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7/12/2024

TMC to face Indiana again in the finals, hope to continue picture-perfect season

The Titusville/Mid-East/Cochranton Junior League all-stars are sure getting their money's worth out of the Pennsylvania State Championships. Regulation can't hold them. They have reached the championship finals in the double-elimination bracket after two consecutive extra inning victories.

On Tuesday they took a very talented Indiana team to eight innings before they won 8-6 and stopping a bottom of the inning comeback. (See that story here www.8and322.com/eight--27/holy-cow-what-a-start-for-tmc).

The following night they squeaked out a ninth inning walk-off victory over Corry 5-4.

This puts TMC in the driver's seat as they now prepare Indiana who defeated Springfield 15-0 and Corry 8-1 on Wednesday. They square off today at 5 p.m. TMC has a little cushion since Indiana must beat them twice for the championship.

TMC's run has been impressive. Mary Herman's pitching has been outstanding in relief. Her ability to double down under pressure. "Mary's a special kid. She has worked hard over the years and has really built her game up to where nothing really phases her on that mound," Head coach Matt Crocker said.

He called on her early in the Indiana game when it looked like TMC wasn't going to stop the Indiana freight train that earlier in the day beat Danville 20-0. But Herman took it the rest of the way through eight innings getting out of jams and only giving up one run. "She just keeps trusting her stuff and as a credit to her, she trusts the defense behind her."

This trust lets her know she can utilize her different pitches with confidence. "She has great speed, really good off-speed pitches," he said noting that the movement and changing rhythm of pitches makes her that much harder to hit. "She definitely has ice in her veins, she's doing a great job for us .

On Wednesday, she was called upon again after Corry scored a run in the seventh inning and still had two runners on base with no outs. She quickly recorded an out, but the next batter hit what normally would've been a routine play ended in an infield error scoring a run. After striking out the next batter and infield hit resulted in a tie game, but Herman's ice water veins again shut down the rally with the game tied.

TMC wasn't able to make anything happen in the bottom of the seventh sending the game to extra innings.

Corry again got a runner in scoring position, but between Herman's pitching and some good behind the plate work by catcher Payton Phillips to stop some wild pitches, they left a runner stranded at third.

Again TMC couldn't get anything happening in the bottom of the eighth.

Little rules for extra innings starts the ninth off with a runner at second. A muffed bunt resulted in two runners on and they both ended in scoring position. Herman again buckled down and struck out the next two batters and the final out was recorded on a ground ball to second where Kylie Crocker, an absolute vacuum second baseman, rounded it up and tossed to Sam Bernoski at first to end the scoring threat.

Crocker basically set up an unpentratable wall between first and second all game all game. One inning recording all three outs agains Corry.

"I taught her a long time ago that the ball has strings on it and wherever that ball goes it pulls you in that direction," her dad/coach said. "I'm awful proud of her, obviously I have a little extra with that one as her dad. I'm proud of all these girls."

In the bottom of the ninth TMC also started with a runner at second.

They got another runner on when Kylie Crocker drew a walk. Kennedy Baker laid down a decent bunt but a heads up play by the Corry pitcher recorded a force out at third. With only one out they still had two runners on.

Sam Bernoski steps up and drills a grounder up the middle. Coach Crocker on third base gave player Crocker the old windmill sign sending her home knowing it was going to be a close play. Kylie Crocker slid in just before the tag to win the nine inning game and send them into the finals.

"After those two games you know, I think they need a little break," Coach Crocker said about the practice schedule the next day. He said they had hoped to take a trip to watch the Titusville Majors play their first game of the Pennsylvania state championships in that bracket.

Titusville softball still has three teams still alive in post-season. The Majors team dropped the first round in a 1-0 pitchers dual but are playing in the losers bracket today. The 8-10 year old minors squad begins their section tournament Saturday in Union City. They are hoping to become the third area team to advance to the state championships.

Nora Lesko pitched six solid innings only giving up one run Wednesday. TMC has five very good pitchers according to coach Crocker. We've got Mary (Herman) who comes in big. We've got Abby (Mawhinney) does a great job. Nora did a great job tonight keeping Corry off balance. And we still have Karmyn Reese and Kylie Crocker who we haven't really gotten a chance to pitch much because they are essential to us (at shortstop and second base). They are our rocks in the middle infield."

That infield defense is key. They make few mistakes mentally or physically. "We really have two shortstops up the middle and that's huge. Karmyn is just fantastic at short and has been making great plays for us. I just feel really good with those two in those positions.

"I'm a big believer that wins are a product of preparation and living each moment. If you start thinking about a win, it's the fursthest thing in front of you, so if you stay in the moment and trust your skill, trust the work you've put in all these years and trust those skills are going to come through when you need them. Good things happen if you just stay in the moment."

The championship game is set to begin at 5 p.m. today at the American Legion ball field in Union City. The if necessary game will follow at 7 p.m.

