Saturday's tournament at Elliott saw Greenfield on both the giving and the receiving end of the 10-run-rule. The undermanned 12U team lost to the South Hills "Wild Things," while the 12s stopped Castle Shannon 11-1 after 5 innings.
The 12U game got out of hand early, with the Wild Things jumping out to a big lead thanks to two early home runs with runners on. Two 9-year-olds played valiantly alongside the 11s and 12s in green, but the 12U were not able to string hits together and bring anyone across the plate.
The 12U now plays at 8 p.m. Saturday to try to stay alive in the tournament.
The 12s also benefitted from some long balls, with Matt Mock, Brandon Twigg, and Luther Harper all getting to do the home run trot.
In the bottom of the first with one runner on, Mock hit his second dinger in two games, this one to right center field. Immediately after him, Brandon Twigg sent one over left center.
That 3-0 lead was trimmed to 3-1 in the third inning and then tested further when Michael Twigg was pitching to one of Castle Shannon's big hitters with bases loaded.
The hitter blasted a shot to deep center field, but Jordan Osborne tracked it down, caught the out, and then threw the ball in for a quick relay from Bryan McCann to home, where the runner from third was sprinting in. Both throws were spot-on, and catcher Brandon Twigg tagged the runner to complete the double play.
Though that was the play of the day for the defense, the pitching and fielding were solid all five innings. Brandon Twigg pitched two, Michael Twigg one, and Bryan McCann the closing two.
In the 4th inning, the Greenfield bats really got going. Harper started things off by taking a high fastball for a ride, sending it over the left center fences and into the deck hockey court. Then Tommy Paternoster, playing up as a 10-year-old, nearly sent one over the right center fence, crashing it off the fence for a double.
Osborne then hit a hard single that he stretched into a double with smart baserunning. McCann hit a sacrifice fly to get Paternoster home and Osborne to third, and then Osborne caught a moment when the catcher couldn't locate the ball, smartly stealing home.
With two outs, Mock doubled to center field, Brandon Twigg stretched a grounder into a double, and Michael Twigg walked. Brady Sulinski then hit a rocket line drive to the gap between left and center to bring in two runs and stop the inning at 5 runs.
In the bottom of the fifth, needing three to put the game away, Greenfield started at the same place in the order. Harper walked, Paternoster hit a grounder through the shortstop's legs, Osborne walked, then McCann pulled in one RBI with a grounder. Hill brought in another with a flare into shallow left center.
Castle Shannon decided to intentionally walk Mock, who could end the game with another good hit, but they had no more space on the bases to walk Brandon Twigg, who promptly hit a grounder up the middle to bring in the winning run.
Matthew Mock was named the MVP for the 12s. The 12s play the South Hills Wild Things Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
The Wild Things mascot was hamming it up with the Saturday crowd, and many of the fans, and the kids, were happy to fraternize with the enemy!
The 12U game got out of hand early, with the Wild Things jumping out to a big lead thanks to two early home runs with runners on. Two 9-year-olds played valiantly alongside the 11s and 12s in green, but the 12U were not able to string hits together and bring anyone across the plate.
The 12U now plays at 8 p.m. Saturday to try to stay alive in the tournament.
The 12s also benefitted from some long balls, with Matt Mock, Brandon Twigg, and Luther Harper all getting to do the home run trot.
In the bottom of the first with one runner on, Mock hit his second dinger in two games, this one to right center field. Immediately after him, Brandon Twigg sent one over left center.
That 3-0 lead was trimmed to 3-1 in the third inning and then tested further when Michael Twigg was pitching to one of Castle Shannon's big hitters with bases loaded.
The hitter blasted a shot to deep center field, but Jordan Osborne tracked it down, caught the out, and then threw the ball in for a quick relay from Bryan McCann to home, where the runner from third was sprinting in. Both throws were spot-on, and catcher Brandon Twigg tagged the runner to complete the double play.
Though that was the play of the day for the defense, the pitching and fielding were solid all five innings. Brandon Twigg pitched two, Michael Twigg one, and Bryan McCann the closing two.
In the 4th inning, the Greenfield bats really got going. Harper started things off by taking a high fastball for a ride, sending it over the left center fences and into the deck hockey court. Then Tommy Paternoster, playing up as a 10-year-old, nearly sent one over the right center fence, crashing it off the fence for a double.
Osborne then hit a hard single that he stretched into a double with smart baserunning. McCann hit a sacrifice fly to get Paternoster home and Osborne to third, and then Osborne caught a moment when the catcher couldn't locate the ball, smartly stealing home.
With two outs, Mock doubled to center field, Brandon Twigg stretched a grounder into a double, and Michael Twigg walked. Brady Sulinski then hit a rocket line drive to the gap between left and center to bring in two runs and stop the inning at 5 runs.
In the bottom of the fifth, needing three to put the game away, Greenfield started at the same place in the order. Harper walked, Paternoster hit a grounder through the shortstop's legs, Osborne walked, then McCann pulled in one RBI with a grounder. Hill brought in another with a flare into shallow left center.
Castle Shannon decided to intentionally walk Mock, who could end the game with another good hit, but they had no more space on the bases to walk Brandon Twigg, who promptly hit a grounder up the middle to bring in the winning run.
Matthew Mock was named the MVP for the 12s. The 12s play the South Hills Wild Things Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
The Wild Things mascot was hamming it up with the Saturday crowd, and many of the fans, and the kids, were happy to fraternize with the enemy!