MINERSVILLE — Tyler Cleveland was unable to play for Upper Dauphin County in last year’s District 24 Little League 11-12-year-old All-Star Tournament.
Manager Bryan Evans sure is happy to have Cleveland back in the rotation.
Cleveland tossed five-plus scoreless innings and struck out 12 as UDC opened Pool 4 play with a 4-0 victory over Minersville at Carl E. Ulmer Memorial Field on Sunday evening.
“Tyler Cleveland threw one heckuva game,” Evans said. “Tyler Cleveland was missing out of our rotation last year. ... To have him back, he grew so much.
“Throwing the fastball, hitting the corners. He threw the curveball very nice. I think between Tyler and Nathan (Wise) they ended up with 14 strikeouts for the game.”
Cleveland left after reaching Little League’s 85-pitch maximum on a single to start the sixth inning. He allowed just four hits — two from Minersville’s Roman DiNicola — before Wise entered to record the game’s final three outs.
UDC’s lineup also gave its two pitchers enough run support, getting timely hitting.
Jesse Engle’s RBI single drove in Wise from second base with the game’s first run in the opening frame after Wise singled and advanced on a wild pitch.
A fielder’s choice by Mason Evans in the third drove in Wise with UDC’s second run.
Finally, after Bryce Herb scored on a passed ball, Wise drove in Bronson Kelly for a 4-0 lead in the fourth.
“The timely hitting was tremendous for us tonight,” Bryan Evans said, “not only on one occasion, but on two occasions where we had guys on and we get the base hit that we needed to get to get the extra runs.”
Minersville (0-1) put runners on second base in four of the first five innings. The big hit never came, though.
“They got a couple of timely hits,” Minersville manager Bryan Denion said. “We were in the same position. We just weren’t able to bring them around the bases when we needed to.”
With only three teams in the pool, Minersville will get a second crack at UDC.
“We played a tough team,” Denion said he told his team. “We kept in the game right until the very end. Nothing to hang their heads about, against a very tough team. We’ve got three more games in this tournament, keep your heads up, and we’ll come back.”
Minersville will be off until Thursday when it visits Mahanoy City, while Upper Dauphin hosts Mahanoy City on Tuesday.
UDC, a perennial contender for the district title and last year’s 10-11-year-old champs, couldn’t wait to get its first contest in this season.
“The kids were itching to get out and play a game,” Evans said. “We’ve been practicing hard now for two weeks, and I think we had a little bit of nerves from being off for awhile and them wanting to get out on the field. To come out and get that first win under you, it’s a confidence booster. The kids will feed off of that and continue to go forward.
“This year’s going to be tough. There are a lot of good teams this year in District 24. It’s going to be a battle this year.”
SPN 6
Pine Grove 3
NEW PHILADELPHIA — Saint Clair/Port Carbon/New Philadelphia used small ball and the long ball to beat Pine Grove in eight innings in District 24 Pool 3 action.
Dylan Shirey launched a three-run home run in the first inning to give SPN an early lead, but the game went to extra innings when Pine Grove tallied runs in the first, third and fourth innings.
Jake Kuperavage led off the top of the eighth with a single and eventually scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch. A series of bunts and an error brought home the remaining runs.
Kuperavage picked up the win. John Holobetz and Jayce Adamick had two hits each for SPN.
Ayden Ney had two hits for Pine Grove.
SPN (1-0) 300 000 03 — 6 7 3
PG (0-1) 101 100 00 — 3 6 1
Shirey, Kuperavage (6), Holobetz (8) and Kuperavage, Rupert (4); Leininger, Morgan (5) and Unger. W — Kuperavage. L — Morgan. Sv — Holobetz.
HITS: SPN — Holobetz 2, Shirey, Kuperavage, Cook, Adamick 2. Pine Grove — Morgan, Leininger, Ney 2, Geesey, Wolff.
HR — Shirey.
Cressona 7
Millersburg 1
MILLERSBURG — Ryan Caulfield had two hits and drove in three runs as Cressona opened Pool 1 play with a victory over Millersburg.
Caulfield put Cressona on the board with a solo home run in the fourth inning. He added a two-run single in the sixth.
Keegan Brennan and Brody Robinson also had two hits apiece for Cressona, while Keenan Cryts, Gavin Bartholomew and Owen Oakley had doubles. Brennan and Robinson had RBI singles in a five-run fourth inning.
Cryts and Luke Baker combined on a six hitter. Cryts went the first 3.2 innings, allowing two hits and striking out 11. Baker struck out four and allowed four hits.
Caden Hesen’s solo homer in the fourth inning accounted for Millersburg’s only run.
Cress. (1-0) 000 502 — 7 10 0
Mills. (0-1) 000 100 — 1 6 1
Cryts, Baker (4) and Robinson; Ezweier, Lawson (4), Feaster (5) and catcher not available. W — Cryts. L — Ezweier.
HITS: Cressona — Brennan 2, Robinson 2, Cryts, Caulfield 2, Bartholomew, Oakley, Baker. Millersburg — Ezweier 2, Crawford, Feaster 2, Hesen.
2B — Cryts, Bartholomew, Oakley. HR — Caulfield, Hesen.
Game Summary
District 24 11-12-year-old All-Stars
At Carl E. Ulmer Memorial Field, Minersville
UDC (1-0) 101 200 — 4 5 0
Min (0-1) 000 000 — 0 4 1
Cleveland, Wise (6) and Engle; Cuttitta, Hoffman (4) and Andruchek. W — Cleveland (1-0). L — Cuttitta (0-1).
HITS: Upper Dauphin County — Wise 3, Engle, Herb. Minersville — DiNicola 2, Chikotas, Denion.
2B — DiNicola.