ELIZABETHVILLE - Nick Savage had one of those games Little League ballplayers dream about Saturday night.
The Upper Dauphin County 12-year-old finished 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs, scored four runs and collected five RBIs as UDC routed Railway Park 11-1 in five innings in a District 24 Little League 11-12-year-old Tournament quarterfinal.
His three-run home run in the first inning got the
Pool 1 champs off to a quick start, and his two-run bomb in the fifth inning evoked the 10-run rule.
Savage's big day at the plate was part of an 11-hit attack that propelled Upper Dauphin (5-0) into a semifinal meeting at Millersburg at 5:30 p.m. today. Millersburg beat Ashland 4-1 in their quarterfinal.
"That's just Nick being Nick," Upper Dauphin manager James "Lefty" Lower said. "This is how he hit all year long."
Upper Dauphin County wasted no time taking control, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning.
Carson Barge opened the game by reaching on an error, one of six fielding miscues made by Railway Park during the game.
After a flyout, Levi Engle singled. Savage followed by roping the next pitch from Railway starter J.R. Hahner over the center-field fence. Eight pitches into the game, UDC led 3-0.
"Against a good team like that, that's not easy to overcome," Railway Park manager Ed Hahner said. "We made some errors, but it just wasn't our day."
Railway Park (3-2) threatened in the bottom of the first inning, as Jacob Roos and J.R. Hahner singled and Ryan Schreffler walked. UDC starter Dylan Lower was able to pitch out of the bases-loaded jam without giving up a run, getting a fielder's choice out at home and strikeout to end the inning.
With Dylan Lower throwing 19 pitches, Lefty Lower decided to pull his right-hander after one inning and bring in left-hander Mason Wiest.
The unorthodox move worked, as Wiest gave up just two hits the rest of the way, facing only 14 batters.
"It was looking ahead a little bit, but for the most part I have four pitchers on this team that I can put out on the mound at any time without me being worried," Lefty Lower said.
"Railway was hitting Dylan and putting the ball in play against him, so I decided to save Dylan for another day and bring in Mason. Mason threw a very good game.
"Mason pitched very well today, which I assumed he would before I put him in there."
Upper Dauphin added three runs in the third, three more in the fourth and two in the fifth. Only four of the 11 runs surrendered by J.R. Hahner were earned.
Dylan Lower added a pair of hits for UDC, while J.T. Girard had an RBI double.
Railway tallied its only run when Justice Minor doubled, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Schreffler's RBI single in the third inning.
"This is a great group of kids, and I was glad to be a part of it," Ed Hahner said. "They were a lot of fun."
Game Summary