See more photos from their run at https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p174677279

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Holy cow, what a start for TMC

7/10/2024

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Editor's note, we misspelled Zayda Lojek's name in our story. Our apologies to Zayda and her family.

Mary Herman came in to pitch in the third inning of Titusville/Mid-East/Cochranton's state tournament opener against a very good team from Indiana. It was the first time all day that Indiana was shut down.

Indiana opened the day with 20-0 four inning route of Danville in the first game of the Junior League State Championships at the American Legion fields in Union City.

They were getting their groove going again in the nightcap scoring five runs in two and a third innings.

Herman was brilliant on the mound digging deep when she needed to to get out of jams including a one out bases loaded hole in the seventh inning. She got a batter to pop up to her at pitcher before striking out the final batter sending it to extra innings.

TMC scored three in the top of the eighth with Addison Cherry reaching on a leadoff single. She advanced on a good sac bunt by Zayda Lojek. Nora Lesko singled driving in Cherry to break the tie. Payton Phillips bunted again and beat out the throw. Lesko bolted toward third on the play and forced a throw across the diamond which wasn't handled, allowing Lesko to score and Phillips to end up on second.

They weren't done. Karmyn Reese dropped a blooper about a foot inside the right field line between three Indiana players that couldn't reach it. The hit scored Phillips.

Indiana came up in the do or die bottom of the eighth down 8-5. Back to back doubles scored the first run on Herman and brought coach Matt Crocker out of the dugout for a team conference. Sticking with Herman, the coach rolled the dice his ace could bear down one more time and finish off the surging Indiana team.

Two infield pop ups later the celebration began and TMC moves on to play Corry later today at 7 p.m.

Corry easily handled Springfield earlier in the day.

To see even more photos from this and other TMC games please visit: sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p174677279

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Walk-off send Titusville Majors to states

7/8/2024

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Photographs are from Titusville District 1 finals.

The District 1 representatives in the Pennsylvania Section 1 Junior league tournament showed grit and capitalized on good fortune en route to a 5-4 win over Punxsutawney for a chance to play for a state championship.

In the seventh-inning with the score four to four, Mallory Beers was on second base when Evelyn Lesko ripped a liner to left center scoring Beers. “It was tight, but she tip-toed around (the catcher) and got in,” said head coach Jack Roberts.

The run capped off a comeback for Ttitusville who began the tournament with a 4-1 loss to Punxsy. They rebounded with a 15-5 win over Clarion and a 9-6 victory over Corry before the rematch with Punxsy.

Titusville had to beat them twice.
In the first game Mallory Beers pitched a great game to keep Punxsy scoreless while Titusville strung together three runs to force the if necessary showdown.

“First game was tight for awhile and we scored a couple runs. We started playing some small ball and they started making mistakes throwing the ball around and we were able to just close the door on that one, Roberts said.

“I told the girls in between games, ‘hey, we got the first one, we got them rattled lets just out there and play our game and take it to them,’ and they did.”

But at the end of the third inning they found themselves down 4-1. “I just kept telling them one run at a time, one run at a time and then we just started slowly pecking away at it, inning by inning we got a run and another.

Giselle Gibbons got a big ground ball sacrifice that advanced Baleigh Greer to third base. This proved huge as the next pitch was wild allowing Greer, who is speedy, to score the tying run in the fifth inning.

In the sixth fortune really smiled on Titusville when the Punxsy lead-off batter clobbered on into the outfield for a stand up triple, but when the runner rounded third thinking about heading home because the throw from the outfield sailed over third base Mackenzie Yochum’s head.

But the ball took a good bounce for Titusville and bad one for Punxsy. Coming right back into Yochum’s glove she turned and lunged for the Punxsy player who was also diving back to third.
“She caught her mid-air,” Roberts said.

“That would’ve been a huge momentum swing, but we were able to stop that.”

Then catcher Addison Roberts made another lunging catch on a short pop up for another out.

That set up the dramatic walk-off extra inning.

Titusville will now travels to Wellsboro where they will face the section 4 champion in the eight team bracket at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Titusville 11-12 year old team consists of Octavia Popescu, Addison Roberts, Mallory Beers, Harper Wolfkiel, Baleigh Greer, Evelyn Lesko, Draya Sibble, Giselle Gibbons, Mackenzie Yochum, Kennedy Schmader, Hannah Ringer and Madilyn Wice.

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Titusville youth softball wins another banner

7/8/2024

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It's not getting old for Titusville youth softball.

The 8-10 year-old all-stars are the latest team to run the perimeter of a softball field with a banner in hand. They may have had to borrow last year’s banner due to a back order snafu, but they girl undeniably earned the District 1 Minor League championship with a 9-3 victory over Mid-East Monday.

Their older counterparts in the 11-12 year-old division are opening up their bid for a state championship this week in Wellsboro, while the junior league team combined with Cochranton and Mid-East opened the state championships in Union City Tuesday with a huge win over a very good team from Indiana, Pa.

