Medina wins to complete County League 12U Division regular season title campaign

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 4 September 2020 at 10:47 am

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Carlos Doval delivers a pitch and Hadrian Batista makes a catch at second base for Medina during Thursday’s win over Carlton at Butts Park.

Medina put the finishing touch on outright possession of the regular season title by downing visiting Carlton 16-5 Thursday evening in the Orleans County Short Season Baseball League 12U Division regular season finale.

Medina finishes the regular season at 9-1 and will be the No. 1 seed for the playoffs on September 12.

In the other regular season ending games, Elba downed Rotary 6-2 and St. Mary’s/Barre nipped Sandstone 3-2.

Ironically, the semifinal round of the playoffs will be a rematch of the regular season finales with No. 1 Medina vs. No. 4 Carlton at 1 p.m. and No. 2 Rotary vs. No. 3 Elba at 10 a.m.. The final will be at 4 p.m. all at the Midget League Field.

Carlton did jump out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning on a leadoff triple by Noah Kowalski, a run producing double by Gavin Boyce and RBI singles by Caidyn Wilson and Colin Macllin.

However, Medina quickly rebounded to take the lead for good at 5-3 by scoring twice in the home half of the first and three times in the second.

The first inning tallies came home on a double by Joe Reese, a single by Aleks Seefeldt and a fielders choice play while the second inning runs crossed the plate on a double by Lathan McEwen-Miller, a triple by Tyler Raduns and a single by Nick Wetherbee.

Medina then broke the game wide open with five run scoring bursts in both the third and fourth innings. A two-run triple by Ryan Pegelow and an RBI single by Thomas Miesch highlighted the third inning uprising while Hadrian Batista had a grand slam home run and Seefeldt an RBI single in the fourth.

Splitting the time on the mound, Pegelow registered 8 strikeouts and Carlos Doval 7.

Drew Boyce had a two-run homer for Carlton in the fifth inning.

Elba scored all six of its runs in the first inning on a rash of walks and an error to key the win over Rotary.

Kaiden Froman had a triple for Rotary.

St. Mary’s/Barre nipped Sandstone on an RBI double by Mason Snook in the second inning to snap a 2-2 tie.

St. Mary’s/Barre’s other runs came in the first inning on a two-run home run by Nate Gibson.

Sandstone tied the game on a triple by Drew Pritchard and a single by Jonah Elsenheimer.

Charlie Ward registered 8 strikeouts in four innings of relief work on the mound for St. Mary’s/Barre while Omer Fugate went the distance for Sandstone notching 10 strikeouts.

Final Standings: Medina 9-1, Rotary 7-3, Elba 5-5, Carlton 3-7, St. Mary’s/Barre 3-7, Sandstone 3-7.

September 12 Playoffs – Semifinals: Elba vs. Rotary, 10 a.m.; Carlton vs. Medina, 1 p.m.; Finals, 4 p.m. All games at the Midget League Field.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Omer Fugate, left, pitched a complete game for Sandstone Thursday evening against St. Mary’s/Barre. Charlie Ward pitched four innings of relief for St. Mary’s/Barre.