| “Not the start we were looking for,” said Titusville’s minor league head coach Andrew Schwab. He, Wes Shaver and Kevin Dawson took a band of 12 gold jersey wearing nine- and ten-year old baseball players down to Clarion’s Weaver Park baseball complex for the first game of the 2024 All-Stars season for District 25. Facing a high powered Butler team, they fell behind in the top of the first when a check swing hit somehow made it to the grass in the outfield starting a two-out rally. In the end only two runs scored, but the momentum was clearly in Butler’s corner. Titusville couldn’t get a base runner in their half of the inning. Butler added another in the second and five more in the third. Tituvsille finally got base runners in the third but couldn’t move them around stranding two. Butler gave the gold team a reprieve going down in order in the fourth. But Titusville had no answer. Gavin Smith reached base and immediately tried to steal but was gunned down by Butler’s catcher. Even though Smith’s reaction to the call made it obvious he disagreed, he was out and the speedy runner was taken off the base pads. Titusville got another base runner but ultimately couldn’t get anything going. Butler exploded for six more in the fifth. Titusville needed a rally to stay alive, but ended up leaving two on base and dropping the first round game 14-0. Butler moves on to play Oil City-Cranberry who notched an explosive 22-5 three inning victory over New Bethlehem in Monday’s nightcap. Titusville was scheduled to play New Bethlehem on Wednesday in a loser goes home matchup. We'll have that result next week. “I think we had a little ‘first game of all-stars’ jitters coming out,” Schwab said. “But we got some guys out in the field for experience and some pitchers we hope to use in the future and hopefully shake off those jitters out and come back strong on Wednesday.” Titusville’s bats just weren’t there. Smith and Jimmy Vogus had the only two hits of the game. “We had a couple really hard hit balls, but they were hit right at guys and (Butler) made some really nice plays. That’s good baseball. That’s what you hope to see at a game.” Given the loss, Schwab was focussing on the positives and looking for the next game. He joked he’d like to play Oil City-Cranberry but that is because of personal memories of his playing days when he went head to head with a couple of the OC-C coaches. To face them he’ll have to catch them down the pike, since they destroyed New Bethlehem. Schwab also pointed out one of the hallmarks of little league baseball. “The best thing I saw today was… we were waiting an hour to start this game (because of the weather,) and I could hear both dugouts cheering and singing back and forth. I was really pleased with team camaraderie, especially since they haven’t really been a team that long. They enjoy being together, enjoy being on a baseball field and that’s what it is all about.” |          Titusville's 9 and 10 All-stars are #9 Wyatt Beck, #18 Bryce Dawson, #44 Greyson Johnson, #11 Emmett McGarvie, #00 Carter Perdue, #22 Hayden Roberts, #10 Bowen Schwab, #42 Karen Sellen, # 52 Chaytum Shaver, #13 Gavin Smith, #17 Chase Spec and #14 Jimmy Vogus. |
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