 Champions

CLARION WINS OPENING GAME IN SECTION 1 TOURNEY
Clarion 11&12 year olds used the long ball to mount a come from behind victory over Cochranton in the opening game of the Section 1 championship tournament.

Trailing 3-0 in the top of the 5th and yet to push a runner past 2nd base, the game changed on 2 mighty swings of the bat. The first one was a tremendous 2 run homer by Skylar Rhoades who drove in himself and Cal German who was on base by way of a single earlier in the inning. The next swing Clarion took was another shot. This time a screaming line drive by Curvin Goheen which crashed loudly into the scoreboard in left center field. However, Clarion could only tie the game after their half of the 5th and score was knotted at 3 going into the home half.

Goheen was on the mound to start the inning, he retired 2 hitters but allowed 2 to reach and was pulled in favor of Hayden Callen. Callen’s first pitch was ripped down the first base line, but Goheen, who was now playing first was able to snag the ball in the air to end the Cochranton threat.

Nate Datko started the 6th inning off with a base hit to left. Ben Smith then stepped into the box. He fouled a pitch off, then took a called strike before bombing the 3rd pitch of the at bat over the right field fence and giving Clarion a 5-3 lead. Clarion never scored again.

(All photos by Monica Goheen) Nick Frederick, Cal German, Nate Datko, Lake Staub,  Cole Slaughenhoup having a meeting

Nick Frederick, Cal German, Nate Datko, Lake Staub,
Cole Slaughenhoup having a meeting

Callen took the mound in the 6th. He was helped out by his defense from the start, Goheen made a sliding stop of a ground ball for the first out, German made a diving play behind 2nd base for the second out, and Goheen ended the game with a nice play on a ground ball hit down the line for the 3rd out.

Clarion advanced to play Punxsutawney in the winners’ bracket final next.

CLARION BEATS PUNXY 12-0 IN SECTION 1 WINNERS’BRACKET FINAL
Clarion pounded out 12 runs on 17 hits in a 4 inning mercy rule victory over Punxy in the section 1 winner’s bracket final.
Nick Frederick faced only 9 batters in 3 innings of work on the mound. He struck out 5 and walked 0. He gave way after 3 innings to Calvin German who worked a scoreless 4th to preserve the win.

Clarion was scoreless after the 1st then came to bat in the top of the 2nd. After 1 out, Frederick, and German collected back to back hits. Both scored on Lake Staub’s RBI single. Staub scored 2 batters later on Curvin Goheen’s RBI single and Clarion had a 3-0 lead.

In the 3rd, Clarion broke the game wide open. Nate Datko homered to start the inning. Ben Smith, Josh Craig, Frederick, and German each singled in succession. German’s hit plated Datko and Smith. German was then caught stealing, but Frederick scored on the throw. Staub then drew a walk and moved to 3rd on Skylar Rhoades double. Staub scored a batter later on Goheen’s groundout. Rhoades advanced to third and scored 1 pitch later on a wild pitch. Hayden Callen drew a walk and Nate Datko and Ben Smith each singled. Callen and Datko each scored on Josh Craig’s RBI single. Frederick then grounded out to end the inning, but Clarion now had a commanding 11-0 lead.

 Josh Craig Batting

Josh Craig Batting

Clarion tacked on another run in the 4th when Goheen grounded out to second base and plated Staub who reached on an error.
German recorded the final out via a strikeout to give Clarion the mercy rule victory.

CLARION WINS SECTION 1 CHAMPIONSHIP
Clarion beat Punxy for the 2nd time in 3 days to give them the Section 1 championship and gain them a trip to states in Skippack PA.

Clarion was the home team via a coin flip before the game.
Skylar Rhoades started on the mound for Clarion. He pitched a scoreless first inning walking 1 and striking out 3.

Rhoades also kick started the offense when he led the home half of the first with a solid single. Curvin Goheen walked to push Rhoades to 2nd. Rhoades advanced to 3rd on Nate Datko’s fielder’s choice and scored on a wild pitch to the next batter. Clarion mustered no more and after 1 inning had a 1-0 lead.

