CRESSONA — Keegan Brennan got on. Taylor Stewart got ’em over. Keenan Cryts got ’em in.
Just nine pitches into the game, Cressona had a run on the board and was off and running to a 4-1 victory over Pine Grove on Saturday in the District 24 Little League 11-12-year-old quarterfinals.
“That’s exactly how we drew it up,’’ Cressona manager Steve Cryts said with a laugh. “I don’t think we’ve scored in the opening inning
in any game, and we wanted to change it.’’
With the win, Cressona (5-0) advanced to today’s semifinals against Upper Dauphin County (5-0). Game time is 5:30 p.m. in Tower City.
UDC moved on with a 12-3 win over Pottsville Rotary on Saturday.
Pine Grove just couldn’t get much going at the plate, finishing with three singles and one unearned run. Cressona’s three pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts.
“They hit the ball,’’ Pine Grove manager Chris Culbert said of Cressona. “You’ve got to give them credit. We didn’t hit the ball.’’
Cody Griffiths scored Pine Grove’s run in the fifth inning. He reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced on two wild pitches and scored on an error.
Culbert liked the way his team battled throughout the tournament. Pine Grove lost in extra innings to Saint Clair/Port Carbon/New Philadelphia in its opener but later defeated SPN in pool play. SPN advanced to the semifinals with a 9-8 win over Orwigsburg on Saturday.
“I thought when we first got together, they played against each other all year long, and it was like a fight against each other all the time,’’ Culbert said.
“Our first practice we said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to come together as a team.’ ... They came together as a team and started jelling as a team,’’ he added. “It showed tonight. We played well, just made a couple mistakes on the basepaths.’’
Cressona took an aggressive approach at the plate and on the bases to produce its four runs.
In the top of the first, Brennan hit a bouncer into the hole and legged it out for a leadoff infield single. After Stewart bunted him into scoring position, Cryts laced a one-hop double off the left-field fence to give his team a 1-0 lead.
One out later, Ryan Caulfield rapped an RBI single to right to double Cressona’s lead to 2-0.
That proved to be plenty of run support for starting pitcher Luke Baker, who tossed three scoreless innings and struck out five.
“The momentum’s on your side at that point,’’ Steve Cryts said. “After the 1-2-3 bottom half (of the first), the confidence level stayed high.
“All we need is a spark, and this time we got the spark early,’’ he added.
Keenan Cryts pitched the fourth inning, while Gavin Bartholomew finished off the three-hitter.
Cressona applied pressure to extend its lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning. Baker went first-to-third on Bartholomew’s single and scored on a throwing error.
In the sixth, Skyler Devitt smacked a two-out, RBI single to drive in an insurance run.
“We like to swing the bats,’’ Steve Cryts said. “We throw them a million balls a week in batting practice.’’
Today’s semifinalists are familiar with each other. Last year, the teams played in the same pool in the 11-12 tournament. In the 10-11s, Upper Dauphin County defeated Cressona in the championship game.
“We seem to collide with them every year, so that should be a good game,’’ Steve Cryts said. “We’re as prepared as we can be, and now it’s in the kids’ hands.’’
Game Summary
District 24 11-12 Quarterfinal
At Cressona
Cressona (5-0) 200 101 — 4 8 3
Pine Grove (3-2) 000 010 — 1 3 1
Baker, Cryts (4), Bartholomew (5) and Robinson; Morgan and Unger. W — Baker. L — Morgan.
HITS: Cressona — Brennan 2, Cryts, Caulfield, Baker, Bartholomew 2, Devitt. Pine Grove — Leininger, Copeland, Griffiths.
2B — Cryts.