Southwestern outlasts Interstate for No. 2 seed
FREWSBURG — Southwestern scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning and held off Interstate for a 6-5 victory to lock up the No. 2 seed in the District 38 Area B 10-12 Little League All-Stars tournament Wednesday evening.
Using the extra-innings tiebreaker rule, Hudson Rapp started on second base in the top of the seventh. Carter Skoglund led off with an RBI single and after a strikeout, Jackson Troutman hit an RBI double. Grant Smith followed with an RBI groundout to make it 6-3.
In the bottom of the frame, Gunnar Ling started on second base for Interstate, went to third on a wild pitch and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Lincoln Moller reached on a one-out walk, stole second and later scored on Max Labart’s RBI groundout, but Matty Cama struck out the final batter of the game with an Interstate runner at third base to end it.
Southwestern took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Carter Ray led off with a single, went to second on a passed ball and later scored on a wild pitch. Gianni Scholeno reached on a dropped third strike, stole second and scored on Cama’s two-out RBI single.
The Southwestern lead grew to 3-0 in the top of the second when Damien Burkholder drew a one-out walk, went to third on Smith’s two-out double and scored on a wild pitch.
Interstate tied the game with a three-run fourth inning. Kasen Hill walked with one out before Moller, Drew Maggio and Labart hit consecutive RBI doubles. Southwestern’s Mason Winchester got out of the inning with a strikeout for the second out before Ray, the catcher, threw out an Interstate runner attempting to steal second.
Interstate went down in order in the fifth and sixth innings while Southwestern loaded the bases in the fifth and had runners at first and second in the sixth, but was unable to score a go-ahead run.
Both teams’ pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts out of the 21 outs.
For Southwestern, Winchester allowed three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out nine in four innings before Cama tossed three innings of no-hit ball, allowing two runs (none earned) while walking two and striking out eight.
For Interstate, Hill allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk while striking out 11 in 4 1-3 innings before Moller tossed the final 2 2-3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out six.
Cama had three hits, including a double, while Troutman had a pair of doubles for Southwestern. Moller had a pair of doubles for Interstate.
Southwestern (3-1), Area B’s No. 2 seed, will travel to Area A No. 1 seed Fredonia (4-0) on Monday at 6 p.m. Falconer (4-0), Area B’s No. 1 seed, will host Area A No. 2 Mayville (2-2) on that same night and time.





