Falconer’s Lucas Arrance steals second under the tag of Fredonia’s Rocco Bongiovanni during the District 38 Little League 8-10 Non-Sanctioned Tournament championship Thursday at LaGrega Field in Lakewood.
OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown
LAKEWOOD — While some of the faces have changed from a year ago, the teams did not as Falconer and Fredonia met for the District 38 Little League 8-10 Non-Sanctioned Tournament championship Thursday at LaGrega Field.
The boys from Falconer exacted a bit of revenge, beating Fredonia 13-4 on the strength of an offense that pounded out 10 hits, a pair of pitchers who combined for seven strikeouts, and a defense that committed just one error.
Andrew Youngberg led the way offensively for Falconer, reaching base in all four of his plate appearances while going 2 for 2 with three RBIs. Jayce Stewart added a double, a triple, two RBIs and three runs scored, while Coby Brooks had two hits, including a two-run double.
Six different players had hits for Fredonia, led by Tristan Darr and his two-run single.
Fredonia led 1-0 after the top of the first inning, aided by a two-out error.
Fredonia’s Bruno Muscarella delivers a pitch.
OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown
In the bottom of the frame, Noah Nelson walked and Owen Dickerson singled ahead of an RBI single from Youngberg. With two outs, Brooks hit his two-run double.
Falconer had its biggest offensive inning in the second, sending 10 batters to the plate while scoring five runs. Stewart had an RBI double and Youngberg tacked on a two-run single in the frame.
Rocco Bongiovanni doubled and Dominic Carapella hit an RBI single in Fredonia’s half of the fourth, but Falconer answered with three more runs thanks to an RBI triple by Stewart and an RBI single by Aiden Rhinehart.
Fredonia made it 11-4 in the top of the fifth inning on Darr’s two-run single before Falconer scored its final runs in the bottom of the fifth on Nelson’s two-run single.
Nelson started on the mound and struck out six before Stewart got the final five outs. Falconer ended the game in thrilling fashion defensively as Nelson caught a line drive at short and threw across the diamond to Youngberg at first base for a double play.
Falconer celebrates its victory over Fredonia in the District 38 Little League 8-10 Non-Sanctioned Tournament championship on Thursday at LaGrega Field.
OBSERVER Photo by Ashleigh Brown
Bruno Muscarella and Carapella combined for nine strikeouts on the mound for Fredonia.
Falconer and Frewsburg will play for the District 38 10-12 title at 6 p.m. today back at LaGrega Field.