DuBois Juniors win D-10 title in farewell fashion | Sports

DUBOIS — The St. Marys Junior League All-Star baseball team appeared poised to force a winner-take-all Game 3 of the District 10 championship series on Monday night.

However, rival DuBois snatched the victory – and the title – from the Elk County team with a thrilling 7-6 victory on a two-run double by Madix Clark in the bottom of the seventh at Stern Family Field.

The matchup certainly had an odd feel for most of the night, as the St. Marys took a 5-0 lead after the top of the fourth despite only having one hit at the time. And that hit, a two-out single by Jack Neil, came in the fourth. Neil then scored on a pitched hit with the bases loaded to make it 5-0.

Instead, the St. Marys used small balls to build that lead, coupling 10 walks with eight stolen bases in the game as DuBois starter Samson Deeb struggled to find the strike zone. A pair of errors by DuBois also led to three of the six St. Marys races not being won. Neil’s single was the St. Marys’ only hit of the game.

St. Marys starter Cameron Coudriet was also struggling on the mound when the right-hander took a no-hitter in the bottom of the fourth. That’s when the momentum began to shift in DuBois’ favor.

Noah Farrell broke Coudriet’s no-hitter bid with a double after Grady Galiczynski had walked. Clark then singled to center field to drive in Galiczynski and make it 5-1 for DuBois. However, Clark was far from finished that night.

DuBois walked away from there, scoring twice in the fifth and once in the sixth against reliever Mason Nicklas. DuBois was still trailing 6-4 at the time, as St. Mary had added a run in the top of the sixth on a Tysen Beimel bunt.

DuBois reliever Wes Clyde, who entered in the fourth, then enjoyed a quick 1-2-3 lead in the seventh. Walker Thomas finished the inning with a nice over-the-shoulder catch running to the warning track in left center.

Clyde then started the decisive bottom of the seventh with a leadoff walk. Nicklas then had Deeb fly into center field before Galiczynski singled to right field.

Farrell stepped in and hit an RBI single to left to put up Clyde before Clark hit a double that chased both Galiczynski and Farrell, who slid headfirst across the plate before quickly rebounding to join the ball. DuBois victory celebration in the middle of the diamond. Farrell also had two hits, including a double, in the win.

“Both games were a comeback, and the kids persevered and never let their heads down,” DuBois manager Chris Deeb said. “We started hitting in the middle of the game and we started playing defense and that was it. They just never got depressed.

“Our relievers (in both games) helped us immensely because they came in and seemed more relaxed than the starters and just threw strikes and let the defense work.

“And offensively, the good thing is all the kids are hitting. We don’t have anybody on the team who isn’t hitting and we can’t count him in the batter’s box. That’s good.”

The younger Deeb’s command issues reared their heads from the get-go, as he walked four batters and hit another in the first. St. Marys managed to get three runs out of the inning, with a pressure bunt from Coudriet and a bases-loaded walk from Louie Nedzinski.

But, things could have been worse as Deeb took out a runner from third with the bases loaded to end the inning. Deeb took out three runners in the game.

St. Marys added to that lead with a run in second when Frankie Smith reached on a fielder’s pick. He proceeded to steal second and third before scoring on another fielder’s pick. Smith had four steals and scored three times while going 0-for-2.

Neil’s single in the fourth led to St. Marys’ fifth run when Deeb reached the 95-pitch limit in the inning. St. Marys scored that run when Charlie Geci was hit with the bases loaded, but Clyde limited the damage to just that run in the frame.

Clark’s RBI single in the bottom of the fourth seemed to give DuBois some life, who came back with a pair of runs in the fifth.

Clyde was in the middle of that play, drawing a walk with one out. He quickly stole second and scored on a single to right-center by Deeb, who in turn reached the plate when Farrell reached on a two-out error.

Beimel’s tight bunt in the sixth put St. Marys up 6-3, but DuBois responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth.

And it was a two-out walk by Landon Pawl that led to the run. He then stole the second before Camdyn Long put it up with a single to left field to make it 6-4.

That set the stage for Clark’s late exploits in the bottom of the seventh inning that not only earned DuBois the title, but secured a berth in the Section 1 Tournament, which will be played at Stern Field from the 18th to July 21.

The win also came after DuBois used a late-game charge to post a 9-4 win at St. Marys in Game 1 on Saturday.

The Junior League State Tournament will also be held in DuBois this year.

Santa Maria 310 101 0 — 6

* There was 1 out when the game ended

Frankie Smith cf 2300, Tysen Beimel lf 2002, Charlie Geci c 1101, Cameron Coudriet p-ss 2001, Mason Nicklas ss-p 4100, AJ Himes 3b 1000, Matthew Gilmore ph-3b 1000, Jayce Walter 2b 3000, Louie Nedzinski 1b 1000 , Wyatt Brem 1b 1000, GideonCronk rf 0100, Jack Neil 1010. Totals: 19-6-1-4.

Samson Deeb p-ss 3111, Grady Galiczynski 3b-2b 2210, Mason Dinkfelt ph 1000, Noah Farrell ss-3b 4121, Brayden Zatsick rf 0000, Madix Clark ph 3023, Walker Thomas lf 2000, Jonathan Reed ph-spr 0000, Bryson Kail cf 3000, Landon Pawl c 2100, Camdyn Long 1b 2011, Isaac Dennison ph 1000, Wes Clyde 2b-p 1200. Totals: 24-7-7-6.

Errors: St. Marys 1, DuBois 2. LOB: St. Marys 7, DuBois 4. DP: St. Marys 2. 2B: Farrell, Clark. SAC: Beimel, Coudriet. HBP: Geci 2 (2 by Clyde), Himes (by Deeb). SB: Smith 4, Geci 2, Gilmore, Walter; Deeb, Pawl, Clyde. CS: Geci (by Pawl). PO: Himes (for Deeb), Beimel (for Deeb), Gilmore (for Deeb).

St. Marys: Cameron Coudriet-5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO; Mason Nicklas-1 1/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO.

DuBois: Samson Deeb-3 2/3 IP, 1 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 8 BB, 1 SO, 1 HB; Wes Clyde-3 1/3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 21 BB, 0 SO, 2 HB.

Winning pitcher: Clyde. Losing pitcher: Nicklas.

Source: www.thecourierexpress.com