The State College Little League 12Us played exactly to form against Bellefonte in the District 5 championship game on Friday, July 5.
They scored early and then leaned on their pitching and defense in a workmanlike 6-0 victory over the Bellefonte 12Us that brought home their third consecutive District 5 championship.
SC began with five runs in the first inning, added another in the top of the fourth and then left it to pitchers Joseph Trego and Vincent Harris — along with their error-free defense — to complete the victory.
Winning pitcher Trego threw the first five innings, giving up five hits and no runs and striking out five, while Harris finished the sixth inning with three consecutive strikeouts.
It was State College’s third shutout in the tournament, after previous no-run wins over Penns Valley LL and Big Valley, and the only run the team gave up in the tournament was in its 25-1 victory over Bellefonte on June 26.
“I tell the kids all the time, I know we can hit, but it’s our defense that wins games,” State College coach Mike MacNeeley said. “We only gave up one run over the four games, and that one run came when we were up 25-0. We throw strikes, make every defensive play and then some of the exceptional plays as well.”
State College started the game off with hits. After a walk and a hit batter in the first inning, Harris doubled in the first run and then Drew Gilroy drove in two more with a line drive hit to right field. That was followed with an RBI triple by Andrew MacNeeley that made the score 5-0.
State College did threaten in the second and third innings but did not score again until MacNeeley tripled in the fifth and scored on an error one out later. The run put SC ahead by 6 with just three Bellefonte innings remaining.
Bellefonte put the first runner on base in both the fourth and fifth innings, but Trego retired the next three batters in both cases.
Harris then relieved Trego in the sixth and struck out all three hitters he faced and the game ended with State College as the D5 champs.
“It is awesome,” MacNeeley added. “The core of this team has been together for the past three years and we’ve had decent success. We’ve been to the districts all three years.
“These kids put the time in. They put the effort in, and they are all quality ballplayers from the top to the bottom. It is actually difficult for me to make up this lineup. Anyone can play almost anywhere, so all credit to them. They have been fantastic.
“This has been our 40th event, including practices and games, since the second week in June. So they put the time in, and this is the fruit of their labors.”
State College will now move on to the sectional tournament scheduled to be played in Indiana, PA. The final pairings have not yet been released.
