1987 District Tournament

Flynn, T. (1987, July 16). Bellefonte Loses In 7th. Centre Daily Times, p29. 

Bellefonte Loses In 7th

By TOM FLYNN Times Sports Writer

In a game that would be decided in the last at-bat, the home field advantage was the turning point last night.

And although it was playing on its home field, Bellefonte lost the coin flip, the last at-bat and the District 5 Little League playoff game to A.R Rook of Burnham 5-4 in seven innings.

Tied 3-3 after the regulation six innings, Bellefonte took a one-run lead when first baseman Jon Green doubled off the right-field wall to score Jason Evey.

But Bellefonte, which had been charged with only one error to that point, committed two in a row in the bottom of the seventh to turn the game over to A.R. Rook.

Eric Howell, who gave A.R. Rook a 3-3 tie with a three-run home run in the fifth inning, led off the seventh with a walk. Scott Stuck followed with a two-hopper to third baseman Mike Bender, who threw the ball into right center trying to force Howell at second. The overthrow allowed Howell to score and Stuck to take third, forcing Bellefonte to bring its infield up.

On the following pitch, Kris Krepps lofted a shallow fly behind first base, forcing Green to back-pedal after the ball. Reaching behind his back, Green got his glove on it, but couldn’t hold the ball, allowing Krepps to score the winning run.

“Both teams played really hard, and what can you say? Everybody’s playing hard, and when you get in a game like that, someone’s got to end up winning the game, and somebody ends up losing and there’s nothing you can do about that,” Bellefonte Manager Dave Smith said, “I’m really proud of our kids and how hard they played. Our team played hard, the other team played hard, and that’s just the way it goes.”

As evidenced by the low score, pitchers from both sides turned in stellar performances. A.R. Rook’s Howell didn’t allow a hit until the third, and Bellefonte starter Eric Milton kept A.R. Rook’s bats at bay until the fifth inning. Once the no-hitters were broken, the teams then traded rallies to send the game into extra innings.

Bender sent the first hit of the game flying over the left-field fence for a solo home run, giving Bellefonte a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Bellefonte also got the next two hits in its two-run fifth, with Green’s two-run single to left the key blow.

Milton then got into trouble in A.R. Rook’s portion of the inning. The left-hander allowed a walk to Bill Silks and a single to Mark Attivo before settling down. He struck out Steve DeArment, got a force at third and put an 0-2 count on Howell. The next pitch, though, ended up over the left-field fence, pulling A.R. Rook into a 3-3 tie.

“It was a well-played Little League game,” A.R. Rook Manger Tim Weston said. “Three big hits made the difference in the game. They got the home run early, we got the home run that got us back in the game and got the double for the lead.

But alert base running gave A.R. Rook its winning runs, which Weston attributed to practice.

“We work on our base running and our bae coaches (substitute players who man the first and third-base coaching boxes),” Weston said. “So many times ballgames are decided by good base running. We practice our base coaching, our signs, and they are all-stars, so they should know hot to coach a base runner.”

Howell pitched a complete game to earn the victory for A.R. Rook.

Big Valley 5, Bellefonte 4. (1987, July 18). Centre Daily Times, p28.

Big Valley 5, Bellefonte 4

Big Valley tied the game with a single run in the bottom of the fifth and won it with another run in the sixth. Steve Cavanaugh, who was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, singled in the fifth and stole second. He scored the tying run on a single by Ed Lewis. Lewis also singled in two runs in the first inning to tie the game at 2-2.

Big Valley won the game when Casey Yoder doubled and raced home on an error. Brad Breon picked up the win and held Bellefonte to just five hits.