Clarion 10u Little League All-Stars Capture District 25 Title, Look Ahead To Sectionals (07/13/2017)
(By CSZ sportswriter Kenn Staub
(Photo Submitted) Players (L-R) Brady Pierce, Aiden Coulson, Jayden Siwiecki, Jesse Siwiecki, Derek Smail, Matt Alston, Mason Gourley, Kamden Kemmer, Hayden Weber, Nathan Frederick
Coaches (L-R) Ben Coulson, Matt Siwiecki, Lee Weber
On Monday July 10th, the Clarion 10u Little League All-Stars captured the Pennsylvania District 25 championship, downing Butler Township 17-5 in a rematch of second round play. Clarion opened the double elimination tournament by defeating Oil City 17-4 (4 innings) on Wednesday July 5th, following which they secured a spot in the title game with an initial 7-4 victory over Butler Township. The home town team now advances to the Section 1 tournament that begins Monday July 17th, in Union City.
Manager Lee Weber said he didn’t know what to expect from his team going into the District 25 tournament because the boys had never previously played together as a unit. After watching a few practices, however, he came to the conclusion that the team had the potential to do well. Weber and his coaching staff have been stressing control pitching, solid defense, and getting a good pitch to hit. As they approach the Section 1 tournament, Weber says the focus will be on improving themselves, rather than worrying about other teams they might face.
Overall Weber noted that there is power at the front of his line-up, with the second half possessing speed and contact abilities. He feels the team has at least four pitchers, but that the coaching staff continues working to develop one or two more. Weber had individual words of praise for each of the 10 players on the roster:
Matt Alston (P, INF): “a strong accurate arm and good defense, also has lots of pop in the bat”
Aiden Coulson (C, INF): “steady defensive player, good contact and power, tough out”
Nathan Frederick (OF): “quick on the bases, contact is improving, can play almost any position”
Mason Gourley (OF): “good speed and good hitter, has good pop with the bat”
Kamden Kemmer (OF): “competitive and wants to learn, has some power and contact is improving”
Brady Pierce (P, INF): “fast, good glove, good contact and great bunter”
Jayden Siwiecki (P, INF): “smart base runner, throws strikes, good contact and bunter”
Jesse Siwiecki (P, INF): “smart runner, solid glove, great utility player, some pop in the bat”
Derek Smail (P, INF): “good base runner, very strong arm, hits bombs”
Hayden Weber (P, OF): ‘very patient at the plate, good utility player, contact is improving”
Perhaps, most significantly, Weber described all his players as being very coachable.
Weber is assisted by coaches Matt Siwiecki, Ben Coulson, Denny Alston, and Darren Frederick. He gives these men a lot of credit for the team’s success owing to the tremendous help they’ve provided on and off the field.
The 2017 10u Section 1 tournament is being hosted by Union City and is scheduled to begin with a doubleheader on Monday July 17th. In the 6:00 first game McLane (District 1) will take on St. Marys (District 10), with Clarion to play Harborcreek at 8:00. Weber reported that Harborcreek is a formidable team with solid pitching and hitting, having won their four district games by a combined score of 70-7.
(Thanks to Manager Lee Weber for providing information for this article.)
(Thanks to Kenn Staub for this article. Congratulations 10u All-Stars!!!!)