PF Flyers 13U goes 8-0 to win Youth Baseball Nationals

The PF Flyers 13U team won the six-day Youth Baseball Nationals at Warren County Sports Park, going 8-0 against teams from Illinois, Indiana, Canada and Cincinnati.

The Flyers went 5-0 in pool play that spanned Saturday through Monday. They outscored their opponents 68-13 and won four of those games via run-rule.

Pool play started with Shea Dillon and Rudy Glotfelty combining for a no-hitter in a 10-0 win. Glotfelty also had a home run in that game.

The second game on Saturday was the toughest game in pool play.

Carson Tabler started on the mound and threw four innings, allowing only two earned runs. Tabler left the mound with the Flyers leading 8-3. But the other team rallied with six runs in the top of the fifth to take a 9-8 lead.

With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Corwin Wang singled. After he stole second base, Glotfelty ripped a line drive single to center to tie the game.

The first two hitters reached in the top of the sixth, which because of the time limit would be the final inning. Joe Cafferky came in from the bullpen. He induced an incredible double play ball that Alex Madrigal at shortstop and Gavin Rutherford at second base made a nice turn on and Carter Stone had a stretch at first base. Two pitches later, Joe Cafferky got a groundout to short to end the threat and keep the game tied.

In the bottom of the sixth, Joe Cafferky destroyed a ball to deep right center. He raced around the bases for a walkoff inside the park home run.

On Sunday, the Flyers fell behind 3-0 in the bottom of the first to the Leaside Leafs, an excellent team from Toronto that ended up as the runner-up in the tournament. But Henry Sims struck out two to leave the bases loaded.

The Flyers responded with five runs in the top of the second. The went on to win 17-3. Madrigal went 3-for-4 with two home runs and 4 RBI. Rutherford went 3-for-4 with a triple. Dan Cafferky went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and 3 RBI.

Sims threw four innings, allowing one hit and no earned runs, while striking out six. On the season, Sims has not allowed an earned run in 18 innings pitched.

In the second game on Sunday, the Flyers jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the top of the first and never looked back. They held on for the 20-1 win.

Joe Cafferky pitched three innings, allowing one run and three hits to get the win. He was also 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI. Dan Cafferky was 3-for-4 with a triple and 4 RBI.

The Flyers wrapped up pool play with a four-inning, one-hit shutout on Monday. Jack Andolina and Wes Canan allowed only two baserunners, a walk and an infield single, and threw only 46 total pitches in four innings.

Meanwhile, the Flyers offense pounded out 11 hits and earned the 11-0 win.

The first game of bracket play was on Wednesday.

Tabler gave up two runs on two hits in the top of the first, but allowed only two more hits the rest of the game. Tabler pitched a four-inning complete game in the 13-2 win.

The Flyers tied that game at 2 in the bottom of the first on a single by Dan Cafferky to drive in Glotfelty and then a double by Joe Cafferky. They added two more runs in the bottom of the second.

The Flyers broke the game open in the bottom of the third. Dan Cafferky led off with a walk. Madrigal tripled him home. Joe Cafferky lined a single to left. Tabler singled to center. After an out and a walk by Sims, Jack Andolina singled and then Canan dropped down a squeeze bunt to plate a run and make the score 9-2. Wang then tripled, and Glotfelty hit an inside-the-park home run. Madrigal singled on a line drive to make the score 13-2.

The semifinal started as a pitcher’s duel.

Joe Cafferky was dealing. He threw 6 1/3 innings allowing four hits and four runs, striking out eight.

The Flyers scored in the first. Glotfelty singled with one out. Dan Cafferky singled to move him to second. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Then, with two outs, the catcher tried to pick Glotfelty off third. The ball bounced off his helmet, and Glotfelty jumped up quickly and raced home for the 1-0 lead.

The Flyers added a run in the second. With runners on first and third, Andolina broke for second and caused the pitcher to balk in a run to make it 2-0.

The Flames took a 3-2 lead in the third. That’s where the score stayed until the fifth inning when Dan Cafferky drove a two-out double over the right fielder’s head to tie the score.

The Flyers chased the starting pitcher out of the game after the fifth and scored six runs in the sixth to take a 9-3 lead. Madrigal and Dan Cafferky each had RBI singles.

Joe Cafferky allowed one run in the top of the seventh before his brother came in to strike out the final two hitters to preserve the win and send the Flyers to the championship game.

Neither team scored in the first three innings with Wang facing the Leaside Leafs team that had scored 14 runs in the semifinal.

Madrigal and Joe Cafferky started the fourth by being hit by pitches. Tabler drove in Madrigal on a fielder’s choice to put the Flyers up 1-0. Rutherford lined a single to center to make it 3-0. Sims and Andolina singled to make it 4-0. Wang worked a bases loaded walk to make it 5-0 and one out later, Dan Cafferky unloaded the bases with a three-run double.

That would be all of the run support Wang needed. He finished with a five-inning, four-hit shutout.

All 12 Flyers players pitched in the tournament.

Joe Cafferky earned three wins on the mound in the tournament in 10 1/3 innings with a 3.39 ERA and 11 strikouts. Wang pitched 5 1/3 innings and didn’t allow an earned run. Tabler went 2-0 on the mound with nine strikeouts and a 3.50 ERA.

As a team, the Flyers hit .503 for the tournament and reached base nearly 60 percent of the time.

Andolina led the team with a .615 batting average on the tournament. Rutherford hit .611. Wang hit .565 with a double and a triple. Glotfelty also hit .565 with a triple, two home runs and a team high 18 runs scored in eight games. Dan Cafferky hit .550 with three doubles, two triples and a team-high 15 RBI.

The Flyers also won the tournament’s team skills showcase overall title, earned individual championships in the 60-yard run (Madrigal) and the Home Run Derby (Dan Cafferky).

Rutherford, Tabler and Dan Cafferky were all voted to the All Tournament Team by opposing coaches.

Special recognition to Bat Girl Addie Tabler, who never missed grabbing a bat this week and was a huge help in the dugout keeping the players in line.

The Flyers are now 39-9-2. They have one final tournament this weekend in a 14U tournament.