TOWER CITY — Upper Dauphin came out swinging in Saturday’s District 24 Little League 11-12-year-old quarterfinals.
UDC collected 19 hits, including three home runs, in a 12-3 victory over Pottsville Rotary.
Jacob Herman finished 4-for-5 with a solo home run and three runs scored for Upper Dauphin, while Mason Evans and Nathan Wise both smacked two-run homers.
UDC (5-0) will host Cressona in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. today. Cressona topped Pine Grove 4-1 in its quarterfinal matchup.
“It was a great start to the tournament,” UDC manager Bryan Evans said. “We came out and played UDC baseball. We hit the ball, had three home runs and played a great defensive game. I’m very proud of these kids.”
Herman gave UDC an early 1-0 lead, swinging on the first pitch he saw and sending a solo home run to right with one out in the first inning.
Rotary (2-3) tied it up in the bottom of the first when Logan Seddon’s RBI single plated Ethan Selinko.
With the score knotted at 1-1, UDC broke open the game with a seven-run second inning that was highlighted by Evans’ two-run blast.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Bryan Evans said when asked what his mind-set was entering the second inning. “I know what kind of firepower we have in the lineup, and I told the kids to just go out and hit the ball like we know how to hit it.”
UDC’s first six batters reached base safely to start the inning, with Wise and Zak Underkuffler both hitting two-run doubles to give their team a 5-1 lead.
After Herman singled, Evans knocked a 2-2 pitch over the center-field fence for a two-run homer.
UDC batted around on a Tyler Cleveland single, and Bryce Herb’s RBI single made it 8-1.
Seddon, Rotary’s starter, was tagged with eight runs on 10 hits, striking out one and walking one over 1.2 innings before being relieved by Patrick Yoder.
Rotary got a run back in the bottom of the second when Raeff DiCello scored on a fielder’s choice that made it 8-2.
“Even down 8-1, our kids didn’t go away,” Rotary manager Jim Misstishin said. “Coming into an atmosphere like this, we could have tucked our tails between our legs, but we didn’t. The kids stayed and battled.
“It’s a credit to Upper Dauphin. They played a heck of a game defensively,” he added.
UDC added a pair of runs on Wise’s two-run bomb to right field, and Rotary got its final run on Darren Yost’s RBI single to make it 10-3 at the end of the third.
Cleveland’s RBI double in the fifth and Wise’s RBI single in the sixth gave UDC a 12-3 lead.
After giving up three runs on seven hits through the first three innings, UDC starter Holden Stiely was lights-out through the final three frames.
Stiely tossed two consecutive 1-2-3 innings before shutting down Rotary in the bottom of the sixth with just nine pitches.
“Holden Stiely pitched six innings and threw fewer than 60 pitches for a great pitching performance,” Evans said. “He’s not overpowering, but he hits the spots, and he’s got a nice curveball and change-up to add to that.”
With the loss, Rotary is eliminated from the tournament, but Misstishin said he is still happy with the way his team played Saturday.
“The funny thing is, I told our kids that might be one of the best games we played all tournament,” Misstishin said. “We struck out one time, we put the ball in play. It was just that we ran into a better team, and there’s nothing else you can do about that.”
Game Summary
District 24 11-12 Quarterfinal
At Tower City
UDC (5-0) 172 011 — 12 19 2
Rotary (2-3) 111 000 — 3 7 2
Stiely and Engle; Seddon, Yoder (2), Selinko (6) and Chiplonia. W — Stiely. L — Seddon.
HITS: Upper Dauphin County — Wise 3, Herman 4, Evans 2, Cleveland 3, Stiely, Herb 2, Smeltz, Shoop, Underkuffler 2. Pottsville Rotary — Selinko, Yoder, Seddon 2, Yost, DiCello, Chiplonia.
2B — Wise, Cleveland. HR — Wise, Herman, Evans.