Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Dean Patterson’s Chance Butler advances to third base during a win over Bellwood Eagles late Thursday night.

The 2022 Dean Patterson Little World Series is one the East End Youth Baseball League will not soon forget.

In addition to playing host this year, the league will close out the tournament Saturday with an all-East End championship game after Dean Patterson and Greenwood Meadows both secured wins in the semifinals Thursday.

Greenwood Meadows knocked off previously undefeated Holsinger’s Plumbing & Heating out the Altoona Area Baseball Association 7-4 in the opener before Dean Patterson rallied for a 9-4 win over Bellwood Eagles 9-4 in the nightcap.

The two teams play at 8 p.m. Saturday to see who will hoist this year’s trophy. Holsinger’s and Bellwood play in the 6 p.m. consolation game.

“It couldn’t have played out any better for us. That just tells you where we play the best baseball,” longtime Dean Patterson coach Carl “Pugs” Adams said.

Patterson fell in a 3-0 hole early but managed to keep the game close before breaking through with all nine runs in the final three innings.

“These kids have been scrappy all year,” Adams said. “The attitude gets down a little bit. A couple little hits brought them back up, and a 12-year-old came in to pitch very well.”

After Sam Moser hit a high, towering three-run homer in the first, Bellwood was threatening to put Dean Patterson in an even deeper hole in the third when Brody Brazile came on in relief.

Brazile got the first batter to line into a double play and held Bellwood to one meaningless run in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up just two hits, struck out six and walked none.

After getting on the board with one in the fourth, Patterson tied it with two more in the fifth then took advantage of several Bellwood errors for six in the sixth to break the game open.

Kruz Keith, Chance Butler and Brennan Long each had two hits for DP. Keith drove in three, and Jon Stroup scored three runs.

The Greenwood Meadows win played out the exact opposite. GM never trailed, scoring three in the first and four in the fourth before getting out of big jam in the fifth.

Brayden Pike pitched well through four innings but walked the first two batters of the fifth. Toby Lynch came in and got out of the jam with only two runs scoring. Joel Loshl made a nice running catch in center field to end the threat and keep the inning from getting any worse for Greenwood Meadows

“Joel Loshl making that catch with the bases loaded was a huge moment. That could have potentially tied the game,” GM coach Josh Pike said. “Brayden Pike pitched a heck of a game. He got a little wild there. We brought in Toby Lynch. He started a little wild but then dug down deep, showed some heart and finished the game.”

Holsinger’s left a total of 11 runners on base and committed four errors, twice the number the team had in any one game this year, coach Brian Farabaugh said.

“They made plays. A couple big plays got ’em out of innings,” Farabaugh said. “It’s tough to watch ’em go down like that after the season they’ve had. Our defense let us down a little bit. We typically play great defense. Just a couple of mental errors, guys not covering bases, and balls getting kicked around a little bit.”

GREENWOOD MEADOWS 7, HOLSINGER’S PLUMBING & HEATING 4: 2B–McConnell, Brouse (HPH), Beegle (GM). RBI–Brouse, Gority, T. Farabaugh, D. Hudson (HPH), Lynch, McGinnis, Beegle (GM). WP–B. Pike. LP–Gority. SO–D. Hudson 3 (HPH), B. Pike 3, Lynch 2.

DEAN PATTERSON 9, BELLWOOD EAGLES 4: Multiple hits–Keith 2, Brennan 2, Butler 2 (DP). 2B–Butler, Keith (DP). HR–Moser (BE). RBI–Butler, Keith 3 (DP), Moser 3 (BE). WP–Brazile. LP–Worthing. SO–Long 5, Brazile 6 (DP), Leeper 5, Worthing 3 (BE).