Little League
Little League season gets underway
YORK - Wet weather was not enough to keep York Little League from opening its 2007 season on Saturday, April 28.
In major league play, it was the Nationals 1 and the Astros 0. A drizzly opening day game under the lights did not prevent a pitching showdown between the Nationals' Mitchell Benoit and the Astros' Evan McElwain.
Benoit fanned 13 Astros in six innings with 77 pitches from the misty mound. The Nationals' Donald Goodrich singled in the first inning and then stole second to place himself in position to score, which he did with an RBI triple from Benoit.
McElwain struck out 11 batters with 61 pitches and held the Nationals to that only run, and only allowed for one more Nationals hit by Kevin McKenna. The Astros' Josh Donohoe singled in the second inning but was left stranded on base. The Astros and the Nationals will face off again on Wednesday, May 9, at 7 p.m. at Smith Field.
Also in York major league baseball, it was the: Blue Jays with 2 and the Marlins with 4 on April 28.
The Marlins jumped out to a first inning, two-run lead behind hits and runs scored by Kyle Cone and Zach Leal.
The Blue Jays tied the game in the third after Daniel Bock singled, Drew Handley walked and Tim Connolly knocked them in with a triple.
Michael Khan gave the lead back to the Marlins in the fifth inning when he hit a double to drive in Connor Tulley and Dalton Lorenson.
The Blue Jays started the sixth inning with hits by Tommy Arsenault and Connor Smith but left them stranded in scoring position as Leal closed the game out for the Marlins.
Andrew LaMonica struck out five and pitched well for the Blue Jays. Tulley and Cone each struck out three for the Marlins.
In York minor league action the Giants defeated the Orioles 9 to 2 on April 28.
Andrew Young was on base three times and slugged a three-run triple in the fourth inning. His brother Chris Young also contributed a hit as did Forrest Kelley, who was also on base three times. The Giants had a strong pitching performance from Jonah Mitchell and Joe Yauch, who combined for 10 strikeouts and only two walks.
The Orioles actually out-hit the Giants and were led by Liam Collins whose second-inning hit scored Garrett Lillie all the way from first base. Sam Desmarais and Colby Berger also contributed offensively for the Os. Lillie and Phillip Zeller combined to strike out 11 Giants.
Also in minor league play, it was the Tigers with 4 and the Reds with 3 in an opening day battle where the Tigers topped the Reds with a walk-off winning hit by Joseph Albert.
Albert also pitched a strong game in relief of Nick York, who started and pitched well for the Tigers. Nick Walsh picked up the win. Kyle Peterson also had a hit for the Tigers.
The Reds had a strong pitching performance from Graham Guthrie who struck out 12 batters while also going three for three at the plate. Chris D'Aquila had a strong defensive game at shortstop while Matt Cusack knocked in a pair of runs with a single.
And the minor league Devil Rays defeated the Pirates 6 to 2 on opening day, backed by outstanding pitching and defense performances.
Starting pitcher Jack McDonald tossed three solid innings, striking out eight Pirates, while Jack Bouchard came on in relief and pitched three shutout innings to close out the game.
Second baseman Mac Walter and third baseman Ben Finitz brought the crowd to its feet with a couple of stellar defensive plays and catcher Adam Schoff and first baseman Josh White contributed with strong all-around games in the field and at the plate.. The Devil Rays offense was paced by leadoff man Camden Turner, who had two hits and 4 RBIs.
