PF Flyers 14U wins Ohio Valley Invitational

With the PF Flyers 14U trailing 3-2 and one out in the top of the seventh inning, Dan Cafferky crushed a three-run triple to put the Flyers ahead in the championship game of the Pastime Tournaments Ohio Valley Invitational.

The Flyers held on to win 6-3 to earn the team’s third tournament championship of 2024. The Flyers went 5-0-1 in the tournament.

The championship game begin as a pitcher’s duel and ended with a huge seventh-inning rally.

Neither team had a hit through the first three innings. However, the Flyers gave up two runs because of a walk, a hit batter, an error and a wild pitch.

Pitcher Joe Cafferky helped himself in the top of the fourth with the game’s first hit, a two-out, two-run double to tie the game.

In the bottom of the fifth, the leadoff man reached on an error, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a sacrifice fly to put the Flyers down 3-2.

That’s where the score stayed heading into the seventh. The Flyers had only two hits at that point.

With one out, Sawyer Williams lined a single to left center to start the rally. Joe Cafferky and Rudy Glotfelty then worked walks to load the bases and chase the starting pitcher from the game.

Dan Cafferky hit the first pitch he saw into the right center gap to clear the bases. Jack Andolina followed the triple up with a line drive single to right to make the score 6-3.

But the excitement wasn’t over yet.

Joe Cafferky still had to record three outs in the bottom of the seventh to earn the win. Right fielder Gavin Rutherford’s stellar defense helped seal the win.

The leadoff man singled. Then Rutherford made a diving catch near the wall and bullpen mound in foul territory for the first out.

After another single, the opposing team’s starting pitcher hit a fly ball into the right center gap. Center fielder Carson Tabler just missed a diving catch. The runner on second had to hold to see if the ball would be caught. Rutherford perfectly backed up the play, forcing the third base coach to hold the runner from second at third. But the trail runner kept coming, leading to two runners stuck near third base. The Flyers executed a perfect run-down to get the second out.

Joe Cafferky struck out the next hitter to end the game and preserve the win and the championship.

Joe Cafferky pitched a complete game, allowing four hits and one earned run.

The Flyers earned the two-seed in pool play by going 3-0-1. Pool play begin with an eight-inning, 5-5 tie.

After the Flyers scored three in the first, they gave up five in the second to fall behind 5-3. Carter Stone and Carson Tabler combined to shut the opposition out the rest of the way. Stone and Tabler went seven innings, allowing only two hits and striking out five.

In the fifth, Wes Canan started the game-tying rally with a walk. He scored on a single by Tabler. Tabler later scored the tying run on a steal of home as part of a double steal.

Canan was 2-for-2 with a walk in the game.

The Flyers won the second game of pool play 21-2. Andolina pitched two perfect innings. Alex Madrigal was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a triple. Logan Hardesty was 2-for-2 with three RBI. Kaiden Raible was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI.

Corwin Wang pitched a complete game in the third game of pool play. He allowed seven hits and one earned run. He also walked twice and had a perfect sacrifice bunt.

The Flyers scored three in the first inning on singles by Hardesty, Tabler, Madrigal and Glotfelty. The Flyers used small ball to add on runs and get the 7-2 win.

The Flyers won the final pool play game 9-4. Williams, Alex Ward, Glotfelty and Henry Sims held the opposition to seven hits and four runs.

Williams was 4-for-4 at the plate. Joe Cafferky was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI.

That sent the Flyers into bracket play.

In the semifinal, Tabler dominated on the mound. He went six shutout innings, allowing only four hits.

The Flyers’ offense was powered by a five-run second inning. Dan Cafferky started the inning with a walk. Joe Cafferky singled. An error by the catcher on a throw to second allowed Dan Cafferky to score. After Glotfelty walked, Andolina hit an RBI single to make it 3-0. Wang then singled in a run. Hardesty then hit a two-run double.

The other team attempted a rally in the seventh inning, but Haresty caught a line drive at first and stepped on the bag to double off a runner with the bases loaded to end the game and give the Flyers a 7-4 win.

That sent the Flyers to the championship game.

The Flyers used 10 different pitchers in the tournament and had a team ERA of 2.87. Tabler led the way. In the tournament, he pitched 10 shutout innings, allowing only seven baserunners.

Joe Cafferky hit .438 with a double, a triple and 7 RBI in the tournament. The Flyers hit .321 in the tournament.

The Flyers return to action on Thursday in the Florence Y’alls June Jam.