This team swept through the District 1 field topped off with a come from behind performance at home, their first home game of the tournament.

The opened with a win over Lakeland 12-2, then Cambridge/Meadville/Vernon 8-0, and then a 6-2 win over Cochranton/Lakeview before facing Mid-East in the finals.

"We are just doing enough to win," said coach Shawn Beers. Though they got a little help with 13 walks, several with the bases loaded, Beers credits it to good hitting skills. "We're not swinging at bad pitches, that's a key. We had good at-bats.

Mid-East got things going early when Kambree Rial and Brinlee Ritchie scored in the first and Paytyn Clark added another in the second, but that would be it as Beatrice Popescu found ways, even when in trouble, to shut down a good Mid-East squad.

Titusville got going in the bottom of the second when Capri Warner sailed one over the left fielder's head for a triple to ignite a rally. She would score on a fielder's choice. Gina Beers scored on a Keely Johnson single. Johnson would later score on a wild pitch to tie the game at three.

Popescu again got out of a jam in the fourth getting a final pop up out with the bases loaded. She had pitched over a hundred pitches on the hot day so coach Beers relieved her in the fifth putting his daughter on the mound in the fifth.

"She was huge tonight," the proud father/coach said. "She doesn't throw hard but she was hammering the zone and her change-up was the key.”
Titusville took the lead in the fourth with the help of walks and a wild pitch. Mileigh Phillips did a good job not letting it be a worse inning striking out the next two batters to end the inning.
But the fifth inning was another story. Lesko got a 0-2 count base hit to score another run. Titusville pulled away with five runs in the fifth, mostly on walks and wild pitches.

Coach Beers reiterated the importance of patient at-bats to draw the walks and frustrate the pitchers.

The girls swept through to claim the District 1 Minor League championship and will head to Union City this Saturday to face the District 10 champions at 6 p.m. in the Section 1 tournament.

Their goal is to become the third Titusville softball team to make it to states this year.

“We're solid, but we gotta hit better,” Coach Beers said. “We’re going to see big pitchers now."

“Right now we're taking one step at a time. We didn't really put the hammer down on anybody, but we played enough to get by every time. If we keep doing that we’ll be happy.”

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Juniors headed to states with dominant performances

7/7/2024

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To say the Titusville/Mid-East/Cochranton junior league team can play would be an understatement. This team can hit and those that might not be sluggers know how to lay down important bunts.

This team can play.

There was no District 1 contest this year, they decided to create an all-star team through a try-out from three communities that battled each other all rec ball season.

Titusville players include top-notch pitchers Nora Lesko and Mary Herman as well as Kennedy Baker, Addy Cherry and Kylie Crocker. Cochranton supplied Kamryn Reese, Jordan Groger and Zayda Lojek while Mid-East provided a feisty rock-solid catcher Payton Phillips, Sam Burnoski, Mackenzie Gerow, and Abigail Mawhinney.

"It was fun playing rec league games against each other," coach Matt Crocker said. "Tough pitching but but (the)teams were putting together good hits.Now It's fun seeing them come together."

In the section tournament held at Cranberry High School, the squared off first against Dubois exploding for 18 runs winning 18-8. Then they fifteen- runned Union City to reach the finals where they would face them again. This time going the distance to win 11-3. They scored 44 runs in just three games.

"When you're around other good hitters you can just relax and put you best foot forward and that's what they are doing now," Crocker said of the girls confidence.

And they are relentless.

A Jordan Groger bunt dropped dead about 3 inches from home plate forcing a throw to first that scored a gutsy base-running Mary Herman barreling in from third.

Crocker said Groger and Zayda Lojek are doing what is asked of them and really putting the team in a good place to score.

"They are putting down good bunts each time and almost beating them out. That's huge," Crocker said. "They deserve RBI's for those bunts that put us in position."

He also said that he has many options in the pitching circle. "We really have five good pitchers. It's a nice problem to have."

He noted that the teams they faced thus far in sections had one or two only. He expects that to change in the next round.

Crocker and the coaching staff knows what they have to do to be successful moving forward.

"Don't get in their way, that's really the main thing. Just keep trusting them to do what they do," Crocker said.

"There is not much you can do wrong, They're all sticking and all hitting and they have a lot of fun."

They are the funniest group. They are so quiet. We call them the silent assassins," Crocker said.

"They just play ball, they don't get real vocal but they know what to do and they trust each other.

"They've really come together quick and done a nice job."

They move on to the state championships being held in Union City. There first game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Tuesday. Up until now they have been cruising without much of a challenge, so the coaches are putting in the time on understanding how sports work with these young athletes.

"Don't get ahead of ourselves and always concentrate on the next game," Crocker said about getting his team focussed and ready for the next challenge. "Just live in the moment, play in the moment and everything else takes care of itself."