The HLBA’s 11-year-old all-star team learned a hard, but valuable lesson Wednesday night at Riverside Park in Hawley.

Honesdale made several critical fielding errors in its final Cal Ripken showdown against Forest City. Sadly for a large contingent of Maple City fans on hand, the result of these key breakdowns was predictable.

The Foresters scored three unearned runs in the opening inning, then held on for dear life in posting a 3-1 victory.

With that win, Forest City clinched the District Five Cal Ripken tournament championship. The Foresters compiled a record of 4-1 at the event.

“We certainly had chances to win this game, but we just never took advantage of them,” an emotionally drained Pete Goyette told TWI Sports. “We gave them extra outs and you can’t do that against a good team and still expect to win.”

Despite this heartbreaking loss, Honesdale is still eligible to compete at this year’s state tournament. The Red & Black will travel to New Oxford on July 24th to begin play.

“We really believe that these kids deserve to go,” said Coach Goyette. “We gave Forest City a real run for their money, so I’m convinced we can compete at the state level.”

Stay tuned to TWI Sports for complete coverage of the HLBA 11s at States.

Ugly Start
Adam Kelly drew the starting nod for Honesdale Wednesday night, but the young righty received scant support from his supporting cast.

A surprisingly porous HLBA defense surrendered three unearned runs in the first frame. This left the Maple City lads in a deep hole from which they were never able to climb.

Jon DeEsch walked and was joined on the basepaths by Noah Fedak who singled.

Adam Kowalewski and Pat Fitzsimmons then reach on two straight errors. When the dust cleared Forest City had itself an early 3-0 advantage.

Kelly pitched two innings before Coach Goyette went to his bullpen. Adam allowed just two hits and no earned runs.

Spencer Goyette came on in relief and worked the final four frames. He scattered four hits and struck out two.

Dylan O’Dell was the starter and winner for Forest City. He pitched the first three innings, then handed the ball off to DeEsch, who worked the last three.

Highlights
Honesdale scored its lone run of the game in the top half of the fifth.

Kelly blasted a triple to the wall in centerfield, then scored one batter later when Josh Lo-Basso drilled an RBI double.

Logan Freiermuth turned in the defensive Play of the Day for Honesdale in the fifth.

O’Dell led off with a single, then promptly stole second. Pat Fitzsimmons then smoked a line drive to center that seemed to be a sure basehit.

However, Freiermuth made a sensational catch. Logan calmly threw the ball into second base, doubling off a stunned O’Dell and ending the threat.

“That was a terrific play,” said Coach Goyette simply.

Score by Innings...
HON (3-2)  0  0  0  0  1  0 - 1
FC    (4-1)  3  0  0  0  0  x - 3