Hollidaysburg wins PA Little League with some flair

[Tom McAndrew]

Greencastle had cruised thought the winner's bracket, only giving up 2 runs in 3 games.

Hollidaysburg had dropped into the loser's bracket after dropping a game in the semifinals of the winner's bracket. After that, Hollidaysburg had to win games 3 straight days (starting the day after their lost in the winner's bracket semi) in the loser's bracket to get to the championship.

By virtue of Greencastle arriving at the championship via the winner's bracket, all they had to do was defeat Holidaysburg one time out of two games. By contrast, Hollidaysburg had to defeat Greencast in the 1st game of the championship to force a 2nd game, and then had to win that one as well. And the championship game(s) were played the day after the loser's bracket final, and if Hollidaysburg won the 1st game (to force a 2nd game), the 2nd game would be played 30 minutes after the end of the 1st game. (By contrast, Greencastle had a day's rest before the championship game(s) due to coming through the winner's bracket.) Got all that?

So what happens ... Hollidaysburg wins the 1st game, 6-2, to force a 2nd game. And then Hollidaysburg wins the 2nd game 10-0, to take the PA Little League championship, and advance to the Mid-Atlantic Tournament starting on Sunday (8/7) to try to earn a trip to Williamsport.

 

[Thorndike2021]

We Blair County boys don't give up easily.

 

[CF Lion]

 

[LionsAndBears]

We Blair County boys don't give up easily.

As I think back fondly on my time at Slippery Rock in the early 90's....the same can't be said for the girls of Blair County.

 

[Thorndike2021]

As I think back fondly on my time at Slippery Rock in the early 90's....the same can't be said for the girls of Blair County.

To be fair, that was my experience with girls from most places, back in the day. But I certainly can't disagree with you on that.

 

[Ghost of OM]

That’s a cool story. Thanks for posting Tom. Made me think back to my sons days in youth baseball. Good times.

 

[LionJim]

To be fair, that was my experience with girls from most places, back in the day. But I certainly can't disagree with you on that.

I went to Tennessee for grad school and, believe me, the girls there are NOT Volunteers.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

So what happens ... Holidaysburg wins the 1st game, 6-2, to force a 2nd game. And then Holidaysburg wins the 2nd game 10-0, to take the PA Little League championship, and advance to the Mid-Atlantic Tournament starting on Sunday (8/7) to try to earn a trip to Williamsport.

To update, the Mid-Atlantic Tournament started on Sunday. Hollidaysburg played a team from Washington, D.C., and defeated them 7-3. Delaware defeated Maryland on Sunday, 2-1.

Hollidaysburg will play the Delaware team on Tuesday.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Tough loss for Hollidaysburg to Delaware. I think it was 2-2 (I missed a bit) till the top of the 6th. Delaware hit a HR and took a 5-2 lead. (If you don't know, LL games are 6 innings.)

In the bottom of the 6th, the 1st PA hitter was thrown out by inches on a tapper up the middle. The call went to video review, and was confirmed. The next PA batter got a bloop single to left. The next batter hit a ball up the middle that the SS touched with his glove but couldn't field. His touching it redirected it, so it got a tad bit past the charging CFer, so the PA runner went to 3rd, making it 1st & 3rd. The next PA hitter hit a shot to CF. The CFer was playing shallow, and the ball got all the way to the fence. The two PA runners scored, and the batter got to 2nd, making it 5-4, Delaware. The next PA batter flied out to RF. The runner on 2nd tagged and went to 3rd. The next PA batter had hit a HR in his 1st at bat, and was intentionally walked on his 2nd AB. The Delaware team gave him another intentional walk, making it 1st & 3rd with 2 out. The next PA batter had a 2-1 count, then a pitch on the outside corner (I thought it might have been outside; hard to know for sure) was called a strike, making it 2-2. The next pitch was over the plate but seemed high, but the ump called it a strike, so PA lost 5-4.

All 4 teams in the Mid-Atlantic Regional have off on Wednesday. On Thursday, Hollidaysburg will play the Washington, D.C. team for the opportunity to get to the regional championship on Friday. If Hollidaysburg loses on Thursday, their season is done.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Hollidaysburg defeated the team from Washington, D.C. today, 13-0.

They'll face the Delaware team on Friday (8/12) at 3 pm EDT for the right to go to Williamsport.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Hollidaysburg takes the tougher route, coming out of the loser's bracket (elimination bracket), and defeats Delaware in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship, 7-3. They are headed to Williamsport for the LLWS.