State Schedule/Results
Here are the schedule and results for the double-elimination Ohio Little League 12-year-old baseball tournament at the Fields of Dreams complex, located at 410 McClurg Road in Boardman:
Saturday, July 16
Hamilton West Side 12, Washington Court House 1, four innings
Canfield 12, Tallmadge 1, four innings
Galion 6, Guernsey County 1
New Albany 6, Maumee 2
Sunday, July 17
Hamilton West Side 13, Jefferson 0, four innings
Canfield 10, Minford 1
Tuscarawas County 14, Galion 5
Maumee 4, Guernsey County 1
Monday, July 18
Hamilton West Side 11, Tuscarawas County 0
Washington Court House 4, Minford 3
Canfield 6, New Albany 1
Tuesday, July 19
Hamilton West Side 2, Canfield 0
Tallmadge 4, Jefferson 2
Maumee 17, Washington Court House 9
Wednesday, July 20
Game 12 — Tallmadge vs. Galion, field No. 3, 4 p.m.
Game 16 — Maumee vs. Tuscarawas County, field No. 1, 4 p.m.
Thursday, July 21
Game 15 — Game 12 winner vs. New Albany, field No. 1, 2 p.m.
Friday, July 22
Game 18 — Game 15 winner vs. Game 16 winner, field No. 1, 5 p.m.
Saturday, July 23
Losers’ Bracket Final
Game 19 — Game 18 winner vs. Canfield, field No. 1, noon
Sunday, July 24
Championship
Game 20 — Hamilton West Side vs. Game 19 winner, field No. 1, noon
Game 21 (if necessary) — Game 20 winner vs. Game 20 loser, field No. 1, 2 p.m.
Maddox Pennington needed very little offense to secure a huge victory for Hamilton West Side on Tuesday night.
Pennington fired a four-hitter with seven strikeouts and fought off Canfield for a 2-0 triumph in the winners’ bracket final of the Ohio Little League 12-year-old baseball tournament at Boardman’s Fields of Dreams.
“We didn’t start off so great hitting,” Pennington said. “But I knew even if we just got a few runs, I could keep holding Canfield and we could push through and win the game.”
Hamilton tallied two runs in the third inning — Pennington’s triple plated Cayden Evans, who reached base on a fielder’s choice, and Landyn Vidourek added an RBI infield single — and Pennington made them stand up.
West Side secured a spot in Sunday’s noon championship game and needs one more win to earn a Great Lakes Regional berth in Indianapolis. Whoever emerges from the losers’ bracket will have to beat Hamilton twice Sunday to win the state title.
“First of all, we knew Canfield was pretty good,” West Side coach Tim Nichting said. “You can’t blow everybody out. They had a couple nice pitchers, and I guess a lot of credit to Maddox Pennington for the game he threw and a lot of credit for the way our defense played tonight. Our defense is a lot better than what people have been seeing.”
RELATED COVERAGE
<<< West Side 11, Tuscarawas County 0
<<< West Side 12, Washington Court House 1
Pennington was 2-for-3 in a contest that featured only three hits by Hamilton as Ryan Petro threw four innings and Jake Grdic pitched one for Canfield. Petro’s offspeed stuff was consistently effective.
“It was crazy,” West Side second baseman Braedyn Moore said. “It came down to the last minute, and we got the job done.”
The District 2 champions from right down the road got their first two batters on base in the fourth and fifth innings.
Gianni Gaetano lined into a 4-6 double play in the fourth, stung by an outstanding play from Moore.
“I’m going to catch it and try to make this work,” Moore said of his mind-set on the play. “I tried my best.”
Grdic was out at the plate on a 5-2 fielder’s choice in the fifth, and Gaetano reached base on an infield single in the sixth, then got erased at second while trying to advance after an errant Hamilton throw.
“When you get to this level and you’re playing for the right to go to a state championship, you better play well in every phase of your game,” Canfield coach Kevin Burdette said.
“We got an A-plus in the pitching department, gave up three hits against one of the best hitting teams in the state. We played pretty good defense, and our base running … we shot ourselves in the foot. That’s what cost us.
“Tip your cap to Hamilton. Great program, great tradition. Canfield — great program, great tradition. It could’ve been anybody’s game late in the ballgame, and that’s what makes the game of baseball great. It comes down to the little things, and they did the little things today and Canfield didn’t. That was the difference.”
Colin Burdette ripped a double for Canfield in the second inning. It was the only extra-base hit given up by Pennington, who walked a batter in each of the last three frames.
The right-hander finished with 84 pitches. Little League’s single-game max is 85.
“It didn’t seem like I threw that many pitches,” Pennington said. “I had to get it out of the zone for them because if I was throwing too much in the zone, they would end up hitting it.”
“He threw a live fastball,” Nichting said. “His curveball was working pretty well for him early. He got a little tired at the end.”
Moore, the lone 11-year-old on Hamilton’s roster, earned special praise from Nichting for his defensive performance.
“B-Moore, he’s just a bear,” Nichting said. “He can cover some ground and he’s got very good hands, and we don’t expect anything else but B to make some serious plays for us.”
West Side now has four days off before the finals. Every Hamilton pitcher, even Pennington, will be eligible to throw Sunday.
“I’ve done this for a long time, and it’s the craziest bracket I’ve ever seen,” Nichting said. “I’ve got to keep my kids focused, which ain’t what you’d call the easiest thing in the world away from home four days. We considered going home, but we’re going to stay here and, boy, we’re going to practice a whole lot.”
Tuscarawas County, Maumee, Galion, Tallmadge, New Albany and Canfield also remain alive. Canfield is set for the losers’ bracket final Saturday at noon.
RELATED: Tournament schedule
West Side is expecting to see Canfield on Sunday and made that feeling clear in the postgame handshake line.
“They were paying respect to us, which is very much appreciated,” Kevin Burdette said. “And I can promise you if I was going through the line with a ‘W’ today, I’d have said the same thing to them.”
Canfield 000-000—0-4-1
Hamilton West Side 002-00x—2-3-1
WP — Maddox Pennington; LP — Ryan Petro
About the Author