P-O bounces back from first loss to advance to title game
Monday, July 30, 2012
By Jaclyn Yingling Sports Editor
PHILIPSBURG - Talk about doing things the hard way.
After breezing through its games on Friday and Saturday, the Philipsburg-Osceola 13- and 14-year-old Teener League all-stars just needed to win their first game on Sunday to be guaranteed a spot in the 2012 State VFW tournament championship game today.
But an error-filled five-run inning put P-O in a hole against Schuylkill East it couldn't climb out of and they fell 6-5 on Sunday.
That put Philipsburg-Osceola in the loser's bracket final against Club Altoona, a 10-5 winner over Huntingdon in the loser's bracket semifinal, in the last game on Sunday.
This time, P-O returned to its dominant form, toppling Altoona, 12-5.
That puts the hosts in the championship game, giving them a rematch with Schuylkill East.
"We played much more focused against Altoona," said P-O head coach Nick Croyle. "We were just flat in the first game. We made a few errors in the first inning and had little pitching miscues. One inning killed us.
"But we are going to come back tomorrow and play sharp, and hopefully, win two.
Philipsburg-Osceola scored first against Altoona, taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning.
Mitch Winters knocked in a run on a double into left, while Brandon Zwick singled to plate another. Kody Trude rounded out the scoring in the frame with a sacrifice fly.
Altoona got two of the runs back in the bottom of the third inning, scoring both on an error in the infield.
Philipsburg-Osceola continued to hit whichever pitcher Altoona threw in front of them.
In the top of the fourth, Donny McConnell replaced starter Bubba Johnson.
P-O didn't seem to notice, scoring three runs off McConnell to take a 6-2 advantage.
Trude had an RBI single, while Zwick had a sacrifice fly. The third run of the frame scored on an error by the pitcher.
"All of these kids can hit," said Croyle. "They are all good hitters. I don't have any fears about sending any of them out to hit."
With a four-run lead, P-O went to first baseman Isaac Knepp to relieve Zwick, who tossed an inning after starter Eric Sherkel went two.
Knepp breezed through his first inning, catching a pop-up, getting a groundout and striking out a batter to set Altoona down in order.
Two errors hampered Knepp's effort in the bottom of the fifth inning, as it led to two unearned Altoona runs that cut the score to 6-4.
But Knepp's offense came through for him in the top of the sixth, scoring six runs to put the game out of reach for Altoona, which also had to play two games on Sunday.
Sherkel and Zwick had the lone RBIs in the frame, which was marred by three Altoona errors, making all the runs unearned.
Knepp allowed one final run in the bottom of the seventh, but got Catcher Cumming to fly out to center to end the game.
The P-O hurler went four innings, allowing just one earned run on one hit and one walk. He fanned three batters.
"He has pitched well for me all season," Croyle said. "Sometimes he is hit-and-miss, but when he is on, he's on. He threw last night and he was throwing just a little outside, so we took him out and saved him for today."
Sherkel had three hits for P-O, going 7-of-10 in the two games on Sunday. He scored six runs and had an RBI.
Derek Shaw also had three hits and scored three runs against Altoona. Trude was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Zwick was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Winters had two hits and an RBI.
Pinch-hitters David Shaw and Tanner Sinclair also had singles in their only time up to the plate.
Philipsburg-Osceola had a total of 16 hits in the game and left 11 runners on base.
Jacob Mellott had two hits and two RBIs to lead Altoona, which finished as the third-place team.
Philipsburg-Osceola played Schuylkill East this morning at 11. If P-O won, the two teams would play a second game at 2 p.m. to determine a state champ.
Winner's Bracket Final
Schuylkill East 6, Philipsburg-Osceola 5
Philipsburg-Osceola had seven hits against Schuylkill East, but couldn't overcome a first inning that was filled with two errors, a walk and a hit batsman.
Schuylkill East scored five runs in the first before tacking on what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the third inning.
P-O had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, as Sherkel led off the game with a double. He later came home on an RBI groundout by Derek Shaw.
But Schuylkill rebounded to take the 5-1 lead before Trude came in to relieve Winters, who had started on the mound.
