Pennsylvania State Little League Tournament - Day 1 Recap

I got plenty of raised eyebrows on Sunday when local fans and the families of the teams in the Pennsylvania State Little League Tournament asked me where I'm from. Who would be crazy enough to drive three hours just to watch the best eight teams in Pennsylvania Little League? Obviously this guy, and the day did not disappoint.

For starters, all eight teams are really good. Everyone has at least one excellent pitcher, and everyone hits throughout the lineup. It's a very impressive group top to bottom. Here we go with the recaps!



Game 1: Taney Youth Baseball 9, Clarion 3

Despite not blowing teams away during districts or sectionals, Taney was on the tip of everyone's tongue on Sunday morning because Mo'Ne Davis was getting the start on the bump. The highly-touted young lady allowed just one hit and no earned runs in two innings. The only negative? Two unearned runs and a high pitch count. Taney showcased some good arms throughout their rotation including Kai Cummings who closed out the game with some smoke. Zion Spearman and Cummings each had a big two-run double. Spearman scored three runs and is a scary hitter. Clarion was solid and led 2-0 early, but never put it at together. Its top two pitchers have strong arms. They just have to get control (and/or nerves) in order.

Game 2: Warwick 8, Montoursville 6

For the second straight game, the mound was a game of musical chairs. By the team Warwick held on to victory at the end of Game 2, SEVENTEEN pitchers took the rubber. Everyone is always worried about tomorrow. Anyway, like Taney and Clarion, both Warwick and Montoursville showcased some hard-throwing pitchers in the lineup. Warwick is one of those teams that can scare anyone. They bunt, they run, they take extra bases, the pressure your defense all game long. Montoursville made the plays, rotated correctly, etc... They still got beat with two bunt singles, two infield singles, stolen bases, and first to third running. Montoursville, coached (not managed) by Mike Mussina, looked good. They just got beat by a well-schooled team. Mason Sechrist was 3-for-3 with a double, RBI, and a run scored. He also made one of the best catches I've ever seen in left field when he caught the ball while running face first into the chain link fence. He fell backwards onto his back, seemingly stunned, and showed the ball to the umpire for the out. Warwick's Ethan Weiss was probably the hardest throwing pitcher of the day.

Game 3: Red Land 14, Back Mountain American 4 (F/5 inn.)

Through the first two games of the day, there wasn't a single home run. Lower Perk has a gorgeous 50/70 convertible field and the fences are built that way too. Only 201 down the lines, but it kicks out to 230 in center. Either way, it was surprising to not see a home run. With Red Land and BMA, that wasn't going to last long. BMA took a surprising 1-0 lead in the first, but Red Land immediately answered with a two-run home run by Kyle Hannon. Back Mountain responded in the second inning with an RBI double by Matt Maransky and then took a 3-2 lead in the third with a long solo home run by Will McCrum. Hannon had the answer again with his second two-run home run of the game to retake the lead, 4-3. Back Mountain tied it again with another solo home run, this time off the bat of Justin Finarelli. Finally, after four offensive innings and a couple BMA pitchers, Red Land's vaunted attack showed up in full force. RL put 10 runs across the plate in the fifth inning to mercy Back Mountain. Hunter Merritt had a two-run homer and a double, Jaden Henline hit a 3-run home run, Hannon added a double, and finally Reese Kauffman hit a two-run dinger to complete the victory.

Game 4: Collier Township 9, Lionville 5

Collier won the 2012 Pennsylvania State Little League championship and Lionville won the 2013 state championship. What's that have to do with this game? Nothing at all. It's just a fun fact. Onto the game. This felt like a heavyweight fight from the get go and it's obvious that both teams are near the top in terms of talent in this tournament. Collier's Christian Trottier (Islanders and Penguins great, Bryan Trottier's son) launched a two-run homer in the first to give Collier a 2-0 lead. Grant Umberger of Lionville helped his own cause with an RBI double in the bottom of the inning to halve the lead. Collier added single runs in the third and fourth innings including a home run off the bench by Frank Peluso, but Lionville once again closed the gap with a two-run blast by Dave Owsik to cut it to a 4-3 deficit in the fourth. Sam Tortorella absolutely hammered a 3-run shot in the fifth to give Collier some much needed brething room, but six straight walks by Collier's bullpen cut the deficit back to two, 7-5. The boys in royal blue added two more in the sixth though including a solo home run by Austin Hendrick to secure the victory.

Overall Thoughts: It's so hard to even rank the teams after Day 1 because I saw 30 pitchers. When it gets down to the nitty gritty, things could look a lot different when some of the aces are going 65 or 85. Red Land's lineup is very imposing as expected. Luke Wagner is legit on the mound too. For me, Collier might be the slight favorite when it's all on the line. They're almost equally dynamic on offense and between Tortorella and Hendrick, they have a nice pitching duo. Collier was also the only team today to really burn a pitcher with Tortorella throwing 78 pitches in 4 innings. He struck out eight, allowed just four hits and didn't walk a batter. Hendrick throws gas, but walked six batters in one inning. He had eight walks in two innings and struck out five. He didn't allow a hit.

Lionville is right there with a tough lineup, smart baseball, and an effective number one pitcher. I would not be surprised if they won the tournament, but I still favor the other two for now.

Warwick and Taney both picked up wins and have a lot of good qualities about them. Taney has the arms, but I'm not sure if the middle of their lineup is enough to carry them. They're offense overall probably ranks seventh ahead of only Clarion, the team they beat. Warwick didn't show off a ton of offense, but they will do anything to get on base and make you pay for it. They also have strong pitching and top quality coaches. They can beat anyone in this tournament in a single game situation.

Montoursville has some real nice players and won't back down. It would not be a shocker if they beat one of the top four teams, but I can't see them doing enough to win it right now. Back Mountain American is huge, they hit the ball, and they play good defense. I'm not sure if they have enough pitching though. Clarion has some strong arms, but needs to pick their heads up a bit more. They got down easily. They don't have the physical tools of the other teams, but they're very good and very dangerous.

All in all, I was very impressed with the quality of baseball in the state tournament. If any of the eight teams wins it, Pennsylvania will not be ashamed of their performance in the regional, I can guarantee that. If Red Land or Collier put it all together, they could be making a trip back to PA to play some more baseball in South Williamsport.

I'll be back at Lower Perkiomen Little League for Day 2 action. I won't have a recap until late night, if at all though. Long drive back to New York. Have an issue with my opinions or want to give positive/negative feedback? Tell me on Facebook or Twitter. Don't comment here. I don't see them often. Thanks for reading.

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