ORWIGSBURG — Blue Mountain put the finishing touches on a one-sided playoff run with a 5-0 shutout win over Lehigh in the Section 6 Little League Baseball playoffs on Wednesday at Veterans Memorial Park.
Chase Goodman tossed 5.2 innings of shutout ball and struck out nine and Ben Ciccone had a couple of RBI base hits to lead the way to a five-run clean scoresheet win.
The local contingent advances to the Pennsylvania State Little League Tournament from July 27 to August 2 in Upper Providence, Phoenixville.
“It’s incredible for these kids to get back to the state championship level, last year was a magical run and this year we had a target on our back and once you get to the top it’s hard to stay at the top,” Blue Mountain coach Cory Porrino said. “The kids bounced back and played well when it mattered and we get another shot at states next week.”
Blue Mountain’s Goodman (5) tears around the bases in the final moments of Wednesday’s Section 6 Majors championship at Memorial Park. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Lehigh’s Petko (18) slides in safely at third during Wednesday’s Section 6 Majors championship. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Blue Mountain takes a celebratory lap around the field after securing the Section 6 Majors championship title. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Coaches and players come together in a huddle after Blue Mountain’s Section 6 Majors championship win. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Petko (18) gets ready to break for third in championship play. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Blue Mountain gathers behind their championship banner after claiming the Section 6 Majors crown. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Blue Mountain gathers for a huddle as they close out the championship. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Players and coaches gather for a celebratory photo after Blue Mountain captured the Section 6 Majors championship. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Lehigh’s Petko (18) beats the throw to third during the Section 6 Majors final. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Lehigh’s Yoder (23) fires a pitch during the Section 6 Majors championship. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Blue Mountain’s Minnick (13) sprints toward second base during Wednesday’s championship game. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Blue Mountain’s Marx (24) takes a cautious lead off first, staying ready to break for second. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Blue Mountain’s Chase Goodman (5) steps up to bat. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
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Blue Mountain’s Goodman (5) tears around the bases in the final moments of Wednesday’s Section 6 Majors championship at Memorial Park. (AISHWARYA BEHL/STAFF PHOTO)
Goodman set the theatrics from the jump as he struck out a pair of batters to end the top of the first inning, including a swinging strikeout of Caleb Yoder to end the frame.
“Last night’s game really fired us up to have some confidence at the plate because we knew we could compete today,” Goodman said. “It’s nice when we can have our own approaches and it works.”
Blue Mountain got two runners on base in the bottom of the first before Enzo Ritter scored on a wild pitch for the 1-0 lead. Ben Ciccone then stepped into the batters box and ripped an RBI groundball single to second base for the 2-0 lead.
Anthony Grimminger doubled on a fly ball to left field to score Ciccone for the 3-0 lead at the end of the first.
“That start to the game scoring a couple of runs calmed the nerves and commanding the strike zone and scoring that much was a good thing,” Porrino said.
Goodman sat down Lehigh 1-2-3 in the top of the second, including a swinging strikeout for the second out, before striking out two more in the top of the third inning.
“Getting the lead and playing with the lead was really nice and hitting around with the team was really good there,” Goodman said.
Jacob Gombar started the bottom of the third inning with a groundball single to center field before two more runners got on base and Ciccone struck with an RBI groundball single into left field for the 4-0 lead.
Lehigh starting pitcher Caleb Yoder struck out two batters to escape the jam and got Grimminger swinging to end the third inning.
Goodman struck out two more in the fourth inning before recording a 1-2-3 top of the fifth with a strikeout. He was pulled in the top of the sixth inning after one more strikeout.
Ciccone had the final say at the plate for Blue Mountain when he doubled on a sharp groundball into right field to score Goodman for the 5-0 final score.
“They’ve been great all playoffs and always make big improvements and Anthony was prepared early to score an extra run,” Porrino said. “When the pitcher is making mistakes we got on him.”
Ciccone provided Blue Mountain’s lineup with three hits while Grimminger brought in the other run and Goodman scored a team-high two runs. Yoder threw 3.2 innings and allowed four runs on five hits and struck out 11. Zane Balaziuk tossed the final 1.1 innings and allowed a run and five hits.
Lehigh 0 — Balaziuk SS 2 0 0 0, Cresci 1B 2 0 0 0, Yoder P 2 0 0 0, Dontas LF 2 0 0 0, Kelly 2B 2 0 0 0, Misco 2 0 0 0, Collins 3B 2 0 0 0, Martinez RF 1 0 0 0, Collins 2 0 0 0, Domriovits 1 0 0 0, Petko C 0 0 0 0, Stuart CF 1 0 0 0. 19 0 0 0.
Blue Mountain 5 — Porrino 2B 3 1 0 0, Ritter C 1 1 0 0, Goodman P 1 2 1 0, Ciccone RF 3 1 3 3, Callaghan SS 3 0 0 0, Grimminger LF 2 0 1 1, Minnick 3B 2 0 0 0, Borger CF 2 0 0 0, Schneider 1B 1 0 0 0, Marx 2 0 1 0, Machamer 2 0 1 0, Gombar 2 0 1 0. 24 5 8 4.
Leh;0;0;0;0;0;0;—0
BM;3;0;1;0;1;0;—5
Lehigh
IP H R ER BB K
Yoder 3.2 5 4 4 11
Balaziuk 1.1 3 1 1 0 1
Blue Mountain
Goodman 5.2 0 0 0 2 9
Grimminger 0.1 0 0 0 0 0