MILROY — It was a night to remember for Cohen Leister.

Leister helped the Mifflin County 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star team open the Mid-Atlantic Regionals with a 10-4 win over West End of Williamsport on Thursday.

Leister had an outstanding game as he performed well in the field, on the mound and with the bat.

Leister put Mifflin County ahead 1-0 with a solo home run in the fourth inning. It marked the league’s 150th round tripper, and it was the 23rd hit by a14-year-old. The last home run hit at the Armagh Memorial Field was by Brian Yetter as a 13-year-old against Perry County on July 1, 2016.

Mifflin County worked some magic in the sixth inning as it scored five runs without a hit. West End issued up three walks, committed two errors and had two wild pitches. Easton Stonerook, River Knepp, Max Trawitz, Chase Krepps and Leister all scored runs.

West End made it close with four runs in the sixth as the state champs from Williamsport had four hits, including an RBI double from Emerson Lehman.

In the process, West End knocked out the starting pitcher Noah Bunch, who pitched five scoreless innings before running into trouble in the sixth.

“I thought Noah (Bunch) pitched a terrific game tonight,” Mifflin County manager Denny Yetter said. “He ran into some trouble in the sixth, but we came out of it.”

After the Lehman double, Bunch was replaced by Kale Beaver. Beaver walked two men and Leister came in and struck out Mick Dincher to end the inning.

Mifflin County added four more runs in the seventh on four hits. Caden McClure opened the inning with a single. Other hits in the inning came from Trawitz, Chase Krepps and Bunch. Leister drew a walk with the base loaded and Beaver was hit by a pitch which knocked in a run.

“Cohen got us started with that home run,” Yetter added. “We finally put some hits together in the seventh. With the bats today, we were patient. Cohen had an outstanding game in the field too.”

Leister made all the throws from his shortstop position and made a diving catch to end the fifth.

The win stopped an eight-game losing streak against West End. The last Mifflin County win came in 2021 in the 13-year-old state championship game, 11-4. West End holds the distinction of having the longest winning streak against Mifflin County, a 10-gamer from 2012 to 2016. Again that streak was broken in the 13-year-old state finals, 14-2.

TOURNEY NOTES

Throwing out the ceremonial first ball last night was the star runner for Mifflin County High School Carter Smith. Before Smith started his running career, he played two years of Babe Ruth baseball. He was a 13-year-old All-Star in 2022 as that team was third in the state. Then in 2023, he was a starter on the Reedsville league championship team.