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Clarion Little League: Week Six Recap…Still Catching Up, More Doubleheaders And Lightning (06/05/2018)

(By CSZ Sports Writer Kenn Staub)  Still playing catch-up with Clarion Sports Zone’s Clarion Little League (CLL) column and have now made it to Week 6 (May 21-25). Doubleheaders were again the order of the week, with twin bills originally scheduled for Monday (May 21), Tuesday (May 22), and Thursday (May 24). Unfortunately Mother Nature had a say in how things ultimately played out, as lightning in the area forced the second game on Tuesday to be moved to Wednesday (May 23), creating a doubleheader on a date when only a single game was originally scheduled. As CLL President Brian Smail noted, the lightning delay made for a long day on Tuesday as the teams in the night cap waited and waited and waited to see if the weather would clear enough for them to take the field.

 

Monday, May 21 (GAME 1): Lions 20 – SMI 6 (four innings)

In one of the more lopsided games of the season Lions (Away) thumped SMI (Home) 20-6. Lions started the rout early, plating ten runs in the first. The second inning was scoreless, with Lions extending their lead to 14-0 in the third. SMI tallied four in the bottom of the inning, making the score 14-4. Lions added six more in the fourth and, when SMI could only score two during their at bat, the game was ended 20-6 via the “ten-run rule”.

Three Lions’ players had multi-hit games: Gabe Simko (three singles), Nathan Frederick (single, double), and Brady Pierce (two singles). Jake Smith and Mason Gourley each contributed a single. Trey Hooks singled to record his first Little League hit, as did Briggs Beckwith. Smith led the way with four RBI, followed by Pierce, Simko, and Frederick who drove in two apiece.

Brayden Murray had a big day at the plate for SMI, hitting a home run, double, and driving in four. Dauntae Girvan singled and doubled. Jack Craig had two singles.

Lions upped its record to 4-3 and SMI fell to 0-9.

 

Monday, May 21 (GAME 2): Burns & Burns 8 – Pizza Pub 4 (seven innings)

Burns & Burns (Away) added to its league leading seven victories by downing Pizza Pub (Home) 8-4 in Monday’s second game. Burns scored two in the top of the first and then was shut-out over the course of the next four innings. During Burns’s offensive lull, Pub went to work, plating two in the bottom of the third and another in the fifth, taking a 3-2 lead. Burns rose to the challenge in the sixth, scoring two to give them a 4-3 advantage. Manager Ryan Kemmer’s Pub team scored the run it needed in the bottom to knot the game, sending it to extra innings. It was all Burns in the seventh, as the David Smail-led boys scored four and took the victory when Pub was unable to respond in kind.

Devon Lauer had three hits for Burns in the contest, two singles and a double. Dawson Smail doubled twice and Ty Rankin connected for one of his own. Gabe Anderson notched two singles and Derek Smail, Dylan Smail, and Kothan Smith each had one. The Smail brothers accounted for six RBI, with Dawson good for four and Derek and Dylan one apiece. Kothan Smith also plated a run.

Pubs’ Kohen Kemmer and Tanner Miller had three hits. Kemmer two doubles and a triple. Miller, a seeming singles machine this season, poked three. Nick Aaron also singled.

Burns’s win gave them an 8-2 record, while Pub went to 4-6.

 

Tuesday, May 22: Rotary 14 – SMI 10

Rotary (Home) handed SMI (Away) another loss, coming from behind to capture a 14-10 victory. It looked like this would be the game that SMI snapped its losing streak, as they led 6-3 after two and 10-5 after three. Rotary began its comeback in the fourth, blanking SMI in the top of the inning and scoring seven during its at bat to take a 12-10 lead. SMI didn’t score the rest of the way while Rotary added two in the fifth, giving them the win.

SMI’s Dauntae Girvan fell a triple short of the cycle, rapping a single, double, and home run in a three RBI performance. Brayden Murray also went yard and hit a single. Ben Aaron doubled and Wyatt Watterson and Paul Craig singled. Murray was credited with three RBI and Jack Craig, Grayson Aaron, Ben Aaron, and Watterson one.

