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JOHNSTOWN -- Two Blair County natives helped set up an all-Johnstown championship in the AAABA National Tournament.
Central High School graduate Hunter Smith helped lead Johnstown's Martella's Pharmacy into the final with a 5-4 victory over New Orleans at Sargent's Stadium at the Point on Friday afternoon, while Altoona's Erik Rhodes played a key role for Johnstown's Mainline Pharmacy in a 5-4 win over New Brunswick on Friday night at the Point.
Smith, the left fielder for Martella's, went 2-for-4 and hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning. Boden Fernsler went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for Martella's.
Rhodes, a center fielder for Mainline, went 1-for-3 and singled in a run in the seventh inning when the Johnstown squad overcame a 4-0 deficit with two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth. Teague Hoover had the key hit with a two-run triple in the eighth.
Martella's (5-0) and Mainline (4-1) will square off for the championship at 7 p.m. Saturday night at the Point.
Pa. LL team on its way
BRISTOL, Conn. -- For the fifth straight year, a team from Pennsylvania is heading to the Little League World Series.
The Glenmoore Little League team, which beat Hollidaysburg in the state title game, delivered another commanding performance Friday, defeating Maryland, 7-1, the second time it bested the Maryland squad in just one week.
The victory not only sends the team to the Little League World Series but also keeps the team undefeated in the tournament.
In the win, pitcher Ethan Herbein threw 4ª innings giving up just three hits, one earned run, and one walk. He struck four out before Mercer relieved him.
In the 1•innings pitched, Aidan Mercer wouldn't allow a chance at a Maryland comeback, allowing just one batter on base with a hit. At the plate, the two combined to score three runs, and collected an RBI and a hit.
Pennsylvania's path to the Little League World Series included going undefeated in the Mid-Atlantic region with three wins and scoring seven runs in all three games. It defeated Maryland 7-2 on Aug. 3, defeated Delaware 7-3 on Aug. 5, and defeated Maryland, 7-1, a second time Friday afternoon, to combine to beat its three opponents 21-6.
Glenmoore now faces South Dakota next Thursday.
Top wrestling set
JOHNSTOWN -- More than 100 top youth wrestlers from across the country are participating in the Top of the Podium wrestling camp this weekend at 1ST SUMMIT Arena in Johnstown.
The event, a production of Firebird Wrestling of Houston, features Bishop McCort's Bo Bassett, Keegan Bassett and Melvin Miller, all of Elton, as the featured technicians instructing the camp. Elite wrestlers ages 5 to 15 have travelled to Johnstown from 27 different states to learn from the three brothers.
"Those three are these kids' idols," Firebird Wrestling owner Jeff Fellows said. "It's pretty cool to see the Bassetts giving back to these kids."
Johnstown is quickly becoming a hotbed of wrestling, producing some of the best kids in the country and even the world, Fellows said.
Bassett, a senior at Bishop McCort, is currently the top-ranked wresting recruit in the nation. Last month, he won the U.S. national championship in North Dakota at the nation's premier freestyle wrestling tournament. This year, he will compete to be the first-ever four-time winner of the Super 32 Tournament, in North Carolina, the nation's top folk-style wrestling tournament.
Miller, a junior at McCort, won U.S. nationals at Fargo as well. He is the top national recruit from the 2027 class. Last week, Keegan Bassett, a sophomore at Bishop McCort, won the U17 World Championship tournament in Greece.
Fewer than 20 of the 117 camp participants are from Pennsylvania.
"You have some of the best kids in the country here, and some trying to get to the next level," Fellows said. "These kids and their families are all-in."
The Johnstown camp is the fourth and final Top of the Podium event, with previous camps held in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Bristol, South Dakota, and Oklahoma City. This is the first time in the camp's three-year history that the event has been held in Johnstown, but Fellows said he hopes to grow the event significantly next summer.
"Johnstown will be a staple for us now," he said.