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FLEETVILLE — The Kingston/Forty Fort all-stars couldn’t have asked for a better start in the Little League Major Baseball state tournament at Christy Mathewson Little League on Sunday.
Of course, they could have done without the scary moments endured by starting pitcher Akira Kopec.
KFF batted for 32 minutes in the top of the first, sending 16 players to the plate and scoring 10 times in an 18-2 rout of Section 4 champion Hollidaysburg in four innings.
Section 5 champ KFF will face Section 2 champ North Allegheny, an 11-1 winner over Section 7 champ Dillsburg, at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the field. Dillsburg will play Hollidaysburg at 2:30 p.m. in an elimination game.
As for Kopec, there were two moments that were frightful — the second more than the first.
Kopec was leading off the top of the fourth with KFF comfortably ahead 15-2 when she was hit with a pitch on the upper left cheek. She left the game and had an ice pack on her face in the dugout.
Back in the second while pitching, Hollidaysburg’s Landon Perry — clearly the biggest kid on the field at 5-foot-10 — lined a missile back at Kopec. The ball tore off her glove and ricocheted off her chest. Still, she stayed composed, picked up the ball and threw home for a force out.
“There were two scary moments, to be truthful with you,” KFF manager Joe Evan said. “Pitches are one thing, but I think your biggest fear as a coach and as a parent is a line drive coming back at the pitcher. That ball was smoked. Luckily, she got it off the top of her glove and it ricocheted off her. She was all right. Then what’s the odds of coming back and getting hit in the head with a pitch.
“She seems like she’s doing all right. She’s a tough kid.”
Kopec was in good spirits after the game and eating ice cream. There was some slight puffiness under her left eye and her dad said she was going to get medically checked out. She apprieciated the 10-run cushion her team had before she threw her first pitch.
“It feels great,” Kopec said. “I always like being the away team so you can get ahead first. That makes my job even easier on the mound.”
KFF banged out five hits and benefited from three errors to take the 10-0 lead. Mason Sgarlat had the biggest blow, a grand slam to make it 10-0. KFF made it 15-0 in the top off the second thanks to three homers — a three-run screamer over the left-field fence by Kopec and solo blasts to center by Luke Buss and Mason Mattello.
“Like our coach said, I think we were a little tight in warmups,” Kopec said. “Once we went out and did our chant before the game, everyone was ready to go.”
Hollidaysburg picked up its runs in the second on a bases-loaded bunt by Owen Dombrosky and an RBI single to center by Reese Evans. KFF added three runs in the fourth, one coming on a bases-loaded walk by Luke Kopec and another on an infield single by Luke Bowen.
All but one of the 12 KFF players either had a hit or scored a run. The only player who didn’t — Max Lopahosky — handled two blistering grounders at shortstop for the game’s final outs. Lopahosky switched from center field to short when Sgarlat, the regular shortstop, had to finish the game on the mound.
“The defense has been there throughout these tournaments,” Evan said. “I think it’s an underrated part of our team. The kids have worked hard at their positions and they play them well. We kind of got of position there in the last inning. We put Max at short and the ball kind of finds you and he makes two really nice plays.”
If KFF wins Monday, its next game will be the winners bracket final at 8 p.m. Tuesday. If KFF loses, the team moves to the elimination bracket and plays 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
All games are at the Christy Mathewson Little League field located on Route 407 just north of Clarks Summit.
Kingston/Forty Fort 18, Hollidaysburg 2
KFF`AB`R`H`BI
Evan 2b`2`2`0`0
AKopec p`3`2`1`3
Sgarlat ss`4`3`2`4
McLaughlin c`2`1`0`0
Buss 1b`4`3`3`1
LKopec 3b`3`1`3`2
Motyka cf`2`2`0`0
Zekus rf`0`1`0`0
Mattello rf`2`1`2`1
Bown lf`2`0`1`1
Matkowski lf`1`2`1`1
Lopahosky cf`1`0`0`0
Totals 27`18`13`12
Hollidaysburg`AB`R`H`BI
Wolfe cf`3`0`0`0
Perry 1b`3`0`1`0
Stevenson c`2`0`0`0
Rother p`2`0`0`0
Bukusky 2b`2`1`1`0
Ankeny lf`0`1`0`0
Horn lf`1`0`1`0
Hibbs 3b`2`0`1`0
Dombrosky ss`1`0`1`1
Bem ph`1`0`0`0
Reese rf`1`0`1`1
Rossnan ph`1`0`0`0
Totals`19`2`6`2
Kingston/Forty Fort`(10)50`3`—`18
Hollidaysburg`020`0`—`2
E: KFF 1, Hollidaysburg 3. DP: Hollidaysburg 1. LOB: KFF 8, Hollidaysburg 6. HR: AKopec, Sgarlat, Buss, Mattello.
KFF`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
AKopec (W)`3.0`6`2`1`1`3
Sgarlat`1.0`0`0`0`0`1
Hollidaysburg`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Rother (L)`0.1`1`6`0`2`1
Bukusky`0.1`4`4`0`3`0
Hibbs`0.1`3`4`4`1`0
Wolfe`1.1`2`1`1`1`0
Evans`1.0`2`3`3`2`0
Dombrosky`0.2`1`0`0`0`0
