Southern Tier Cards win Ohio tourney
After losing their first game at the 18-and-under Northeast Baseball Tournament in Camfield, Ohio, the Southern Tier Cardinals bounced back with four-straight wins to capture the championship on Sunday.
Kane's Jake Costanzo, Andy Jekielek, Harley Morris, and Justin Peterson played both days, and Luke Ely, who played for the Kane legion team on Saturday was there on Sunday. Domenic Allegretto and Collin Porter, who helped Wilcox beat Smethport 13-1 on Saturday to claim the Elk-mckean title, played in Sunday's three games. Others included Smethport's Alex Ognen, Kam Rounsville and Cole Szuba, and Tanyon Brown and Tre Slawson from Ulysses.
In their six-team tournament opener on Saturday, Jefferson County beat Southern Tier, who had just nine available players, 9-1. The Cards bounced back with a 6-4 win over Mars to end the first day.
On Sunday, the teams were seeded. The champs faced Mars again in the morning and advanced to the semifinals with a 9-1 victory. Then, the Cards knocked off Niagara Falls (Canada) 10-1 before claiming the championship with an 8-3 win over US Elite/pgc (Pittsburgh).
Manager Dick Ognen said his team pressured Elite by being aggressively intelligent on the base paths.
"We were bunting, playing small ball, and stealing. [Elite] is a good baseball team, and they became discombobulated. It was really something to see. We got clutch hitting and played great defensively."
In the title game, Southern Tier scored three in the first and third innings and two in the bottom of the sixth after Elite made it 6-3 in the top of the frame.
Morris threw 105 pitches into the sixth inning, then with the score 6-2, Allegretto came in with the bases loaded and no outs. He snagged a line drive three pitches in and threw the runner out at first for a double play. A couple hits followed, making it 6-3 before Allegretto got a pop-out. Ognen, who struck out nine in the five-inning semifinal victory, pitched the seventh.
Allegretto (run) and Peterson (2 runs) went three-for-four in the title game. Ognen (2 RBI, run) and Costanzo had two hits. Jekielek (2 RBI, 3 runs), who doubled twice in the semis, did so again. Ely (2 RBI) hit safely, and Morris walked and scored.
Travis Brown, Miker Hill and his son have been assisting Ognen. On Sunday,
Mike Porter, the Johnsonburg Rams manager and Wilcox legion assistant, helped.
The manager, who had been at it for 31 years, is thrilled to have the opportunity to coach the talented group.
"They all love the game of baseball, and everybody contributed. Honestly, the other teams were in shock with our guys. The players on some of those teams like Elite pay a lot of money to play, and it was cool to see what playing fundamental baseball can do for you."
The Cards batted .376 in the five games. Jekielek (.571) led the way with eight hits (4 doubles), eight RBI, and eight runs. Ognen (.429) had nine RBI and scored four times. Morris (.444) had eight hits and scored seven runs. Peterson (.389) had seven hits (3 RBI, 6 runs), Brown (.500) had five hits (3 RBI, 3 runs), and Allegretto (.400) had four and scored twice in the three games he played.
Porter struck out six in four innings in Sunday's win over Mars. Allegretto pitched the final inning. Slawson threw in the two games Saturday, and Rounsville rounded out the staff.
The Cardinals next play at the Iron Oil Tournament at UPB Friday-sunday starting Jul. 22.
The team will host the annual J-bird Wooden Bat Classic in Smethport Friday through Sunday starting on Aug. 12. The event is sponsored by the Jarrett Costanzo Memorial Fund. The tourney is named in honor of Jarrett Costanzo, the son of Angelo and Michelle Costanzo, who passed at the age of six in 2013.