LL BASEBALL: A’s ride late game run to championship

KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Athletics #11 Gracin Tiley slides into second as Yankees #2 Robert Selgrade awaits the ball.

ASHLAND – Wednesday’s Ashland Little League title game appeared to be up in the air for much of the duration, before a late game charge determined the victor.

The game pitted the 12-1 regular season champion Athletics against the 10-3 runner-up Yankees.

To reach the title game, the Yankees downed the Pirates and the A’s defeated the Orioles in semi-final action Monday evening.

KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – A’s #5 Gianna Capone swings, hitting the ball to centerfield.

The two squads squared off under the lights at Toewe-Rebuck Field at Ashland’s Eureka Park.

Neither team demonstrated a clear advantage after the first two innings, with the score knotted at 1 apiece, both scored in the first inning.

After the third, the A’s took the first inning-end lead of the game, leading 4-2.

KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Yankees #33 Evan Damiter is obscured by a cloud of dust as he slides into home to score.

The Yankees, though, wouldn’t let the A’s run away, scoring two in the top of the fourth to tie it up at 4 apiece. Two runs from the A’s in the bottom of the fourth led to a 6-4 score.

The fifth inning saw the Yankees rally back, scoring four in the top half, leading 8-6. That lead, though, was short-lived, as the A’s had a rally of their own.

KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – LEFT: Athletics #42 Cooper Carl after catching the game-winning out. RIGHT: Members of the Athletics team celebrate after winning the championship.

After five, the A’s had a 12-8 advantage. A three-and-out top half of the inning, bookended by a fly ball caught by #42 Cooper Carl, secured the title, their first league title since 2016.

KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – The graduating Ashland Little League players gather for a group photo.

Prior to the game, the Ashland Little League recognized their 14 graduating players. They are:

A’s
– Cooper Carl
– Cole Hahn
Dodgers
– Cody Osenbach
Orioles
– Andrew Keller
– Aiden Oliveri
– William Wysoski
Phillies
– Cameron Hutnick
– Lyza Holmes
– Kate Urbanowicz
Pirates
– Max Gallagher
– Bethany Loftus
Yankees
– Casey Rader
– Michael Rader
– Saige Sematavage

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