Grizzlies beat Bear Cubs in Boyertown clash
Both teams were strong on the hill Monday.
But the Boyertown Grizzlies’ pitching-by-committee strategy worked well, lifting them to a 3-1 victory over the Boyertown Bear Cubs Junior American Legion team in the Pa. State Tournament winners’ bracket final at Homer City.
Three Grizzly pitchers combined on a fourhit mound effort to propel their team into Wednesdqy’s championship round. Tuessday’s night games will determine how many of the tourney’s other surviving clubs — Northampton and Uniontown — join the Grizzlies on the final day.
Zach Rothermel was the winning pitcher for the Grizzlies. He lasted two innings, allowing zero hits and runs while striking out one. Cole Kratz and Ethan Ferraro entered the game out of the bullpen and helped to close it out in relief. Kratz recorded the last 10 outs to earn the save for the Grizzlies.
Brandon Shane took the loss for the Bear-Cubs. He surrendered three runs on five hits over 4-1/3 innings, striking out four.
Cole Galloway finished the final 1-2/3 for the BearCubs, getting two strikeouts.
The Grizzlies got things started in the second inning, when Elijah Calvert singled on a 0-1 count, scoring one run. Kratz went 3-for-3 at the plate to lead the Grizzlies in hits.
Luke Moser, Shane, Tyler Hoffman and Galloway were the lone Bear-Cubs to collect hits. UNIONTOWN 4, BOYERTOWN BEAR-CUBS 1 >> The BearCubs’ 2019 season came to an end Tuesday, halted by Uniontown in a championship-qualifier game from the Pa. State Tournament at Homer City.
The Bear-Cubs, coming off a 3-1 loss to community rival Boyertown Grizzlies Monday, got their lone run in the bottom of the fifth inning ... after Uniontown completed its scoring. Anthony Nigro, who scored the Boyertown run, was joined by Chance Babb and Peyton Moyer as the lone BearCubs to hit safely.
Cole Galloway pitched the first 5-2/3 innings for Boyertown, touched for nine hits and all Uniontown’s runs; he did, however, record five strikeouts. Colin Eisenhard finished on the hill for the Bear-Cubs.
Jr. Legion Prep
BOYERTOWN 11, BACK MOUNTAIN 1 >> The Bear-Paws used a seven-run fifth inning and 14-hit offense to roll Back Mountain Post 672 Tuesday and advance to Wednesday’s final of the Pa. State Tournament at Bear Stadium.
Randy Wynings, Luke DiBricida, Owen Henderson, Logan Barndt, Cade Sennot and Gavin Slaughter powered the big inning with RBI efforts. Connor Moyer and Louis Panunzio each managed three hits to lead Boyertown, with DiBricida and Slaughter managing other multiple-hits outings.
Ty Shoultes led the Bear Paws to victory on the pitcher’s mound. He allowed three hits and one run over five innings, striking out one. BOYERTOWN 14, CONCORD 8 >> back-and-forth game that saw the Pa. State Tournament host roll Concord Monday.
The game was tied at eight, with Boyertown batting in the top of the eighth, when Randy Wynings drew a walk, scoring one run. Luke DiBricida led the Bear Paws to victory by driving in four runs, going 3-for-5 at the plate. DiBricida drove in runs on a single in the seventh and a triple in the eighth.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Chester County Prep Concord tied things up at eight. It scored two runs when Sean Dugery doubled. Quinn O’Hara and Dugery each also drove in runs during the inning.
Joey Stein got the pitching win for Boyertown. He lasted one inning, allowing three hits and three runs while walking zero. Elliott Schadler and Owen Henderson entered the game out of the bullpen and helped to close out the game in relief.
Dugery took the loss for Chester County Prep Concord. He allowed five hits and nine runs over one and two-thirds innings, striking out two.