Forest City is Hosting This Year's 12-Year Old Cal Ripken Tournament

Honesdale began its quest for a District Five Cal Ripken title this weekend with a dominating performance against archrival Paupack.

On Sunday afternoon, Coach Andy Box’s squad journeyed to Forest City for the start of the 2009 12-year-old tournament.

The HLBA All-Stars, who had drawn a first round bye, came out with both guns blazing in this one. Honesdale unleashed a barrage of homers and a dynamic pitching duo on their ancient rivals...a combination that proved too much for Paupack.

The result was a 9-0 victory for the Red & Black and a berth in the tourney semifinals.

“We played a very good all-round game,” Coach Box told TWI Sports. “We had a little bit of a rough first inning, but after that everything fell into place.”

Next up for Honesdale is a battle with Delaware Valley. The young Warriors blew out Valley View in their opener, then survived a scare from Waymart in the quarterfinals.

That contest is scheduled for Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m. in Forest City.

Overpowering
In Sunday’s quarterfinal at Kennedy Park, the HLBA All-Stars jumped out to an early lead en route to a 9-0 win.

Pat Hart put Honesdale on the board with a solo homer in the bottom of the first. Hart also received the starting nod and turned in a stellar pitching performance.

“I’ve never seen Pat throw so hard,” said Coach Box. “He had some control issues in the first inning, but after that they just couldn’t touch him.”

After walking the bases full in the first, Pat settled down and escaped trouble. From that point on, Hart was literally unhittable. Honesdale’s fireballing righty struck out five in three innings of work before handing the ball off to the HLBA bullpen.

Nick Casazza came on in relief and pitched the final three frames. Casazza issued just one free pass and fanned four.

Hart & Casazza combined to completely shut down Paupack’s high-octane offense. This talented duo allowed just five total baserunners (all on walks) in pitching a combined no-hitter.

“Hey, that’s a good team we beat today,” said Coach Box. “For us to hold them without a hit is pretty impressive.”

Offensively, Honesdale kept up the pressure all game long.

Gavin Canfield led the way with a perfect 3-for-3 day at the dish. Canfield roped a pair of singles and a solo homer.

Gus Martin and Casazza also cleared the wall for the HLBA All-Stars. Nick hammered a solo shot in the third and Gus added a 2-run Big Fly in the fourth.

Score by Innings...
PAU   0  0  0  0  0  0 - 0
HON  1  0  4  2  2  0 - 9

Heartbreaker
Waymart also drew an opening round bye in this year’s 12-year-old tournament.

The Warriors swung into action Sunday afternoon, but suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Delaware Valley.

The boys from Milford erupted for three runs in the bottom of the third, but then needed extra innings before finally pulling out a 4-3 victory.

Zach Cerberville came on in relief of starter SteveNewman and earned the decision. Collin Brandt and Jim Towers led the way offensively with a double apiece.

Jacob Gillis was at the heart of the Waymart attack.

Gillis roped a lead-off double in the top of the fourth and eventually came around to score his team’s first run. Jacob also reached in the sixth and tallied again, this time on a wild pitch.

Derek Gillis also contributed a key at-bat late in the game. Waymart’s lead-off man singled with one out in the sixth. Gillis moved up on a walk and fielder’s choice, then tallied on Komar’s RBI base knock.

Jeremy Yzeik was the starting pitcher for Waymart. The big southpaw worked two innings before handing the ball off to Roberts. Jake Gillis pitched the final four frames and suffered the hard-luck loss.

Score by Innings...
WAY   0  0  0  1  0  2  0  0 - 3
DV     0  0  3  0  0  0  0  1 - 4