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FLEETVILLE – For the first time in 2017 all-star play, the Kingston/Forty Fort Major Little League squad is going to face some adversity.
Upper Providence scored four runs in the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie as KFF sustained its first loss of the Pa. State Major tournament, 6-3, Wednesday night in Fleetville.
KFF is still in the tournament, but would need three consecutive wins to capture the title and the right to represent Pennsylvania at the Mid-Atlantic Regional in Bristol, Conn.
The team has Thursday off, and will play the winner of North Allegheny and Stroudsburg at 6 p.m. on Friday.
“Obviously, we are disappointed because we were right there,” KFF manager Joe Evan said. “It’s one of those things where there is some adversity now. I told them that we will regroup tomorrow. What I want to see now is if we can kick it up a notch. Can we respond to the adversity? Can we come back and work hard? That’s the challenge, and it’s not easy. But this team has always responded, and I have a lot of confidence in them. I think we are going to come out Friday and play a real good game.”
The power was there for KFF. Akira Kopec crushed two home runs to straight-away center, and Jake Griffin added another long solo shot to right field, his second in as many days.
The difference between Wednesday and other games? The hits to put runners on base for those homers just weren’t there.
Two UP pitchers, Gage Swanger and Michael McKenna, held the District 31 champ to just five hits. Besides the three home runs, Luke Bowen and Mason Sgarlat each added singles.
“It was one of those games where we played a great team, and you can see why they won a state championship two years ago,” Evan said. “Mason threw well, but they capitalized a little bit more on the little things. They did a great job of that. They were able to get guys on base and move them around.”
Kopec’s first home run in the bottom of the fourth tied the game at 2-2. But Upper Providence, which won a state title as 10-year-olds two years ago, showed its heart of a champion.
Jake Voynar and TJ Cadden led off the fifth with back-to-back hits to put runners on the corners. And it led to a big frame for the District 27 titlist.
One scored on a wild pitch, while another crossed home on a throwing error. Mix in RBI pokes by Brendan Kennig and Ryan Garvey, and it led to an insurmountable, 6-2 edge.
KFF tried to rally in the sixth.
Sgarlat led off the inning with a sharp single to right, but was later doubled up after the center fielder made a nice throw from the warning track on a ball struck by John McLaughlin. Kopec followed with her second home run to trim the deficit to 6-3, but McKenna coaxed a grounder to first for the final out of the game.
“Earlier in all-stars, I thought that we left too many guys in scoring position. And we worked on it, and got better at it,” Evan said. “Tonight, we just couldn’t capitalize on it. It just didn’t happen today. They just played a little better game than we did, to be honest. They are a very good team.”
LITTLE LEAGUE STATE
JUNIOR BASEBALL
Back Mountain 5,
New Bethlehem 2
Ty Federici’s three-run double in the sixth inning broke a tie and lifted Back Mountain in the Junior Little League Baseball state tournament opener at Cranberry.
Back Mountain advances to play Kennett Square, a 12-2 winner over Lakeview, Friday at 10 a.m. in the winners’ bracket semifinal of the eight-team, double-elimination event.
Federici, Aidan Conrad and Max Paczewski each had two of the 11 hits for Back Mountain, which left the bases loaded twice before breaking loose for five runs in the sixth. Conrad, who also doubled, started the winning rally with an infield single.
Connor Morgan struck out five in three scoreless innings of relief to get the win.
Chris Killian and Evan Hromisin combined with Morgan on a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts.
LITTLE LEAGUE STATE
MAJOR BASEBALL
Upper Providence 6, Kingston/Forty Fort 3
Upper Providence `AB`R`H`BI
Voynar 2b `3`2`2`0
Cadden ss `4`1`1`0
Nilles 3b `3`0`0`0
Tsiaras c `1`1`0`1
Paquette rf `2`0`0`0
Shaner ph `1`0`0`0
Kenning 1b `2`1`1`1
Schauder ph `0`0`0`0
Garvey lf `2`0`2`1
Sheeler ph `1`0`0`0
McKenna cf `3`0`0`0
Swanger p `3`1`1`1
Totals `25`6`7`3
KFF `AB`R`H`BI
Evan 2b `2`0`0`0
Matello ph `1`0`0`0
Griffin cf `3`1`1`1
Sgarlat p `3`0`1`0
McLaughlin c `3`0`0`0
A. Kopec ss `3`2`2`2
L. Kopec 3b `2`0`0`0
Matlowski ph `1`0`0`0
Buss 1b `1’0`0`0
Bowen ph `1`0`1`0
Lopuhovsky lf `1`0`0`0
Zekus ph `1`0`0`0
Motkya rf `1`0`0`0
Totals `23`3`5`3
Upper Providence `002 `040` –` 6
Kingston/Forty Fort `100 `101` –` 3
2B: Voynar.HR: A. Kopec 2, Griffin.
Upper Providence `IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Swanger `4`2`2`2`1`3
McKenna `2`3`1`1`0`2
Kingston/Forty Fort `IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Sgarlat `5.1`7`6`4`2`7
A. Kopec `0.2`0`0`0`0`0
