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QUEENSBURY, N.Y. – Iowa bound.
Mfflin County advanced to the 13-year-old Babe Ruth World Series with a stunning 5-4, eight-inning win over Queensbury, the host team of the Mid-Atlantic Regional, on Tuesday.
Mifflin County will play its first game in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Aug. 12 against Ohio Valley. The next day the locals will play Midwest Plains, New England on Aug. 14 and the host team on Aug. 15.
This is just third Mifflin County team to advance to a World Series at the junior (ages 13-15) level, This will be the first 13-year-old team to go to a Babe Ruth World Series. In 1996, a 16-year-old team from the old Mifflin County Senior Babe Ruth League went to Mississippi.
The victory wasn’t easy. It took a clutch hit in the seventh inning and wild pitch in the eighth for Mifflin County to pull out the win.
Mifflin County trailed 4-3 going into the seventh. Ethan Eichhorn grounded out to open the inning. Casey Conner singled and Brando Souders was sent into pinch run. He moved to third on a ground ball to shortstop from Cole Schlegel.
Then Conner Cherry came up with the big hit, a shot up the middle that the Queensbury shortstop just missed.
“We had just moved Conner (Cherry) to the No. 7 hole this morning,” Mifflin County assistant coach Jared Edwards said. “Boy, I’m glad we did.”
Meanwhile on the mound, Schlegel was throwing goose eggs at Queensbury. He relieved Brian Yetter and held Queensbury in check for the next four innings. He only gave up two hits, walked three and struck out two. In the top of the eighth he had a 1-2-3 inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, Jaxson Pupo opened with a ground ball to second base. Colby Bodtorf then singled and when the ball got by the Queensbury center fielder, Bodtorf was on second base. Then Brian Yetter was intentionally walked. Brycen Hassinger moved Bodtorf to third on a ground ball to second.
Then with a 1-0 count to Ethan Eichhorn, Jason Rodriquez, the Queensbury pitcher tossed a ball that went off the shin guards of his catcher and Bodtorf ran home for the historic run.
Queensbury picked up runs in the second, third and fourth innings. Yetter, the starter, struck out eight, walked four and gave up just three hits.
Mifflin County finally got on the board in the fifth inning. Again it was Bodtorf that started the rally. He bunted for a base hit. Yetter then knocked in the first run for Mifflin County with a double. He then scored on a Hassinger base hit. Eichhorn, Conner and Schlegel drew walks to tie the game.
Schlegel fouled pitch after pitch off until he drew the walk, making it 4-3. Before the inning was over, Queensbury turned in a double play to end the Mifflin County rally.
In fact, Queensbury pulled off four double plays during the game. In the fourth, Schlegel drove a ball to center field and the Queensbury center fielder made a play like Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series with an over the shoulder catch. Tyler Spadling, the Queensbury second baseman, made an outstanding play in the fourth to end a Mifflin County rally with a diving catch that caught Schlegel off of second.
Mifflin County finished with 12 hits. Yetter had a 3-for-3 day and was a home run short of the cycle. Bodtorf, Hassinger, Conner and Cherry each had two hits.
On defense, Marshall Maidens saved the day in the sixth as he made a diving catch in left field with the bases loaded to save two runs. Another Mifflin County player that had an outstanding day was Eichhorn behind the plate as he allowed no passed balls.