Rhoades then allowed an infield single to start the 2nd. 2 wild pitches advanced the runner to 3rd and then a walk put runners on first and third with no outs. Clarion chose to trade the run for the out when the Punxy runner on first was thrown out trying to steal 2nd, but did allow the runner on third to score to tie the game at 1. Rhoades then struck out the next 2 batters.

Clarion added another run in the 2nd when Nick Frederick scored on Rhoades RBI single.

Rhoades pitched a scoreless 3rd collecting another strikeout along the way and had a 2-1 lead after 2 and a half innings.
Clarion scored 2 more in the bottom of the 3rd. Datko reached on error and scored on Ben Smith’s single. Josh Craig singled and scored on a Frederick RBI single. At the game’s midpoint Clarion had a 4-1 lead.

Curvin Goheen Pitching Ben Smith at 3rd

Curvin Goheen Pitching Ben Smith at 3rd

Rhoades started the 4th on the mound. He allowed a hit and a walk before gathering his 7th strikeout of the game. He retired his final batter on a groundout fielder’s choice and was pulled due to pitch count restrictions. Goheen took over for Rhoades and promptly struck out the next batter to strand 2 Punxy runners on base and end their threat.

Clarion also went scoreless in its half of the 4th but did remain in the lead 4-1 through 4 complete.

Goheen faced 5 batters in the top of the 5th but did not allow a run and collected 2 strikeouts in the scoreless frame.
Clarion finally blew the game open in the bottom of the 5th by scoring 6 runs. Frederick led off with a double, German reached on an error and Lake Staub singled to score Frederick. German then scored when Rhoades reached on an error. Goheen singled to score Staub. Goheen and Rhoades were both on base when Datko hit a towering homerun to center to make the score 10-1.

Josh Craig pitched a perfect 6th inning to preserve the win and hand Clarion the Section 1 title.

CLARION 11&12 YEAR OLDS FINISH 8TH IN STATE
(By Susan Reed – Skippack Little League)
Clarion Little League 11&12 year olds proudly represented their league with a trip to The State Championship Tournament in Skippack PA. Clarion qualified for the event by first winning the District 25 tournament then by winning the Section 1 Tournament.

1.Manager Garrett Goheen talking to the base runners Nick  Frederick and Hayden Callen

1. Manager Garrett Goheen talking to the base runners Nick
Frederick and Hayden Callen

The Clarion families travelled 5 hours just west of Philadelphia to Skippack. The first day of the event was Saturday’s check in, Coaches Meeting, and Host Banquet. Skippack Little League had a catered dinner and introduction under a massive tent at their host facility. Each player received a state tournament pin as a gift. Following the banquet, the families returned to their hotel where the players played X-Box and watched TV until retiring to their rooms at 9:00 due to Manager Garrett Goheen’s team imposed curfew.

At 10:00 the Clarion coaches (which includes all the men who coached or helped during the regular season, not just the listed all-star coaches) met in the hotel lobby to go over strategies for Sunday morning’s game. The decision was made to start Nick Frederick on the mound as well as other lineup and position decisions. By midnight everyone has retired to their rooms.

Sunday Morning at 6:45 the team ate breakfast together and Goheen read the lineup to the team before they departed. Two older brothers of players on the team, Cam Craig and Daniel Callen (Brothers of Josh and Hayden) volunteered to pitch batting practice before the game. Following batting practice the team went to the main field and took its 10 minutes of allotted infield time before the game started.

Clarion was the visiting team via the coin toss. Following player introductions it was finally time to PLAY BALL. Clarion was facing the mighty Taney Youth Baseball Association from Philadelphia. Taney has a league of 900 players with 70 different teams according to their website.

The boys from Clarion showed zero evidence of being intimidated as Skylar Rhoades hit the very first pitch of the tournament past the Taney shortstop to put himself on first base. Clarion 2 hitter Curvin Goheen then drew a walk to advance Rhoades to 2nd. Following a strikeout, Josh Craig hit a ground ball to short that advanced Rhoades to 3rd. Goheen was out at 2nd, but a hard slide allowed Craig to make it safely to first. He stole 2nd on the next pitch. Then Hayden Callen laced a single to left that plated Rhoades and Craig giving Clarion a 2-0 lead. Callen was stranded and Clarion hit the field.

