Blues shades Gold to move on in tourney

July 13, 2008|By JACK HILL

Hagerstown Blue hung on for a 7-5 victory over Hagerstown Gold on Saturday to advance to the championship round of PONY League 13-year-old sectional tournament at Funkhouser Park.

Hagerstown Blue will play for the title today at 1 p.m. against the winner of the losers' bracket final. Hagerstown Gold played Bucks County (Pa.) in the losers' bracket final late Saturday.

A Hagerstown Blue win clinches the championship, but a loss will force a second game later today.

"I thought the Gold team played well and we just gutted it out at the end," said Hagerstown Blue manager Ed Kipe said. "Brad Spickler came on in relief in the last inning and threw strikes. Our boys are coming together as a team and they are getting along as a unit."

Hagerstown Blue led the entire game, started by scoring two runs in the bottom of the second inning.

With one out, Spickler was hit by a pitch, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before Josh Grim hit a two-run home run to center.

Hagerstown Gold scored a single run in the fourth on a two-out single by Zane Gardenhour, a walk to Nick Hill and an RBI single by Aaron Roby.

Hagerstown Blue countered with a four-run uprising in the fifth to expand its lead to 6-1.

Grim started with a walk and came home when Tyler Byers smashed a two-run homer to right. Aaron Jones reached on an infield single, stole second and took third on Jason Mayles' single. Cole Myers reached on a throwing error that enabled Jones to score before Mayles scored on a wild pitch.

Hagerstown Blue got its final run in the sixth on a one-out double by Charles Cvijanovich and an RBI single by Dylan Appel.

"Grim and Byers had timely home runs," Kipe said. "That big four-run fifth inning gave us a cushion."

Hagerstown Gold refused to die as it came up with four runs in the seventh inning.

Ahmere Ware led off a bloop single to right, Adam Mellott singled and Hunter McKinley walked to load the bases. Ware scored on a balk, which advanced the other runners. Mellott scored on an errant pickoff and Gardenhour belted a two-run homer to left to move within 7-5.

Spickler came on in relief for Hagerstown Blue and sealed the win.

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