PINE GROVE — Entering Thursday’s game, Pine Grove manager Chris Culbert knew his team would find success using the bunt against Railway Park.
What he did not expect was his opponent to commit so many errors.
Pine Grove cruised to a 13-1 four-inning victory, capitalizing on 10 Railway Park errors in a District 24 Little League Tournament 11-12 year-old Pool 3 contest at Arthur E. Keggereis Memorial Field.
Pine Grove starter Kolby Geesy gave up one run on four hits in a complete game to pick up his first win of the tournament.
The lefty struck out three, walked three and helped his cause with an RBI single in the third.
“He’s the only left-hander that we have on the staff, and he’s come a long way,” Culbert said. “He pitched during the year and he
didn’t throw good strikes as consistently, but he mostly kept the ball down when we wanted him to today.”
After Tavin Demary singled to lead off the first for Railway Park (0-2 Pool 3), Geesy got the next batter to pop out to first and induced a 4-3 double play for a 1-2-3 inning.
Pine Grove (1-1) scored six runs in the bottom half of the inning, using a combination of bunt singles, walks and infield errors after bunts to jump out to a 6-0 lead.
The first six batters in Pine Grove’s lineup reached base safely, all scoring a run in the opening frame as the team batted around.
Railway Park answered when Kurt Sinclair led off the second with a solo shot to left field to make it a 6-1 ballgame.
Geesy made the next batter pop up to him for the first out, but allowed Adam Stock to draw a walk.
He then settled down and got the next batter to ground into a 1-4-3 double play, Pine Grove’s second double play of the game.
“I was just hoping our pitcher would calm down and throw some more strikes,” Culbert said after Geesy gave up the home run. “We have a solid infield here that was lined up in the right position to turn two double plays.”
Pine Grove went up 7-1 in the bottom of the second when Ayden Ney doubled to right field and later scored on a wild pitch from Railway Park starter Sinclair.
Sinclair gave up seven runs on two hits, striking out two and walking four over 1.1 innings.
Railway Park’s best chance for a comeback came in the top of the third when it managed to load the bases.
Edward Petchulis led off the inning with a walk, but the next two batters struck out and flew out to right, respectively.
Luke Knarr drew a walk and Bradyn Purcell singled to load the bases, but the next batter grounded out to second to end the inning.
Pine Grove’s lineup went back to work with another six-run inning highlighted by Keith Koppenhaver’s solo blast to center.
Pine Grove once again batted around, totaling six hits, and took advantage of five Railway Park errors to go up 13-1 after three frames.
“They gave us the bunt early in the game and we ran with it,” Culbert said. “Railway Park’s manager moved his infielders up after that, which was like committing suicide because my kids can really hit, and they proved it in that last inning.”
Geesy finished off Railway Park with two strikeouts and a groundout to end the game and seal the victory for Pine Grove.
“We’ll build on this win by just hitting the way we’ve been and laying down some more bunts,” Culbert said. “We have our two aces ready to go, so hopefully we can put a couple of wins together and move on.”
Game Summary
District 24 Little League 11-12
At Pine Grove
Railway P. (0-2) 010 0 — 1 4 10
Pine Grove (1-1) 616 x — 13 8 0
Sinclair, Kull (2) and Purcell; K. Geesy and Unger. W — K. Geesy. L — Sinclair.
HITS: Railway Park — Demary, Purcell, Sinclair, Stock. Pine Grove — Leininger 2, Ney, Koppenhaver, D. Geesy, K. Geesy, Copeland 2.
2B — Ney. HR — Sinclair, Koppenhaver.