Cole Slaugenhoup Playing outfield getting ready for a  hit

Cole Slaugenhoup Playing outfield getting ready for a
hit

Frederick was on fire to start. He struck out the first 2 Taney hitters that he faced and retired the 3rd out on a ground ball to shortstop Cal German.

Clarion had only 1 baserunner in the 2nd. German drew a 1 out walk, but never advanced past first.

Clarion had to use 3 pitchers in the bottom of the 2nd. Taney scored 3 runs to take the lead. German put out the Taney Rally when he induced a line drive to short that Callen caught at his ankles to leave the bases loaded.

Goheen walked to start the 3rd, but a strikeout and 2 groundouts ended the Clarion 3rd without a run.

Taney scored 2 more in the home half of the 3rd. The damage was once again minimized by great defense when Clarion catcher Lake Staub threw out a Taney baserunner trying to steal 2nd with 2 outs. Taney led 5-2 at the games midpoint.

Clarion threatened in the 4th but never scored. Following 2 strikeouts, German and Staub each singled and Rhoades walked to load the bases. However, the next Clarion batter was retired and a chance to cut into the lead was lost.

Taney carried the momentum up to the plate in the home half of the 4th. They were able to convert 4 hits and 2 walks into 4 runs and after 4 innings led 9-2.

Clarion went scoreless again in the 5th as they were unable to capitalize on Craig’s 1 out single.

Clarion then retired Taney in order in the bottom of the 5th. Clarion showed no quit as they came to bat in the game’s final inning.

German singled to start the inning and advanced to 3rd on Staub’s single. German scored on Goheen’s RBI groundout to cut the lead to 9-3. Clarion would get no closer as the game ended with that same score.

Goheen talked to me after the game. “That Taney team is the best little league team that I have ever coached against” said the noticeably dejected manager. “They have zero weaknesses. I thought we hung in and played them tough, but I do believe that the better team won. I will be shocked if they don’t win this whole tournament”
*** Writer’s note, Taney did win the state championship.***

The team cleaned up the dugout and had a quick meeting. They then grabbed their snack from the concession stand. Goheen sent them all back to the hotel and told them to enjoy their afternoon as he and Coaches Mike Smith and Joel German stayed to scout the next game.

MONDAY GAME 2
Clarion faced off in its 2nd game, an elimination game with Montoursville PA. Montoursville was coached by former MLB pitcher Mike Musssina who has a son who stars on the team. Montoursville lost a heartbreaker opening round game to Warrick TWP to put them in the loser’s bracket vs Clarion.

Hayden Callen drew the start for Clarion on the mound. Clarion was the home team via the coin toss.
Callen gave up a lead- off double to the game’s first batter. Callen smiled as he took the ball back from the infielders and promptly struck out the next 2 Montoursville hitters. He then got the cleanup batter to pop out to the catcher and Clarion was up to bat.

Clarion bats it’s 2 most experienced hitter 1 &2 in the lineup. Skylar Rhoades and Curvin Goheen, after the state tournament the 2 of them share the record for most all-star games played in Clarion Little League history at 37 games.
Each struck out in 4 pitches to start the game. Clarion Manager Garrett Goheen told me that both players commented on how sharply the Montoursville starter’s curve ball broke. Nate Datko grounded out to end the inning and after 1 the game was scoreless.

Callen was on fire the next 3 innings. He retired 9 of the next 10 batters and held Montoursville scoreless through 4.
Clarion missed a chance in the 2nd when Craig and Callen each singled to start the frame. Neither advanced however as the next 3 Clarion batters hit infield pop ups.

Clarion broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the 3rd. Rhoades singled with 1 out and scored from first on Datko’s 2 out double. Clarion failed to score in the 4th and took a 1-0 lead into the 5th.

Callen looked good to start the 5th by recording 2 quick groundouts to start the frame. Then he hit a batter with 2 strikes. The next batter reached on an error and the top of the lineup was up. After a mound visit, The Montoursville lead-off hitter laced a ball over centerfielder Rhodes’s head. 1 run scored to tie the game, but Rhoades with his back against the 235 foot wall threw an amazing 1 hop strike to the plate to freeze the other runner at third. Goheen then pulled Callen for Rhoades who struck out the next batter leaving 2 runners in scoring position and keeping the game tied.