Bryce Brinkley and Tommy Smith each had three hits for Bill Smith’s Rotary team. Brinkley recorded two doubles and a single, while Smith fell a home run short of his own cycle, pounding a single, double, and triple. Both had four RBI. Aiden Coulson (single, double) and Owen Kriebel (two singles) also had multi-hit games and Brady Quinn singled. Billy Kahle had his first Little League hit, knocking a single. Coulson and Kriebel each plated a run.

Rotary’s record stood at 6-4 and SMI’s at 0-10 after Tuesday’s game.

 

Wednesday, May 23 (GAME 1): Rotary 4 – Delta Contractors 0

It was a well-played game by both teams, but Tommy Smith’s dominant performance on the mound for Rotary (Away) was the difference. Smith threw six shut-out innings of baseball, fanning fifteen Delta Contractor hitters and not walking any. Rotary scored all the runs it needed in the first, tallying two. After this, Mike Ferguson’s Delta team buckled down and held Rotary scoreless until the sixth, when Rotary posted another two to claim a 4-0 victory.

Smith acquitted himself well at the plate as well, hitting two singles and a double. Bryce Brinkley scampered around the bases for a triple. Owen Kriebel singled twice and Brady Quinn and Liam Huwar once. Kriebel drove in two. Smith and Quinn plated one.

Delta had four singles, two by Jase Ferguson and one apiece from Logan Lutz and Jayden Siwiecki.

Rotary’s second win in two days gave them a 7-4 record. Delta’s record went to 6-4.

 

Wednesday, May 23 (GAME 2): Lions 4 – Pizza Pub 3

The fans who stuck around for the second game on Wednesday were treated to another fine contest, as they got to see Lions (Home) take a nail biter against Pizza Pub (Away). Pub led 3-0 going into the bottom of the third, at which point the Lions’ offense came alive to score two, making the game 3-2. Lions tied the game in the bottom of the fourth and added an insurance run in the fifth while holding Pub scoreless over the final three innings to claim a 4-3 comeback win.

Kohen Kemmer, Tanner Miller, Nick Aaron, and Parker Miller singled to account for Pubs’ four hits. Aaron had two RBI and Parker Miller one.

Lions had three hits, one of which was Jake Smith’s first Little League home run. Gabe Simko doubled and Brady Pierce singled. Smith and Simko each drove in a run.

Lions second win of the week gave them a 6-3 record, whereas Pub was 4-7 after its second loss in three days.

 

Thursday, May 24 (GAME 1): Burns & Burns 5 – Lions 4

The last time these two teams met they played to 5-5 seven inning tie, the result of being timed out. This game proved just as competitive, with Burns & Burns (Home) coming away with a 5-4 victory. Lions (Away) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Burns subsequently held Lions in check through the next four innings, tying things up with two of their own in the bottom of the third and taking a 5-2 lead when they added three in the fifth. Lions attempted to come back in the away half of the sixth, but fell one run of sending the contest to extra innings.

Gabe Simko hit one out and had two RBI for Lions. Jake Smith singled, doubled, and collected an RBI. Mason Gourley came through with a double and RBI. Brady Pierce singled.

The Smail boys accounted for the majority of Rotary’s hit. Dawson singled twice and doubled, Derek doubled. Kothan Smith singled and led the way with two RBI. Devon Lauer also singled.

In winning its second game of the week, Rotary’s record moved to 7-4. Lions, playing its third game of Week 6, went to 6-4.

 

Thursday, May 24 (GAME 2): Delta Contractors 3 – Pizza Pub 2

The second game of the evening was just as close as the first, with Delta Contractors (Home) prevailing in come from behind fashion over Pizza Pub (Away) by a single run. After a scoreless first two innings, Pub got on the board with two in the top of the third. Delta did not respond until the bottom of the fourth, plating a run to make the score 2-1. Delta got the tying and go ahead runs it needed in the fifth to claim the 3-2 victory.

Nick Aaron had two doubles and Tanner Miller two singles. Aaron also posted an RBI. Charlie Hepfl got his first Little League hit, a single

Jesse Siwiecki singled and doubled for Delta. He had one RBI. Logan Lutz and Jase Ferguson doubled, while Jayden Siwiecki and Kaden Ferguson each singled. Siwiecki had an RBI.

Delta’s 1-1 record over the course of the week gives them a 7-4 overall mark. Pub, who lost its third of the week and second by one run, goes to 4-8.

 

 

(information for this article from CLL President Brian Smail)