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Sports

Bats Win Westlake Baseball Minor League Tournament

The championship game was tied in the fourth inning, but the Bats took off in the bottom of the fifth.

The third and fourth graders of the Bats and the Scrappers faced off in 90-degree heat for the Westlake Baseball Minor League Championship on Wednesday.

At first it was looking like a Bats shut-out, but inning by inning the Scrappers worked their way back into the game, tying it in the fourth inning and then tacking on one run in the fifth. But in an exciting bottom of the fifth the Bats exploded offensively getting four RBIs and winning the game 10-7.

In the first inning the Bats looked strong. The team made three quick outs in the field, and then Seamus O’Malley hit at two RBI single, bringing home Logan Rummel and Chris Elliott. The second inning went similarly with Rummel hitting a three RBI double, bringing in Charlie Grooff, Jack Krupa and Zach Tepley. Then Elliott hit an RBI single, bringing in Rummel before the inning ended, making the score 6-0.

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A concerned Scrappers team was now ready to compete. Griffin Imwalle hit a two RBI triple bringing in Alex Holly and Patrick Hartup. Michael Augustyn hit an RBI single that brought in Imwalle and suddenly the Scrappers were in the game, 6-3. Now more enthused, the Scrappers returned to the field with a new confidence yelling, “Outfield ready!  Play’s at first!” They ended the inning quickly, ready to return to the batter’s box.

In the fourth inning, Matt Hardy hit a single, Hartup hit a single, Caden Kolesar walked and Imwalle brought them all home but was tagged out at third base. Still, he tied the game 6-6 for his fifth RBI of the championship. Now it was looking like the Scrappers might win, especially after keeping the Bats scoreless in the bottom of the fourth inning.

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In the top of the fifth inning Augustyn hit a double and Brandon Homan hit an RBI single bringing Augustyn home. Now the score was 7-6, advantage Scrappers. The crowd cheered. The dugout cheered. It looked like they had the game wrapped up.

But in the bottom of the fifth inning the Bats had an amazing hitting streak. Consecutively, Elliott hit a two RBI homerun, Connor McGowen hit a double, O’Malley hit an RBI double and Liam Kruger hit an RBI single, leaving the Scrappers with a three run deficit, needing four runs to win the game. The score was 10-7, advantage Bats. “I was just really excited,” Elliott said, “I just put my bat up and aimed, luckily I hit it."

In the sixth inning the Bats walked one batter but made three outs in a row to win the Minor League title. Though in the end, both teams celebrated with trophy ceremonies.

Scrapers Head Coach Sean Hardy commended his players on a good year.

“We had a great team," he said. "We started the season 0-2 and ended the season 16-2, our last loss was against them [the Bats]. We fought from behind, six of [our wins] we were behind by more than five runs.”

Bats Head Coach Robert Rummel was also proud of his team.

“This is a group of kids picked at random that grew together all year as a team and all became great ball players," he said.

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