Monday’s Region 8 action moved to today
The Wilcox American Legion team's Region 8 semifinal game with Smethport and the Wesleyville vs. Brockway game were postponed Monday due to rainy weather in Albion. Those games and the championship will be played today. The tourney winner goes to the state tournament in Boyertown on Saturday
Post 467 defeated Brockway 6-0 on Sunday to finish first in pool A with a 3-0 record. The Elk/McKean League champs defeated Millcreek 11-3 on Friday and avenged last year's 1-0 title game loss to Frenchville by beating them 5-3 on Saturday. Smethport, the league runner-up, finished second in Pool B with a 2-1 record. The two will play today's first semifinal at 11:30 a.m. Wesleyville won their group with a 2-0-1 mark. They'll play Brockway, who finished 1-2 in Pool A to finish second. That game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and will be followed by the championship game.
“We're going full-out because its loser goes home. So hopefully, we're going to step on that field and play our best ball,” said Wilcox manager Casey Zimmerman after Monday's postponements. “There's no more holding back, and we have anybody we want to pitch pretty much at our disposal except for Kaden Dennis (pitch count rules). So, we're going to go after whoever we play.”
Dennis threw 86 pitches on Saturday, which requires four days of rest. Aiden Zimmerman, Collin Porter, Ben Paul, Camron Marciniak, Dalton Stahli, Cameron Larkin, and Jefferson Freeburg have also seen mound action.
The delay forced the team, fans, and families to spend another night away from home. Weekend rain in Albion last year also forced the semifinals and title game to be played on Tuesday.
Zimmerman talked about his team's ability to handle tough situations.
“Hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger,” the manager said. “We've faced adversity before, and the kids have played in big games before. Unfortunately, we've lost big games before. We know both sides of it, so it really comes down to who's the better team that shows up to play.”
Post 467 defeated Smethport 13-1 to win the Elk-McKean championship on Jul. 9, and won 11-6 in Wilcox on Jun. 15.
Wilcox Post 467 Region 8 stats (3 games)
Wilcox 11, Millcreek3; Wilcox 5, French Creek 3; Wilcox 6, Brockway 0 Avg.-H-AB-RBI-R
Dalton Stahli .625-58-2-1
Camron Marciniak .500-4-8-1-3
Ben Paul .500-1-2-0-0
Kaden Dennis .364-411-5-1
Ethan Wells .333-3-95-3
Caden Smiley .250-28-1-2
Luke Zimmerman .167-1-6-0-5
Jefferson Freeburg .125-1-8-1-1
Collin Porter .000-01-0-0
Cameron Larkin 0-00-0
Totals .429-30-70-1723.
HR (2)– Wells, Marciniak; 3B (1)– A. Zimmerman;
2B (4) – Marciniak, Ethan Wells, A. Zimmerman, L. Zimmerman; BB (11) – L. Zimmerman 5, A. Zimmerman 2 Wells 2 Stahli 2, Marciniak 1, Freeburg 1;
HBP – Marciniak 2; SF (2) – Dennis, Smiley; SB (15) – L. Zimmerman 5, Allegretto 2, A. Zimmerman 2, Dennis 2, Stahli 2; Wells 1, Freeburg 1.
(ERA) Appearances-IP-H-R-ER-SO-BBHB-Pitches
Collin Porter (0.000) 1-1.2-0-0-0-0-0-0-18
Aiden Zimmerman (0.000) 1-2-1-0-0-5-0-030
Cameron Larkin (0.000) 2-2-0-0-0-3-3-041
Jefferson Freeburg (0.000) 1-1.2-1-0-0-2-00-27
Dalton Stahli (0.000) 1-2.1-1-0-0-1-2-0-36
Ben Paul (2.333) 2-32-1-1-5-1-0-56
Kaden Dennis (2.625) 1-5.1-5-3-2-3-0-1-83
Camron Marciniak (4.667) 1-3-4-2-2-2-1-058
Totals (1.667) 21-146-5-19-7-1-349.