News Archive

August 16-17: Fredericksburg, PA
August 22-24: Bridgewater College, VA
August 29-31: Tom's River, NJ
September 5-7: Scranton, PA
September 19-21: Woodbridge, VA
September 26-28: Mechanicsburg, PA
October 3-4: Old Dominion University, VA
October 12: Pittsburgh, PA
October 18-19: Frederick, MD

ACES COMPLETE A CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND IN SCRANTON

The Scranton tournament featured high drama in all of the games. On Friday night, the PA Select team's starting pitcher threw 4 innings of 1-hit shut out baseball at the Aces and had a 3-1 lead entering the 6^th inning. With 2 on and 2 outs, the Aces bats came alive. The next seven batters all reached base safely started by a double off of the bat of Matt Umberger, followed by singles from Lance Brown, Riley Cameron and Kyle Davis. Kris Aumiller walked to reload the bases and Cory Stinger drilled a double to clear the bases. After a hit-batsman, Irv Sleighter completed the scoring by driving in Stinger with his 3^rd hit of the game. Overall, there were 8 runs scored on 8 hits during the inning, completely turning the game around, resulting in a 10-3 win.

The game against the Long Island Tigers started out easily enough with the Aces opening up a 5-1 lead through the first 2 innings. Long Island added a pair of runs in the 4^th and trailed only 6-3 entering the 6^th. It was Deja Vu time. The Aces loaded the bases with a walk, fielder's choice and a single. Nate Kranz was hit by a pitch forcing in one run and, after a strikeout, Ryan Murray ripped a double, clearing the bases and completing the scoring in another 10-3 win for the Aces.

The Saturday night game against the Tom's River Black Sox was 'throwback' baseball at its best. Both teams came into the game fired up and the fans were treated to a high-intensity game. Nate Kranz, the Aces leadoff batter, was hit by the first pitch, setting the tone for the game. After 3 innings, six batters has been plunked by the baseball, three on each team. Tom's River jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 2^nd , but the Aces came right back in the bottom of the 3^rd to tie it. Three more runs in the 3^rd inning gave us a 6-3 lead, but a 2-run fourth inning brought Tom's River right back into the game. In the bottom of the 5^th, the Aces sent 9 men to the plate and scored 4 runs, resulting in a seemingly comfortable 10-5 lead going into the 6^th. Tom's River wasn't finished yet. Taking advantage of an error and 2 walks, combined with 3 base hits, the Black Sox scored 4 runs with the potential tying runner thrown out at the plate and then thrown out of the game for barreling over our catcher, Steve Brindle. Rhys Wolford came on in the 7^th to nail down the save.

Our first game on Sunday pitted us against the host team, the Moosic Mets. Again, the Aces ran into a strong pitcher who limited us to a 2 hits over the 1^st five innings. Fortunately, one of these 2 hits, a single by Matt Umberger, drove in Allan Donato, who had reached base via a walk and the Aces carried a slim 1-0 lead into the 6^th inning. Paul Knutson struck out 2 of the first 3 hitters he faced, but Moosic's leadoff hitter had an infield single, stole 2^nd and 3^rd, and then scored on an error to tie the game. Again, the 6^th inning proved helpful to the Aces who took advantage some Moosic miscues to score 2 times during the inning and walking away with a 3-1 victory.

The Championship game was a rematch between the Aces and the Long Island Tigers. The Aces had single hits in each of the 1^st three innings but 2 double plays and a 2-out bases loaded ground out kept the game scoreless. The Aces were playing a strong defensive game themselves. Dustin McClain allowed only 1 base runner via a walk during his 3 innings and was helped out with great defense by shortstop Nate Kranz, who had a put out and 5 assists over the 1^st 3 innings. In the 4^th inning, the Aces eked out a single run with Ryan Murray reaching base on a fielder's choice, stealing 2^nd, and then scoring on Alan Donato's single to right.

Over the next 3 innings, the Aces allowed only 2 baserunners, giving up 2-out singles in the 4^th and 6^th innings. The Aces came into the top of the 7^th with a 1-run lead and Irv Sleighter on the mound. Irv struck out the leadoff batter, but the next hitter singled to left and stole 2^nd. Long Island's cleanup hitter hit a grounder between 1^st and 2^nd that Kyle Davis was able to get to but the runner beat the throw to first. The runner on 2^nd tried to score on the play and got caught in a rundown between 3^rd and home for the 2^nd out of the inning. Irv nailed down the save by striking out the next batter on 3 pitches, completing the team's championship weekend.

Photos (Click to enlarge)

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