PF Flyers 15U starts season with tournament win

The PF Flyers 15U started its season by going 4-0 to win the competitive Best of Ohio Battle on Turf tournament.

Besides the Flyers (ranked fourth in Ohio), the field featured the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 16 ranked teams in Ohio.

The tournament began on Friday with two pool play wins to earn the Flyers the top seed.

In game one, Luke Applegate had a long home run. Dane Dudley was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI at the plate and threw 4 1/3 innings on the mound, allowing three hits and two earned runs to earn the victory. The Flyers won 8-4.

The Flyers fell behind 1-0 early in the second pool play game, but they erupted for a six-run third inning. With two outs and a runner on first, Xander Ervick ripped a triple to the right center gap to tie the game at 1. After Camden Tiemeier walked, Applegate hit a two-run triple. The Flyers added three more runs in the frame to make it 6-1. They scored four more in the fourth and then one in the fifth to earn the run-rule, 11-2 win.

Ervick was 3-for-3 at the plate. Applegate was 2-for-3 with three RBI.

Ian Sukup pitched 3 1/3 innings on only 34 pitches, allowing two hits and no earned runs to earn the win.

The Flyers dominated in the semifinal, winning 12-0. Ervick pitched four shutout innings, striking out four. He also stayed hot at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and 4 RBI. Sukup was 1-for-1 with two runs scored and 3 RBI. Brayden Schmittou was 2-for-2 with a double and three runs scored.

In the championship game, Rhys Canan went five shutout innings, striking out 10.

Meanwhile, Carson Smith manufactured a run in the bottom of the first. He was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a passed ball, stole third and scored on a passed ball to make the score 1-0.

The Flyers added a run in the fourth when Smith worked a walk, went to third on an error on a pickoff attempt and scored on an error when Sukup hit a ground ball.

Applegate scored a third run when he led off the fifth with a single, moved to second on a groundout and third on another groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

Tommy Tahat relieved Canan and pitched two scoreless innings for the save to preserve a 3-0 win.

The Flyers are now 4-0. They return to action on Thursday in the Xavier University All Prospect Elite Tournament.