Trending
Before the fourth inning was set to begin during Saturday night's Park Home Altoona Baseball Classic Championship at John Kraft Field between AABA's L.S. Fiore and East End's Greenwood Meadows, severe storms delayed the game for 95 minutes.
L.S. Fiore coach John Kraft said some generous help from some team parents helped keep his kids fueled for the finish.
"One of the parents brought them food, and they tended to sit down, have food and have a good-time picnic together," he said. "We went back to the dugout, got psyched up again and just went after it."
It turns out the extra fuel helped L.S Fiore push through once the game resumed around 10:15 p.m. The team cashed in on four wild pitches as it captured the title over Greenwood Meadows, 5-2.
"I told the kids in the dugout before they went to bat, if you're a baserunner, I said look for that count, because he's going to throw the curve, and they were," Kraft said.
Gabe Garcia-Hershey started the L.S. Fiore efforts with a leadoff single in the first before scoring on the first of the wild pitches to give the champs at 1-0 lead. Then, the skies opened up.
When action resumed, L.S. Fiore added on as Elijah Wolfe reached on an error before scoring on an RBI groundout by Matthew Wert to make it 2-0 after four innings.
In the fifth inning, Greyson Clark reached on a leadoff bunt single. L.S. Fiore loaded the bases and scored on three more wild pitches.
"It came down to our execution, our hitting," Greenwood Meadows coach Mike Thrower said. "They played a great game, we knew it was going to be tough. They can hit through their entire lineup, they have an amazing defense. We knew it was going to be tough sledding."
Greenwood Meadows didn't go down without a fight. Logan Thrower reached on a single to help break up a no-hit bid. Nolan Carney received a bases-loaded walk to plate a run, and Gabe Meese drove a run in on a fielders' choice.
Garcia-Hershey went five innings for L.S. Fiore, giving up two runs on one hit while striking out seven.
"He has been a workhorse all season," Kraft said. "The size of him is deceiving. It is how hard he throws. He's got some curve balls and junk to go with it. He does really well. He's only 11 years old. He'll be back next year."
Kraft said that there was no thought of removing him from the game, even after the long break.
"We knew at that time that he wasn't in trouble yet," Kraft said. "When he started getting in trouble in that fifth inning, we brought (tournament MVP) Michael (Kraft) in the sixth to finish that up."
Coach Thrower knew what could happen if the game played out a certain way.
"We were prepared for a low-scoring game," Thrower said. "We have a really good defensive team and they have a really good defensive team. It came down to hitting.
"Logan (Thrower) had a ball that was hit in left-center in the second inning, and their centerfielder (Elijah Wolfe) made an amazing diving catch. It was after that, you're like 'Oh, I see what kind of night this is going to be.'"
Greenwood Meadows' season isn't over yet. It will begin its quest for a Courtesy KIA Little World Series title tonight at Altoona Independent's Centennial Field.
"We won (the Park Home Altoona Baseball Classic) the last three years," We're just proud of this group. We've been playing really good baseball for awhile now. The good news is we get some more baseball to play. For me, it's not about winning, we get to spend another week playing baseball together as a team with this group of kids."
L.S. Fiore ends its season having defeated all three teams that won a title in all three Altoona youth organizations in Holsinger's Plumbing (AABA), Fiore True Value (Independent) and Greenwood Meadows.
"Champion killers is what we were," Kraft said. "It was a great way to end the season."
Earlier in the Holsinger's Plumbing won the consolation game over Park Home, 6-3. Holsinger's Plumbing put the first five pitches of the game in play as it scored four runs in the first inning.
Carter Klausman had two hits and a home run while striking out seven on the mound. Ben Gordon and Braxton Moschella also added two hits each.
Park Home had three hitters with two hits, including Chase Buchanan, Michael Muccitelli, and Dylan Hescox. Joey Nedimyer struck out nine.
Jaxon Wagner of Greenwood Meadows took home the tournament's Sportsmanship Award.
L.S. FIORE (5): Garcia-Hershey p-ss 411, Matthews c 110, Kraft ss-p 110, Wolfe cf 300, Gibney 1b 200, Myers 2b 301, Isenberg 300, Wert 3b 300, Clark lf 311. Totals: 23-5-3.
GREENWOOD MEADOWS (2): E. Klausman cf 200, Carney ss 300, Meese p 300, Mercer lf 100, Page 3b 300, Wagner 1b 300, McGinnis c 300, Thrower 2b 211, B. Klausman rf 110. Totals: 20-2-1
SCORE BY INNINGS
L.S. Fiore 100 130 - 5 3 1
Greenwood Meadows 000 020 - 2 1 1
RBI - Wert (LSF); Carney, Meese (GM). SO - Garcia-Hershey 7, Kraft 1 (LSF); Meese 8 (GM)
CONSOLATION
HOLSINGER'S PLUMBING (AABA) 6, PARK HOME (AABA) 3: HR--Carter Klausman (HP). Multiple hits--Carter Klausman 2 (HP), Ben Gordon 2 (HP), Braxton Moschella 2 (HP); Joey Nedimyer 2 (PH), Chase Buchanan 2 (HP), Michael Muccitelli 2 (PH), Dylan Hescox 2 (PH). WP--Carter Klausman. LP--Declan Lutz. SO--Carter Klausman 7 (HP), Gio Perretta 1 (HP); Declan Lutz 1 (PH), Joey Nedimyer 9 (PH).