NEW PHILADELPHIA — Jake Kuperavage was a little nervous starting Wednesday’s District 24 Little League 11-12 all-star game.
It didn’t take long for the right-hander to settle into a groove.
The Saint Clair/Port Carbon/New Philadelphia offense certainly helped the youngster to relax.
SPN jumped out to an early lead with Kuperavage and Morgan Rupert leading the way at the plate en route to a 14-0, five-inning win over Frackville in a Pool 3 game at James S. Clark Field.
The victory punches SPN’s ticket to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
With a chance to also qualify, Frackville (2-1) must bounce back quickly in a winner-take-all contest at Pine Grove today.
Not only was Kuperavage dominant on the mound for SPN (3-1), he helped himself at the plate.
Kuperavage knocked in lead-off man
Riley Stanton with a sacrifice fly to left in the first inning and John Holobetz, who singled, eventually came around to score on a passed ball for a 2-0 edge.
After surrendering a lead-off single to Jake Hall and hitting the second batter, Kuperavage settled in on the rubber to retire 12-of-15 batters before leaving after four innings.
“He was a little nervous coming out,” SPN manager Jerry Kuperavage said. “He got through the first inning, which is what we were worried about.
“I told him to just stay down in the zone. Trust his junk. He did. His confidence built as the game went on.”
Jake Kuperavage allowed just three hits, hit two batters and struck out nine on the evening.
Rupert gave SPN a huge boost in the third inning, increasing its advantage with a two-run home run to center field to make it 5-0.
“When Rupey hit that home run — he has the quickest hands on the team — so when he caught that one, I had a good feeling about it,” Jerry Kuperavage said. “We still needed to keep chipping away, and that’s what we did.”
SPN added four more runs in the fourth inning, with Jake Kuperavage clubbing a no-doubt-about-it, three-run shot to right-center field to push the advantage to 9-0.
That lead grew to 14 runs in the fifth with a two-run double by Stanton, an RBI single from Holobetz and an RBI double by Kuperavage, who finished 3-for-3 with five RBIs.
“We were hoping to keep chipping away every inning,” Jerry Kuperavage said. “That’s what they did. They got runs almost every inning.
“We did all we could do. Now, all we can do is sit back and see what happens in (today’s) game. And then we go and play somebody Saturday and be ready for them.”
Hall collected two of Frackville’s three hits, with Bryce Dusel adding a single.
“SPN, they’re well-coached and they’re a good team,” Frackville manager Chris Burke said. “Like us, we put a lot of time in with the kids, and so do they. They’re a well-rounded team. I’m not taking anything away from them. They deserve it. They played better than us tonight.”
And while the loss stings, Frackville still has an opportunity to reach the quarterfinals.
“The biggest thing I told them is they’re kids,” Burke said. “They have to have fun with it and get a good approach to each game. It doesn’t matter what the score is, they’ve still got to play every inning hard. Even after they started hitting the ball, you have to stay in the game. You have to stay involved and get ready for your at-bat.
“Baseball, you have to have a short memory. You make an error, you have to move on from that. This game forget about it, don’t dwell on it and show up tomorrow ready to play baseball.”
Game Summary
SPN (3-1) 212 45 — 14 12 0
Frack (2-1) 000 00 — 0 3 3
Kuperavage, Rupert (5) and Shirey; Burke, Falls (4), Hall (5), Martin (5) and Collins, Dusel (5). W — Kuperavage. L — Burke.
HITS: Saint Clair/Port Carbon/New Philadelphia — Stanton 3, Holobetz 2, Kuperavage 3, Rupert 3, Marmas. Frackville — Hall 2, Dusel.
2B — Stanton, Kuperavage. HR — Rupert, Kuperavage.