14U Flyers win fourth tournament championship
PF Flyers 14U Edwards won the team’s fourth tournament championship this weekend, going 5-0 to win the Ohio Valley Showdown.
The Flyers outscored the opposition 45-9 in the tournament, which featured 21 teams from Ohio and Indiana.
The Flyers are now 23-2 on the season with four tournament championships and two runner-up finishes.
The team started the tournament with a no-hitter against SBP in the first game of pool play. Unlike the Reds, the Flyers earned the victory in the no-hitter, 8-0. The three players from Coach Brandon Edwards’ original team — Rhys Canan, Camden Tiemeier and Caleb Driessen — combined for the five-inning no-hitter. The only runner to reach base came in the first inning when Canan hit an opposing hitter. That runner was erased when Tyler Schumacher threw him out stealing.
In the second game of pool play, Dane Dudley and Jack Phillabaum allowed only two hits in a 13-2 win. Tommy Tahat, in his first game back in the starting lineup after his high school season ended, had the big blow with a three-run triple.
Schumacher started on the mound for the Flyers in the first game of bracket play against Five Star Midwest, which is ranked sixth in Ohio. Schumacher shut Five Star out on four hits, walking only one and striking out three. Lucas Basta was 2-for-4 and ended the game with an RBI triple to earn the 8-0 win.
Next up for the Flyers was a hard-hitting Ohio Knights team. The Knights started the game with four hits and two runs in the top of the first, but the Flyers responded with five runs in the bottom of the first on only one hit, a two-out, two-run single by Driessen. Driessen took over on the mound in the second inning and kept the Knights off balance, allowing four hits and one earned run in four innings.
Basta reached base three times, scored two runs and stole three bases.
The 11-5 win sent the Flyers to the championship game against the top seed Cincinnati Angels.
Basta started the game by working a seven-pitch walk. He scored when Brayden Schmittou doubled him home to put the Flyers up 1-0. Two outs later, Luke Applegate singled Schmittou home for a 2-0 lead. The Flyers added single runs in the third, fourth and sixth for a 5-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Canan held the Angels hitless until one out in the bottom of the fifth. The next Angels batter hit into a double play to end the inning. Canan followed the fifth up with a hitless, scoreless sixth inning.
He took the mound in the seventh looking for a complete game. He retired the leadoff batter before allowing an infield single and double to end his day with 6 1/3 innings pitched, three hits and eventually two runs allowed.
Tahat came in to relieve Canan, and after a walk, retired the final two hitters to earn a 5-2 win and the championship.
