1983 District Tournament

“I told my players it wasn’t going to be easy, but they didn’t let it rattle them.” – Bellefonte Manager Alan Thal after defeating Suburban in game of the tournament - Poorman, M. (1983, July 26). Bellefonte, Philipsburg Even Little League All-Star Series. Centre Daily Times, p9.

Little League Playoffs Begin. (1983, July 13). Centre Daily Times, p14.

Little League Playoffs Begin

District 5 Little League playoff action will get under way tonight with four games – two in both the Northern and Southern Tiers – scheduled.

In the Southern Tier Bellefonte will visit State College Suburban for a 6 p.m. game and A.R. Rook-will trave to Pleasant Gap, also at 6. The winner of the A.R. Rook-Pleasant Gap will entertain Nittany Valley Friday evening while the loser of tonight’s game will play Monday. The Bellefonte-Suburban winner is scheduled to entertain Lewistown Friday with the loser slated to play Monday.

In the Norther Tier tonight Mountaintop is at Curwensville and Tri-County is at 4 Leaf. The Curwensville-Mountaintop winner will play Moshannon Valley Friday while the 4-Leaf-Tri-County winner will entertain Philipsburg. Losers of tonight’s games will play Monday. Meanwhile, the Tri-County Senior Little League All-Stars will entertain Moshannon Valley’s All-Stars in a first-round playoff game tomorrow at 6 p.m. The game will be played at the Stormstown Community Field.

The Tri-County roster: Mike Hale and John Jones, Huston Township; Craig Hammond, Bald Eagle; Scott Frank, Brian Harpster and William Frantz, Halfmoon; Roy Brodzina and Kevin Ferner, Warriors Mark; Mike Bennett, James Warrender and Doug Stimer, Port Matilda Bears; Dusty Cushard and Rusty Fisher, Port Matilda.

Dean Tressler and Dan Frank will manage the team. The other game tomorrow will feature Curwensville at Clearfield.

McDonald, D. (1983, July 14). Suburban Edges Bellefonte . Centre Daily Times, p17. 

Suburban Edges Bellefonte

By DOUG McDONALD Times Senior Sports Writer

State College Suburban, behind the five hit pitching of Curt Cronemiller and Dan McClintic’s two-run homer, defeated Bellefonte 5-4, in a District 5 Little League All-Star playoff game at the HRB Complex last night.

Suburban will entertain Lewistown in a second-round game tomorrow at 6 p.m., also at the HRB A diamond. Bellefonte will entertain the winner of tomorrow’s Pleasant Gap-Nittany Valley game Monday night. The double-elimination tourney will conclude later this month, with the champion advancing to inter-district play.

“I thought we’d score more runs,” Manger Ben Amato of Suburban said after the game. “But I thought both teams played well. It was a good ballgame.”

Cronemiller gave up a two-run homer to Todd Hardy in the first inning, a single to Hardy and Al Capparelle’s double in the third and singles to Troy Hosterman and Joey Leiter in the fourth.

Cronemiller registered nine strikeouts, including at least one in each inning. He recorded two in the second, fourth and fifth innings.

He walked Todd Hosterman in the first and then Hardy hit Cronemiller’s first pitch over the fence in left for a 2-0 lead.

Brandon McMurtrie got the first two batters in the bottom of the first. Then an error and Mattttt McClellan’s single to right field cut the deficit to 2-1. Then McClintic hit one over the fence in center, to the right of the scoreboard, and Suburban had a 3-2 lead.

Bellefonte tied the score in the third on Hardy’s two-out single, an error and Capparelle’s double inside the third base line.

Cronemiller’s single, a ground-rule double by McClellan and two wild pitches enabled Suburgan to take a 5-3 lead in the third.

Bellefonte made it 5-4 in the fourth on a leadoff walk to McMurtrie, a passed ball and two-out singles by Troy Hosterman and Joey Leiter.

Cronemiller settled down and retired the last seven men in order.

“I thought we’d hit the ball better,” Manager Allan Thal of Bellefonte said. “Brandon pitched a good game. Both teams played well. We had some poor communications at times which hurt us. I said before the game that it takes time for everything to blend together.”

Cronemiller, McClellan and McClintic were All-Stars a year ago and they combined for six of Suburban’s nine hits last night.

Bellefonte, meanwhile has four holdovers and they managed only three hits in the opener.

Poorman, M. (1983, July 21). Suburban Slams Nittany, 9-4. Centre Daily Times, p15. 

…Despite the loss, Nittany Valley may get another shot at Suburban. Tomorrow, Nittany Valley faces Bellefonte, a 10-1 winner over A.R. Rook yesterday, and the winner of tomorrow’s game will meet Suburban, which has yet to lose in the double-elimination tournament.,

Poorman, M. (1983, July 26). Bellefonte, Philipsburg Even Little League All-Star Series. Centre Daily Times, p9. 