Trude shut down Schuylkill East from there, allowing just three hits and one walk in four innings of work.
Philipsburg-Osceola made a run, scoring two runs in the top of the third and another in the fourth.
Trude had a sacrifice fly, while Derek Shaw had an RBI double. The third run scored on a wild pitch.
P-O left the bases loaded in the third, while stranding six more runners in the final four innings.
Schuylkill East pitcher Ryan Kalinich, who allowed an earned run in the top of the seventh, worked his way out of a jam with runners on first and second by striking out the side to end the game.
Sherkel finished the game 4-for-4 with three runs scored. Derek Shaw, Trude and Knepp each had an RBI, while Zwick and Cam Domblisky each scored a run.
Sunday
Winner's Bracket Final
Philipsburg-Osceola-5
Sherkel ss 4340, De. Shaw c 2011, Trude 2b-p 3001, Zwick 3b-2b 3100, Winters p-3b 2010, N. Conklin pr 0000, Kerlin cf 3000, Knepp 1b 3011, Weitoish lf 4000, Domblisky rf 1100, Maines rf 1000. Totals: 26-5-7-3.
Schuylkill East-6
DeAngelo p-lf 3110, Kalinich ss-p 3110, Spehrley 3b 3110, Breisch 1b 3110, Yeastadt c 1101, Bates rf-ss 3121, Liptock cf 3000, Webber 2b-p-2b 3011, Akins lf-2b-rf 3010. Totals: 25-6-8-3.
Score by Innings
Philipsburg-Osceola 102 100 1-5 7 4
Schuylkill East 501 000 x-6 8 2
Errors-Sherkel 2, Winters, Zwick; Liptock, Yeastadt. LOB-Philipsburg-Osceola 11, Schuylkill East 5. DP-Philipsburg-Osceola 2, Schuylkill East 1. 2B-Sherkel 2, De. Shaw; Spehrley. SAC-Kalinich. SF-Trude; Yeastadt. SB-Sherkel, Kerlin; Breisch. CS-DeAngelo (by De. Shaw). HBP-De.Shaw (by DeAngelo); DeAngelo (by Winters). WP-Winters 1; DeAngelo 2.
Pitching
Philipsburg-Osceola: Winters-2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO; Trude-4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO.
Schuylkill East: DeAngelo-2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO; Webber-3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 0 SO; Kalinich-1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO.
WP-Webber. LP-Winters.
Loser's Bracket Final
Philipsburg-Osceola-12
Sherkel p-2b-3b 6331, De. Shaw c 5330, Trude ss 4222, Zwick 2b-p-2b 4123, Winters 3b-1b 5021, D. Conklin pr 0000, Kerlin cf 2010, N. Conklin ph 1000, Knepp 1b-p 3110, Da. Shaw ph 1010, Kitko pr 0000, Weitoish lf 3100, Sinclair ph 1010, Domblisky rf 4100, Maines rf 1000. Totals: 40-12-16-7.
Altoona-5
Mellott lf 4122, Cumming c-p 3000, McGeary 1b 3010, Robertson ss 0000, Conrath dh 3000, Gahagan cf 3000, Johnson p-3b-c 3000, Troutman 2b 3000, McConnell 3b-p-3b 3100, Swales rf 2310. Totals: 27-5-4-2.
Score by Innings
P-O 003 306 0-12 16 3
Altoona 002 020 1 5 4 7
Errors-Winters, Trude, Knepp; Robertson 3, McGeary, Troutman, McConnell, Johnson. LOB-Philipsburg-Osceola 11, Altoona 3. 2B-Winters, Kerlin; Mellott. SF-Trude, Zwick. SB-Zwick 2, Sherkel, De. Shaw, Trude; McGeary. Balk-McConnell. WP-Johnson. PB-De. Shaw.
Pitching
Philipsburg-Osceola: Sherkel-2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO; Zwick-1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO; Knepp-4 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO.
Altoona: Johnson-2 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO; McConnell-1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO; Cumming-3 1/3 IP, 6 H 6 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO.
WP-Knepp. LP-Johnson.
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