ORWELL – The Jefferson 10 and 11-year old All-Stars defeated Grand Valley to force an elimination championship game. Grand Valley won the first meeting between the first two teams to drop Jefferson into the loser’s bracket. Jefferson battled back by defeating Madison and moved on to face Grand Valley. Grand Valley had the upper hand as they only had to win one of two possible games. Jefferson took the first game to win 11-7.
Alex Forristal drew a lead off walk for Jefferson and went to second on a passed ball. Ryan States hit a one-out RBI to bring in the first run of the game.
Grand Valley answered in their half of the first inning as Clayton Takacs singled and stole second. Ryan Busser moved Takacs over to third on a groundout. Logan Newell followed with an RBI triple to tie the game at 1-1. Newell gave Grand Valley the lead after scoring on a passed ball, making it 2-1.
Mike Hamski sparked Jefferson with a single and a stolen base in the second inning. Owen Blanchette followed with an RBI single up the middle to tie the game at 2-2. Jason Mayes was later hit by a pitch and both runners moved up on a passed ball. Alex Forristal hit an RBI single to give Jefferson back the lead at 3-2. Ryan States kept the inning going with his own RBI single, making it 4-2. Jefferson continued to threaten as States went to third on a passed ball and eventually scored, making it 5-2 in favor of Jefferson.
Bradley Busser hit a one-out double for Grand Valley in the second inning and went to third on a groundout. Clayton Takacs brought Busser in on an infield single Ryan Busser walked in the inning and Grand Valley was able to score two runs on an error to tie the game at 5-5. Logan Newell made it all the way to third on the play and scored on a passed ball, making it 6-5 in favor of Grand Valley.
Mike Hamski started things for Jefferson once again in the third inning after being hit by a pitch. Hamski stole a pair of bases, but Takacs struck out the next three hitters to end the inning.
Grand Valley threatened in eh third inning as Jacob Glavickas walked and Neno Czerwinksi was hit by a pitch. Nathan Jacobs truck out the side to get out of the inning for Jefferson.
Alex Forristal singled and stole second base in the fourth inning for Jefferson. Zach Forristal made it first and second with a walk and Ryan States singled to load the bases. Park gave Jefferson back the lead with a big three-run double, making it 8-6. Park went to third on the throw home. Scotty Ellsworth relieved Takacs with no out and a runner on third base. Ellsworth struck out the first batter he faced, but Hamski made it 9-6 with an RBI double. Jefferson tacked on a couple more runs in the inning after Mikayla Tasker reached on an error allowing Hamski to score. Tasker was eventually able to score on a passed ball, making it 11-6.
Clayton Takacs reached on a dropped third strike in the fourth inning for Grand Valley. Takacs stole second and went to third on a passed ball, but was later picked off. Jacobs would strike out the next hitter and get a groundout to end the inning.
Zach Forristal walked in the fifth inning and stole a pair of bases. Grand Valley would get out of the inning with a double play as Ryan States flew out and Logan Newell made a great throw home to tag out Forristal.
Scotty Ellsworth hit an inside the park home run in the fifth inning, making it 11-7. Jacobs settled down to get the next two outs on strikeouts. Zach Forristal relieved Jacobs due to his pitch count and ended the inning with a ground out.
Ellsworth started the sixth inning with a strike out before Hamski drew a walk for Jefferson. Hamski was later doubled over to third by Blanchette as Jefferson looked to add to their lead. Ellsworth was able to work out of the inning with two more strikeouts as he struck out the side.
Grand Valley looked to make some noise in their final at bat as Bradley Busser and Orion Klingensmith both reached. Jefferson then turned a triple play to end the game on a line drive out. Forristal threw the ball to first to get the second out and Jefferson was able to get the third out as the runner left the bag at second base.
