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Post 287 falls to Altoona, 14-4

Sentinel photo by MATT STRICKER
Mifflin County second baseman Connor Cherry receives the throw from home as Altoona's Danny Carrieri slides safely for a stolen base Sunday in Lewistown.

LEWISTOWN — In an inning Mifflin County manager Bernie Howard would like to forget, Altoona sent 16 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring 11 runs on its way to a 14-4, five-inning victory in the Central Penn League American Legion championship Sunday afternoon.

Milroy Post 287 travels to Mansion Park in Altoona for the deciding game in the double elimination tournament on Monday. Game time is 8 p.m. The winner advances to the regional tournament beginning Friday, July 19.

Post 682 gashed Mifflin County (15-4) for eight of their 11 hits in the inning. Ian Yon, Jake Hunter, Cameron Mauk and Cody Becker had RBI singles, Zach Boslet plated two on a knock to right and Yon collected a two-run double in his second at-bat of the frame.

“We haven’t had a game like that, let alone an inning, in I can’t remember when. Sometimes it just happens,” Howard said. “We have to bounce back and what this game means is we have to play tomorrow. The guys didn’t give up. Obviously, in a tournament like this, everybody is short of pitching at this point. We’ll be back ready to go tomorrow.”

After the 11-run debacle in the first, Milroy Post 287 tried to fight back, scoring a run in the first.

Ethan Eichhorn walked with two outs, went to second on a single by Noah Wright and scored on a knock to right by Tyreen Smalley.

Altoona did more damage with three runs in the fourth. Brendan Baney and Zach Kuhns walked while Becker singled to load the bases. Boslet reached on an error, plating Baney. Danny Carrieri brought home Kuhns with a sacrifice to center and Yon singled home Becker for his fourth RBI of the game.

Mifflin County finally got the offense going with four runs in the fifth but it was a case of too little too late for Post 287.

Colby Bodtorf led off the frame with a triple to deep right, Eichhorn walked and Wright singled home Bodtorf to make it 14-2. Smalley reached on a base hit and Evan Mock brought home Eichhorn on a fielder’s choice. Connor Yoder scored Smalley on an RBI groundout to second setting the final score.

“They hit the ball well. We only had three hits going into the last inning, so it really didn’t matter if we were down by ten or two, it wasn’t our day,” Howard said. “To our credit, we kept battling. This is behind us. There is nothing we can do about it. We have to move on and get ready for tomorrow.”

Yon finished 3-for-4 to lead Altoona. Boslet, Mauk and Danny Potopa each had two hits for Post 682. Wright and Smalley paced Milroy Post 287 with two hits apiece. Mifflin County finished with six hits.

Kuhns picked up the win for Post 682. He went the distance, giving up four runs on six hits with five walks. Holden Yocum suffered the loss for Mifflin County. Wright and Max Oburn settled down the Altoona hitters combining for four runs, none earned, on four hits with two strikeouts and three walks in four-plus innings of work.

“Noah and Max came in and did a nice job for us on the mound. It’s a credit to the fact they are good athletes,” Howard said. “This was one of those things that happens occasionally. We just want to make sure it doesn’t happen two days in a row.”

Altoona 14, Mifflin County 4 (5 inn.)

Altoona (11)00 30 – 14-11-0

Mifflin County 100 03 – 4-6-3

WP: Zach Kuhns. LP: Holden Yocum. SO: Noah Wright, Max Oburn 2 (MC). BB: Kuhns 5 (A); Yocum, Tyreen Smalley 2, Wright 3 (MC). 3B: Colby Bodtorf (MC). 2B: Ian Yon (A); Ethan Eichhorn (MC). MH: Yon 3-4, Zach Boslet 2-4, Danny Potopa 2-4, Cameron Mauk 2-4 (A); Wright 2-3, Smalley 2-2 (MC). RBI: Yon 4, Boslet 2, Danny Carrieri, Potopa, Jake Hunter, Mauk, Becker (A); Wright, Smalley, Evan Mock, Connor Yoder (MC).

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