It looked as if Clarion would score a run in its half of the 5th when Curvin Goheen hammered a ball to straight away center. The ball travelled a mere 233 feet which is 2 feet short of a homerun in Skippack and fell safely into the glove of the centerfielder. Clarion went into the 6th tied at 1.

The Montoursville bats came to life in the top of the 6th as they used 4 hits, 4 walks, and an error to score 6 runs and take a commanding 7-1 lead.

Once again Clarion never quit. Following a groundout, Callen, Frederick, Ben Smith, and German all singled in succession. German’s single plated Callen and Frederrick to cut the lead to 7-3. German was put out on a fielder’s choice which scored Smith. Rhoades then doubled putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. Curvin Goheen represented the tying run at the plate. He hammered a 1 strike pitch down the first base line, but it was gloved by the Montoursville first baseman who moved sharply to his left and retired Goheen to end the game 7-4.

Clarion’s dream of a state championship had just ended. Goheen was noticeably shaken when I spoke with him after the game. “That is a really good team that just beat us” said Goheen. “But I thought that we could have beaten them. That last inning, everything they hit fell right between our guys. Then all game long I thought we had hits and their players would come out of nowhere and make diving catches. I’m crushed that it’s over, I wanted more for these boys. I honestly don’t think that we were good enough to win the whole thing, but I know that we could have won a few games.” The tournament director then approached Goheen and asked him if his team still wanted to play in the next day’s consolation game. “Absolutely we want to compete any chance we get.”

TUESDAY CONSOLATION GAME VS LIONVILLE
The Clarion coaching staff decided before the game that they were going to let multiple players pitch in this final game. Josh Craig got the start for the home team Clarion. They also switched the lineup so it resembled the same one they used in 2012 when this group as 9&10 year olds finished 4th in the state. “I am doing that because I just want to” said Goheen.

Craig gave up 2 runs in the top of the 1st, but got a strikeout and groundout to strand the bases loaded.

Craig was pulled after 2 outs in the 2nd in favor of Frederrick who struck out the first batter he faced.

Clarion was retired in order in its first 2 times to bat.

Lionville scored 3 unearned runs in the top of the third to take a 5-0 lead. Clarion responded with 4 runs in the home half of the 3rd.

Cole Slaugenhop and Lake Staub each drew 1 out walks. Slaugenhop scored on Datko’s double and Staub scored on Craig’s single. Datko scored on a passed ball, Rhodes walked, and a batter later Craig scored on Goheen’s sacrifice fly. At the game’s midpoint Clarion trailed 5-4.

Lionville scored 3 more in the top of the 4th using 2 doubles and a homerun.

Clarion answered with 2 runs of its own in the home half of the inning. Slaugenhop doubled in German who walked to lead the inning off, then he was plated on Datko’s single.

Lionville kept piling it on as they used 5 hits to score 3 more runs in the 5th.

Clarion went scoreless in the home half of the 5th. German and Staub both had hits in the frame, but were both left on base.

Lionville scored 3 more runs to make the score 14-6 headed into the bottom of the 6th.

As per the team’s identity, the gritty Clarion team continued to battle. Craig singled. Rhoades and Goheen each drew walks. Following 2 popouts German doubled scoring Craig and Rhoades. Goheen scored on Staub’s single and German scored on a passed ball to make the score 14-10. Clarion could muster no more however. With the tying run on the on deck circle, the Lionville pitcher induced a groudout to end the game.

Clarion may not have reached its ultimate goal of a state championship, but Goheen seemed pleased after the game. “You look around this tournament and these teams are all from way bigger areas than ours. We ended up with 65 kids in our league and that’s from ages 9-12. I talked to the coach from Warrick TWP at the opening coaches meeting and he told me their numbers were down, that they ONLY had 77 total 11& 12 year olds in their league. That is twice as many as us. I feel like with a break here or there we could have fared better, but I am very proud of how we represented Clarion not just this year, but the past 3 years. I am sad to see Little League end for most of these boys, but I am excited to see what the future holds for them. I can’t imagine that there was anything more one age group of kids could have accomplished in Clarion. “

(Thanks to Coach Garrett and Monica Goheen and Susan Reed for their fine coverage and photos. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 11-12 ALL-STARS!!!!)