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KINGSTON — Even as they were held scoreless through the first two innings, the aggressive approach and solid contact from Kingston/Forty Fort players seemed to indicate that they were due to put a big number on the board.
The runs started to come in the third inning, and they put an early end to a big win to start All-Star play.
Kingston/Forty Fort scored five runs in the third and would tack on six more to beat Northwest 11-0 in the opening game of District 31 Major Baseball action on Saturday.
“We talked about being aggressive, having good quality at-bats,” said Kingston/Forty Fort manager Tim Needle. “Even in those first two innings where we didn’t score any runs, we were confident that we were putting the ball in play and would eventually get going.”
Some good defense and a good start to the game for Northwest starting pitcher Rhett Whitesell kept Kingston/Forty Fort scoreless through two, but the balls started finding gaps in the top of the third inning.
Kingston/Forty Fort sent 10 batters to the plate in the third, with the bottom half of the order getting things started.
An RBI single from Noah Shortz drove in Kingston/Forty Fort’s first run, followed by a sac fly to center from Makye Kushnir, a one-run single from Avery Munster and an RBI double on a laser into the gap from Chase Stitzer.
By the time Northwest was able to get out of the inning, they were in a 5-0 hole.
“One through 12, we could hit the ball. … Every guy does their job,” Needle said.
Northwest’s best chance to score came in the first inning, drawing three walks off of Kingston/Forty Fort starter Stitzer to load the bases.
Stitzer managed to escape the bases-loaded jam with a strikeout, and the relief combination of Kushnir and TJ Needle took care of business the rest of the way.
Over four combined innings, the Kushnir-Needle duo allowed just two hits, no runs and struck out nine to keep Northwest in check. Colton Park and Ethan Smith had the lone base hits for Northwest.
A base hit from Richie McCabe made it a 6-0 lead after four, and then Kingston/Forty Fort sent 10 more hitters to the plate in the fifth inning, scoring five more runs to run their lead to 11-0.
A clean bottom of the fifth from TJ Needle set the mercy rule into effect and sealed the win.
Kingston/Forty Fort (1-0) will continue round robin play in the District 31 Major tournament on Monday, taking on Back Mountain American.
Northwest (0-1) will play Greater Wyoming Area on Monday.
Back Mountain National 15, Back Mountain American 0 (4 inn.)
Ben Nulton and Kellan DeFalco launched back-to-back homers in the first inning as Back Mountain National opened up their run in the District 31 Major tournament with a win over Back Mountain American.
Nulton, Logan VanValkenburgh and Mattie Lapidus each had three hits to lead a strong showing from the National offense.
Carter Samanas threw the first two innings for National, striking out five. DeFalco struck out three hitters over the final two innings to finish the game. Back Mountain National (1-0) will be off on Monday, and back in action on Wednesday against Northwest.
Broghan Mann had a double for Back Mountain American (0-1). They’ll play Kingston/Forty Fort on Monday.
District 31 Major Baseball
Kingston/Forty-Fort 11, Northwest 0 (5 inn.)
Kingston/Forty-Fort`AB`R`H`BI
Kushnir ss-p`2`0`0`1
Munster c`2`2`2`1
Stitzer p`3`2`2`2
Bobb 1b`2`0`0`0
Morgan lf`3`1`0`0
Lipinski 2b`3`1`1`1
Needle 3b-p`3`0`0`0
Vasquez rf`2`3`2`1
Wadas eh`3`1`2`0
McCabe cf`3`0`2`1
Shortz eh`3`1`1`1
Totals`29`11`12`8
Northwest`AB`R`H`BI
Park c`1`0`1`0
Albee ss-p`1`0`0`0
Jayne eh`2`0`0`0
Wengryznek cf`2`0`0`0
Tobin 2b`1`0`0`0
Ninotti lf`2`0`0`0
Boytin eh`2`0`0`0
Hardy 3b-ss`2`0`0`0
Smith 1b-p`2`0`1`0
Whitesell p-3b`1`0`0`0
Besancon rf`1`0`0`0
Totals`17`0`0`0
Kingston/FF`005`15 – 11
Northwest`000`00 – 0
2B – Stitzer 2.
Kingston/FF`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Stitzer`1`0`0`0`3`3
Kushnir`1.2`2`0`0`0`5
Needle`2.1`0`0`0`0`4
Northwest`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Whitesell`3`5`5`4`1`1
Albee`1.1`4`4`3`1`3
Smith`0.2`3`2`2`0`2