TOWER CITY — Every baseball player’s dream is to come to the plate with two outs and the game tied in the bottom of the final inning.
In Wednesday’s semifinal against Ashland, Upper Dauphin County’s Bryant Hoover got to live that dream.
With two outs and runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh, Hoover sent a high fly ball to right field that looked, at first, to be the final out.
The ball landed just outside the right fielder’s reach, sending home the game-winning run as UDC walked off with a 4-3 win over Ashland to clinch a berth in the District 24 Little League 10-11-year-old championship.
“He just so happens to be my son, and there’s no one I’d rather have in there,” UDC manager Kevin Hoover said of Bryant Hoover. “The kids look up to him, he’s our team leader, and I was confident he’d be the hero.”
UDC will play at Cressona, 17-11 winners over Railway Park, at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday in the championship game.
Brayden Shadle got UDC on the board early, hitting an RBI double that plated Dawson Klinger to put his team up 1-0 in the bottom of the first.
Back came Ashland, scoring twice in the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead.
Luis Serrato drew a lead-off walk, and he later scored on Dillon O’Neill’s RBI single. An infield error allowed another run to score and give Ashland the lead.
UDC went back on top when Klinger and Hoover hit back-to-back RBI singles that put their team up 3-2 in the bottom of the third.
“That was the first time we were in that situation, and our boys never hung their heads,” Kevin Hoover said of facing a one-run deficit. “They battled, and I never expected anything less from them. They were pumped up the whole time.”
Ashland’s Jonas McGrath tied the game in the top of the fifth with a solo home run to right field, and Ashland starter Jarrod Ossman followed with a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth, getting all three outs on just three pitches.
Ossman threw all seven innings, giving up four runs on six hits while striking out two.
“Jonas’ home run was huge, and it basically made it a game again,” Ashland manager Frank O’Neill said. “And the way Jarrod was pitching, I knew we had a shot to win the game.
“I can’t stress enough how good he was because he pitched one of the best games I’ve seen in a long time,” he added.
Ashland got its chance to take the lead in the top of seventh when Serrato and McGrath hit consecutive one-out singles, and O’Neill loaded the bases with a two-out walk.
Klinger threw three pitches to the next batter, all of them strikes, to get out of the inning unscathed.
“That was monumental,” Hoover said of Klinger’s clutch strikeout. “That right there is what fired our kids up going into the last inning.”
Klinger gave up two runs on six hits, striking out five and walking one to earn the win.
Will Laskowski drew a one-out walk for UDC in the bottom of the seventh, and Klinger hit a two-out single to move him to third. Klinger moved to second on a passed ball.
Hoover came up to the plate and belted a 1-2 pitch to right field to give his team the walk-off win.
“After Ashland had tied it up, I told my kids that we needed just one run, knowing that we had outscored our opponents 46-8 coming into this game,” Kevin Hoover said. “I knew that we would score to win the game, and I couldn’t be happier with the whole team.”
Ashland entered the semifinal against UDC as the underdog, which was not lost on Frank O’Neill. The manager knew that his team had accomplished something special by taking this opponent to extra innings in such a meaningful game.
“I don’t think many people gave us a chance, but these kids went seven innings and gave it their all, which just shows how good they are,” O’Neill said. “They showed their energy all the way to the end, and I was proud of them for that.’’
Pottsville 10
Twin Valley 5
Albe Evans collected three hits and Kevin Schenk pitched six strong innings as Pottsville defeated Twin Valley 10-5 in Game 1 of their Berks County Area Junior Legion League Prep Division semifinal Tuesday at Steidle Field.
Adam Kelly and Evans each had two-run singles in a four-run fourth inning that broke the game open. The Lions pulled away with three runs in the fifth and finished the game with 15 hits and 13 stolen bases.
Schenk struck out six batters before tiring in the seventh. Pottsville won despite making seven errors.
Game 2 of the best-of-3 series is Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Twin Valley. A third game, if necessary, is at 7 p.m. Thursday at Steidle Field.
Twin Valley 010 040 0 — 5 5 4
Pottsville 210 430 x — 10 15 7
Shoemaker, Copperwhite (6) and Wise; Schenk, Kelly (7), Ferhat (7) and Ferhat, Daubert (7). W — Schenk. L — Shoemaker.
HITS: Twin Valley — Hite, Hightler, Davis, Lynn, Smith. Pottsville — Evans 3, Yost 2, Ferhat, Robison, Daubert, Hair, Schenk 2, Kelly 2, Mates 2.
2B — Hite, Smith, Ferhat.
Game Summary
District 24 Little League
10-11-year-old Semifinal
At Tower City
Ashland (3-2) 002 010 0 — 3 6 3
UDC (5-0) 102 000 1 — 4 8 2
Ossman and O’Neill; Hoover, Klinger (3) and Joseph. W — Klinger. L — Ossman.
HITS: Ashland — McGrath 2, Whalen 3, O’Neill, Stanakis, Serrato. Upper Dauphin County — Klinger 2, Hoover 3, Shadle.
2B — Shadle. HR — McGrath.