Bellefonte, Philipsburg Even Little League All-Star Series

By MIKE POORMAN Times Sports Writer

Two tough eggs – Bellefonte and Suburban – have turned the Lower Tier of the District 5 Little League playoffs into a round-robin tournament, with the winner being hatched tonight.

The Bellefonte All-Stars last night avenged an opening round 5-4 loss to Suburban by eeking out a 2-1 win at the HRB Complex, thereby setting up the third game between the two teams in 13 days.

Bellefonte needed a win to keep its title hopes alive. After losing to Suburban in the bracket’s opening game, Bellefonte battled back to win its next two games of the double-elimination tournament while Suburban ran up two wins before last night.

“I told my players it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Bellefonte Manager Alan Thal said. “But they didn’t let it rattle them.”

Bellefonte scored both of it’s runs in the first inning. With one out, Troy Hosterman reached first on a Suburban error. Then, just as he done in the first game against Suburban, Todd Hardy hit a two-run homer to give his team a 2-0 lead. Only this time, Bellefonte held on, thanks largely to its pitching.

Suburban did manage a run in the third, on an infield hit that scored pinch-runner Matt Smith. But after that, Bellefonte’s Brad Sharp pitched true to his surname.

The left-hander allowed just one run and struck out seven Suburban batters in the first 4 1/3 innings. Sharp gave way in the fifth to Joe Reiter after yielding a one-out triple to Kody Barto, who was then thrown out in an attempt to steal home.

Reiter retired the next batter and didn’t allow a hit over the final 1 2/3 to pick up the save, while Suburban Manager Ben Amato credited himself with the loss.

“The game wasn’t lost by our kids. It was lost by me,” he said. “With us down 2-1, the percentages were not to send the runner home. Our first job was to tie the game.”

After surrendering Hardy’s home run in the first, Suburban’s Dan McClintic allowed only one other hit, a single by Todd Hosterman in the third. McClintic walked only two and struck out…, including the last five batters he faced.

Tonight’s game begins at 6 p.m. at Webster Field in Bellefonte, the first time in the three game series that Bellefonte will have the home field advantage. The winner will then play the Upper Tier champion (either Four-Leaf Clover or Philipsburg for the District 5 title.

UPPER TIER

The same situation exists at Philipsburg, because Four-Leaf Clover last night, 2-1, giving Four-Leaf its first loss and forcing the third game tomorrow night at Chester Hill.

Philipsburg jumped on top the first inning when Jay Nartatez reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on two walks by Four-Leaf pitcher Mike Helsel and a passed ball.

Four-Leaf tied it in the thrid on an error and Jon Cutler’s RBI-double.

Then in the bottom of the seventh, Nartatez cracked a bases-loaded single to score the winning run.

Larry Ammerman was the winning pitcher for Philipsburg with eight strikeouts. Philipsburg had just four hits off Helsel and reliever Rob Emigh.

Bartolomeo, B. (1983, July 27). Suburban Topples Bellefonte for Title. Centre Daily Times, p18. 

Suburban Topples Bellefonte for Title

By BOB BARTOLOMEO Times Sports Writer

Kurt Cronemiller’s two-hit pitching and his teammates’ 12 hit attack enabled the Suburban Little League All-Stars to capture the District 5 Lower Tier title last night at Webster Field by trouncing Bellefonte 14-4.

“We have a very good team, a well disciplined team,” said Suburban Coach Ben Amato. “They played totally together, even the kids coming off the bench,” he said, adding that “even while they are on the bench, they give total support to our squad.”

Amato then started handing out praise, pointing to his starting pitcher Cronemiller, who went the distance in striking out seven batters while surrendering only two hits, although he walked 10 batters.

“He kept everybody off balance and defensively we played soundly,” said Amato. One player in particular was Doug Leitzell, who came up with a few key plays in the late innings.

Amato also praised his batters saying “our hitting bats were with us tonight.”

Suburban pounded out 12 hits, with Cronemiller and Tom Belinda leading the way with a pair each, and 10 of those hits came in the fourth and fifth innings when it exploded for 11 runs.

That seven-run fourth was highlighted by Kody Barto’s three-run double, while the four run fifth was led by the reserves. Derek Ferrel , Todd Prisk and C.W. Tinelli each chipped in with a hit while Kurt Trimarchi drove in a run with a bouncer to the mound..

Bellefonte’s offensive highlight came in the fifth when Al Capparelle hit a three-run homer to left. Its only other score came in the first when Cronemiller walked in a run.

Amato feels the 2-1 loss Monday night to Bellefonte was the best thing that happened to his players.

“It took the edge off of us, now they know they’re just kids, they’re just playing ball,” said Amato. “I think we were over confident.”

“The kids all executed, that’s the name of the game, executing and they did that very well,” he added. “Everything we worked on came off very well for us.”

Amato and his Suburban stars must now wait to see who wins the Four Leaf-Philipsburg game tonight. That winner takes on the Suburban all-stars in a single elimination game Friday night at Webster Field. The winner of that game represents District 5 in Muncy next weekend.