NEW PHILADELPHIA — To be a champion, a baseball team must exhibit stellar pitching, timely hitting and a solid defense.
Cressona’s 11-12 year-old all-stars displayed all three of those facets when it mattered most, defeating Saint Clair/Port Carbon/New Philadelphia 3-0 on Tuesday to become the 2015 District 24 Little League champions.
Luke Baker led Cressona’s pitching attack, allowing just three hits, while striking out six over 3.2 shutout innings to earn the win.
Reliever Gavin Bartholomew was lights out, giving up no hits and striking out three over 2.1 innings to seal it.
Ryan Caulfield provided the hitting, blasting a two-run home run to right field to give his team a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Josh Norris’ diving grab in the sixth to halt a potential SPN comeback highlighted a Cressona defense that did not commit any errors.
It’s Cressona’s third District 24 11-12-year-old title in the last five years and eighth overall.
“Honestly, I was still smiling from the UDC game,” Cressona manager Steve Cryts said, referring to his team’s 1-0 semifinal victory over Upper Dauphin County. “Now they may have to surgically remove the smile from my face because the kids were awesome again.
“Overall, it was a team effort with different kids doing different things, so I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
After Baker made short work of SPN’s batters to start the game, Brody Robinson got on base with a one-out single for Cressona in the bottom of the first.
Two batters later, Caulfield crushed an 0-1 pitch to right field to give Cressona a 2-0 lead.
“That was absolutely huge,” Cryts said of Caulfield’s two-run homer. “He helped swing the momentum in the right direction for us right off the bat.”
Owen Oakley, Skyler Devitt and Taylor Stewart all singled to start the bottom of the second with no outs, so John Holobetz came in to relieve SPN starter Morgan Rupert.
Robinson hit into a grounder to the shortstop, but Oakley beat the play at the plate to put Cressona on top 3-0.
With Rupert responsible for that runner, the right-hander was tagged with three runs on six hits through one inning of work.
Holobetz cruised through the rest of the game, allowing just two hits and forcing Cressona to strand six baserunners through his four innings of relief.
“He pitched a great game,” SPN acting manager Reese Rupert said of Holobetz. “We planned on bringing him in in the middle of the game to change things up, but he entered in the second, threw some off-speed pitches, and gave us a heck of a performance.”
Baker was relieved in the fourth after pinch-hitter Dominic Chiccini reached on a two-out single, but Bartholomew struck out the next batter to end the inning.
“My first pitcher was struggling with the mound a little bit, but with pure heart, he ground his way through those innings against some of the best hitting kids in the county,” Cryts said of Baker. “We have nothing but respect for SPN because a lot of those kids play travel ball with our kids, so it’s a great rivalry.
“I hate to knock ’em out,” he added. “That’s the only bad part about today, but I’m happy to come away with the win against a great team.”
In the top of the sixth, SPN’s last hope vanished when Norris made his memorable diving catch on a high fly ball to right field for the first out.
Bartholomew got the last two batters to ground out to second base, sealing Cressona’s championship victory.
“He made a spectacular catch out there, but I was hoping for a replay of what happened the other night against the 9-10 team,” Rupert said, referring to UDC’s seven-run comeback against SPN in Monday’s 9-10 year-old semifinal. “I was hoping we’d get a rally in the top of sixth because it was only a three-run game, but our runs never came.”
Now that Cressona has claimed the District 24 championship, Cryts said he will give his team some well-deserved time off before it gears up for the Section 3 Tournament.
“I promised them I’d give them the day off if we won,” Cryts said. “Tomorrow they can relax, but after that, it’s on again.”
Game Summary
District 24 Little League
11-12-year-old Championship
At New Philadelphia
SAINT CLAIR/PORT CARBON/NEW PHILADELPHIA (0) — Stanton cf-3b 2 0 0 0, Holobetz ss-p 1 0 0 0, Shirey 3b-ss 2 0 1 0, Kuperavage c 3 0 0 0, Rupert p-lf 3 0 0 0, Cook 1b 2 0 1 0, Quinn ph 1 0 0 0, Garland lf 1 0 0 0, Marmas lf-cf 2 0 0 0, Adamick rf-pr 1 0 0 0, Chiccini ph 1 0 1 0, McClure 2b 1 0 0 0, Wolff ph 1 0 0 0. Totals 21 0 3 0.
CRESSONA (3) — Brennan ss 3 0 1 0, Robinson c 3 1 1 1, Cryts cf 3 0 0 0, Caulfield 1b 3 1 1 2, Baker p-3b 3 0 1 0, Bartholomew lf-p 3 0 0 0, Oakley rf-pr 2 1 1 0, Miller 2b 1 0 0 0, Devitt 3b 1 0 1 0, Norris rf 1 0 1 0, Stewart 2b 1 0 1 0, Hertz lf 1 0 0 0. Totals 25 3 8 3.
SPN (5-2) 000 000 — 0
Cressona (7-0) 210 00x — 3
E — SPN 1, Cressona 0. LOB — SPN 7, Cressona 7. 2B — Baker. HR — Caulfield. SB — Kuperavage.
SPN IP H R ER BB K
Rupert L 1 6 3 3 0 1
Holobetz 4 2 0 0 0 4
Cressona IP H R ER BB K
Baker W 3.2 3 0 0 3 6
Bartholomew 2.1 0 0 0 1 3
PB — Robinson 2. T — 1:32.