Little League: West Side blanks Middletown

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By Rick Cassano, Staff Writer Updated 8:16 AM Tuesday, July 7, 2009

OXFORD — West Side’s postseason baseball goals are lofty again this year, and Matt Snyder got things going with a near-perfect start Monday night, July 6.

Snyder threw a five-inning no-hitter with 13 strikeouts, while Jake Zeek had two hits and four RBIs, as West Side blanked Middletown 12-0 in a District 9 Little League Tournament opener at Oxford Community Park.

“What can you do?” Middletown coach Rick Henry said with a shrug. “It’s West Side Little League in Hamilton. They’ve got the reputation for obvious reasons. We got a little rattled, and you can’t make mistakes against a good hitting and fielding team like that.

“And (Snyder) is a dynamite pitcher,” he continued. “He was probably throwing 70 miles an hour off that mound. We haven’t seen anything that hard all year long.”

Snyder, a 6-foot-2 righty, fanned the first nine batters he faced. Middletown’s only two batters to reach base were Jeremy Temple, who drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, and Timmy Henry, who followed by making it to first on an error.

“As long as I’ve had him, that’s the best he’s pitched,” West Side coach Mark Maus said of Snyder. “He throws pretty hard for Little League baseball, and he’s got that big body coming at you. When he’s around the plate, he’s intimidating.”

West Side smacked 17 hits against Middletown hurlers Temple, Christian Wood and Caleb Caudill, with 15 coming in the last three innings.

Maus wasn’t thrilled with his team’s focus at the plate early in the game, but once the bats came alive, it was a full-throttle rout.

“You get two or three hits and some aggressive running on the bases, and all of a sudden everybody’s hitting the ball hard,” Maus said. “I can’t explain it, but I’ve been around long enough to know it happens all the time.”

John Heckman had two singles, a double, three runs and two RBIs for West Side, and Cameron Nunn was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Caleb Wuest added two hits and drove in a run, and Jacob Stewart, Joey Hudson and Snyder all added RBIs.

Maus said there is some pressure on his squad as West Side has never failed to win the district title.

“I try to tell the kids we’re Hamilton High and Badin to everybody else around here,” Maus said. “Good or bad, they want to beat you extra bad. They want to put that feather in their cap.”

Both teams will play again at 6 p.m. today in Oxford. West Side meets Mason in the winners’ bracket, while Middletown faces Anderson in the losers’ bracket.

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Good luck West Side we play you guys tonight

LL Player
1:39 PM, 7/8/2009

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if u can't run with the big dogs stay on the porch!!

hey coach
1:15 PM, 7/8/2009

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take heart unknown coach - if you put the west siders up against your middies in a contest of who can rack up the longest criminal records, your guys would win hands down. Maybe they can take pointers from DJ Hunter. He seems to be an expert in that regard.

Poor has nothing to do with it. What an ignorant statement. Not everyone who plays for WSLL has a 6-figure income or lives in a mansion.

At least they can say they lost by fewer runs than the Reds the other night.

WSLL supporter
1:14 PM, 7/8/2009

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thats when we where happier being a home town league,not little league, we cant compete with these teams that they have us playing, it just a big let down for our middletown kids, and you can see that, when it comes time to sign up for next year, going from 600 kids to 200 kids, great job rick henry, but dont get us wrong "YES" it is a great program, but not for this town of poor kids.

unknown coach
4:35 PM, 7/7/2009

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Great job, boys! Keep those bats alive!

Kendra
2:45 PM, 7/7/2009

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