NEW PHILADELPHIA — Justin McClure doesn’t look as imposing as some of his bigger Saint Clair/Port Carbon/New Philadelphia teammates.
The diminutive second baseman stands about 4-foot tall, wears No. 1 and bats out of the No. 9 slot in the SPN batting order.
In Sunday’s District 24 Little League semifinal against Schuylkill Haven, however, McClure played as big as some of the behemoths that fill local 11-12-year-old all-star rosters.
McClure hit a solo homer and had a bunt single that led to the go-ahead run as SPN edged Schuylkill Haven 5-3 at James S. Clark Field.
Dylan Shirey launched a two-run homer and Jake Kuperavage tossed a complete-game four-hitter as SPN advanced to Tuesday’s championship game.
SPN (5-1) will host Cressona, a 1-0 winner over Upper Dauphin County in the other semifinal, at 5:30 p.m. at James S. Clark Field.
“Justin is our second leadoff hitter,” SPN manager Gerry Kuperavage said. “We always bounce back and forth with who is going to lead off, (Riley) Stanton or McClure.
“McClure has pop. He’s a strong kid, he’s a fast kid. He hit a home run, then he dropped a bunt. He’s a very versatile kid.
“Everybody thinks you stick a kid in the No. 9 hole because he can’t hit,” Gerry Kuperavage continued. “He’s our second leadoff hitter in the nine hole. He’s just a fantastic athlete.”
Shirey finished 2-for-3 at the plate, his two-run homer giving SPN a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
McClure’s homer to lead off the bottom of the second inning expanded SPN’s lead to 3-1.
Ahead in the count 1-0, McClure roped a fastball from Haven starting pitcher Mason Ulsh about 240 feet over the fence in left-center field.
“I didn’t expect to see that,” Schuylkill Haven manager Ron Weiser said. “I didn’t know anything about their team, so I didn’t know what to expect out of any of their players, but the No. 9 hole? I never expected that.”
McClure’s bunt single led off the bottom of the fourth in what was a 3-3 game. He scored the go-ahead run on Stanton’s triple, and Stanton made it 5-3 when he scampered home on John Holobetz’s RBI groundout.
Jake Kuperavage overcame a sluggish start to quiet a potent Haven lineup.
Schuylkill Haven (5-1) scored a run in the top of the first when Ulsh reached on an error and scored on Jack Higgins’ RBI single.
Haven then tallied two runs in the top of the third to tie the contest, as Dawson McAllister singled, Ulsh walked and Jake Houtz and Owen Umbenhaur later followed with singles.
Jake Kuperavage, however, retired the final 10 batters after Umbenhaur’s single, getting great defense behind him. The right-hander finished with 82 pitches, walking one and striking out two.
“His breaking ball was a little flat, and his fastball wasn’t spotting as well as he’s used to,” Gerry Kuperavage said. “But he worked through it.
“After he saw the hitters a couple of times, he saw where their holes were. He settled in with the lead.”
Jake Kuperavage, who was part of SPN’s 9-10-year-old team that reached the state semifinals three years ago, stifled a Haven lineup that had scored 55 runs in its five games before Sunday.
“We couldn’t do anything with him. I don’t know what he was throwing, but he sure solved our team,” Weiser said. “We ran out of comebacks,” Weiser said. “We only had about four hits.”
For SPN, Sunday’s victory continued its recent surge in the District 24 tournament.
SPN outlasted Pine Grove 6-3 in eight innings in its first pool play game, then lost to Pine Grove 5-3 later in Pool 3 action.
SPN clinched the Pool 3 crown with an impressive 14-0 win over Frackville, then scored playoff wins over Orwigsburg and Schuylkill Haven.
“We kind of labored through pool play,” Gerry Kuperavage said. “Early on, we didn’t have a lot of energy, and we weren’t hitting in bunches.
“The Frackville game kind of sparked us. The last two games, our bats have come alive and the kids started believing in themselves.”
Game protested,
manager suspended
The game ended in a bit of controversy, as SPN violated Little League Baseball’s mandatory play rule by not having all 13 of its players bat at least once.
The rule, Tournament Rule No. 9, states, “If a tournament team has thirteen (13) or more eligible players in uniform at a game, then every player on a team roster shall participate in each game for a minimum of one (1) at-bat.”
Schuylkill Haven protested the game afterward, and District 24 Little League Administrator Kevin Shellhammer held a meeting with representatives of both teams later Sunday evening.
The Tournament Committee in Williamsport ruled that SPN won the game, but manager Gerry Kuperavage will be suspended for two games. That suspension would continue to the Section 3 Tournament if SPN wins the District 24 title.
In the Little League rulebook, the penalty for violating the mandatory play rule in tournament play is “the suspension of the team’s manager for the next two scheduled tournament games, even if those games are played at the next tournament level.” A forfeit only occurs if the Tournament Committee decides the violation 1) made a travesty of the game; 2) was done more than once; or 3) “a manager willfully and knowingly disregards the requirements of this rule.”
“I called Bristol, explained the situation,” Shellhammer said. “Bristol asked me questions and the game situation, I gave them information, and they put me on hold.
“While I was on hold, they called the Tournament Committee in Williamsport. The Tournament Committee in Williamsport rules on decisions like this. They awarded the game to SPN, but the manager is suspended for two games.”
Game Summary
District 24 11-12-year-old Semifinal
At New Philadelphia
Haven (5-1) 102 000 — 3 4 1
SPN (5-1) 210 20x — 5 8 1
Ulsh, Higgins (5) and Higgins, Hughes (4); Kuperavage and Stanton, Rupert (4). W — Kuperavage. L — Ulsh.
HITS: Schuylkill Haven — Higgins, Houtz, Umbenhaur, McAllister. Saint Clair/Port Carbon/New Philadelphia — Stanton, Holobetz, Shirey 2, Kuperavage 2, McClure 2.
3B — Stanton. HR — Shirey, McClure.