REGION 2C AMATEUR BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Aaron Mathiowetz hit a fly ball to the left field fence in the fifth inning of the Milroy Yankees’ Region 2C Tournament game against Stark on Sunday. Brock Schultz did the same thing in the eighth, only to right field.
Both blasts teased Yankee fans, craving at least one run to end the string of zeros their team was putting on the scoreboard. However, both were nothing more than loud outs — a microcosm of a frustrating afternoon that saw Milroy’s season come to an end in a 4-0 loss to the Stark Longhorns.
“Great year, obviously disappointed in the way it ended,” said Milroy manager Brandon Kvistero. “Most teams end up losing out at some point. Unfortunately, the cookie crumbled the wrong way for us.”
Milroy workhorse Joey Liebl was strong once again for Milroy. He started the game with an eightpitch battle that ended in a walk, but Milroy’s first of two early double plays got him out of the jam.
Liebl threw 25 pitches in that first inning, and 18 more in the second, as Stark hitters made him work hard for every out. But Liebl held Stark hitless until the fifth when the Longhorns put two runners on before Liebl worked his way out of trouble to keep the game scoreless.
However, it seemed it was only a matter of time before Stark would break through against the lefty, and the Longhorns did just that in the top of the seventh when it put the game’s first run on the board, with three singles.
A tiring Liebl was pulled with the bases loaded, and Stark went up 2-0 when Mathiowetz walked the first batter he faced.
Milroy threatened in its half of the seventh against Stark starter John Kopacek. Eli Weedman drew a oneout, four-pitch walk and advanced to second on a groundout by Ethan Weedman. An infield single by Branden Flock put runners on first and third, but Mathiowetz grounded out to second to put the wraps on the inning.
The Yankees mustered just six hits against Stark starter John Kopacek, who found a way to keep Milroy off balance for the entire game.
“He just battles the whole time, and they made a lot of great plays behind him,” Kvistero said. “We couldn’t get that third hit we needed — the hit we needed to drive in some guys. Gotta tip your cap to him.”
Stark threatened again in the eighth with two singles, but Mathiowetz was able to wiggle himself out of the jam However, the same could not be said about the ninth when Stark used a pair of bloop singles and a big two-out, two-run hit to score two insurance runs.
The Yankees went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, as Kopacek wrapped up the complete-game win.
Liebl took the touch-luck loss after another strong playoff performance. He struck out five and alowed five hits in 6-1/3 innings. Liebl started the Yankees’ second playoff game last week against Springfield and, like Sunday, did everything he could to keep his team in the game.
“I thought Joey did a great job today,” said Kvistero said. “They made him work for every out; they fouled off a lot of pitches, and got his pitch count up pretty high. It was a great game all the way around, unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”
Alex Schuh doubled and singled for the Yankees.
Stark 000 000 202 — 4 10 1 Yankees 000 000 000 — 0 6 0 Liebl (L), Mathiowetz (7) and Minkel. 2B: Al. Schuh. SAC: A. Schuh FRIDAY: YANKEES 7, ESSIG 3
Isaac Schmitt and Austin Deutz held the Essig Bluejays to just five hits, and five Milroy hitters had two hits as the Yankees won 7-3 over Essig last Friday to stave off elimination in the Region 2C Tournament.
Branden Flock, Brock Schultz, Joey Liebl, Alex Schuh and Colten Minkel all had a pair of hits, and Schuh knocked in two runs. Flock, Milroy’s leadoff man, scored three of the Yankees’ seven runs. Jackson Hughes pitched in with a double and a run scored.
Schmitt scattered three hits in six innings of work. He struck out six. Deutz struck out five in three innings.
Essig 000 002 010 — 3 5 2 Yankees 002 203 00x — 7 12 2 I. Schmitt (W), A. Deutz (7) and Schuh. 2B: Hughes. HBP: Liebl.
