MEADVILLE —
The later-than-usual start did not affect the Meadville Little League All-stars in their winners’ bracket game against Conneaut Lake at the Fairground Fields Wednesday night.
Meadville was on the offensive all game, while pitcher Nick Frantz provided a strong start on the mound during a 14-0 win in four innings over Conneaut Lake.
Meadville was off to a strong offensive start, plating three runs in the bottom of the first by way of a Andrew Mook home run.
“That was a bomb,” Meadville head coach Dana Scheppelmann said. “We focus a lot on hitting and getting in the cages, and it really showed tonight.”
Mook wasn’t the only one showing that his work has paid off in the cages. Every batter in Meadville’s starting lineup recorded at least one hit, and four players had multi-hit games.
The game remained 3-0 until Meadville went on an offensive outburst in the third. The lead stretched from 3-0 to 14-0 in the span of one inning.
“We have a lot of players with natural ability,” Scheppelmann said. “We believe we have a strong lineup from top to bottom.”
The third inning was a prime example that hitting is contagious. Each player recorded a hit in the inning, including four players with extra base hits.
The big blows in the inning were a two-run home run by Frantz and a two-RBI triple by left fielder David Scheppelmann.
“It was just one of those nights where they were hitting everything and we weren’t,” Conneaut Lake head coach Gerald Ellis said.
Not to get lost in the offensive onslaught was the stellar pitching performance by Frantz, who went three innings, allowing only one run and striking out three.
“Nick had a good fastball and had his knuckleball working tonight,” Scheppelmann said. “He was able to keep the opposing hitters off balance.”
For Meadville, Mook, Frantz, Cade Webber and Noah Ross led the team with two hits a piece. As a whole, Meadville recorded 12 hits.
On the other side, Conneaut Lake committed three errors in the game.
“It just wasn’t our night,” Ellis said. “We know we have a good team, and we just have to make sure that these kids keep their heads up.”
Conneaut Lake will have a day off before it returns to action at Conneaut Valley on Friday.
Meadville will get to enjoy a longer break. Its next game will be on Monday night when it hosts McLane. McLane beat Jamestown 13-6 on Wednesday.
Coach Scheppelmann does not know who he will hand the ball to, but he knows about his options.
“I’m not sure if we will put Nick (Frantz) back out there,” he said. “We have five pitchers on our team and right now I am leaning more toward either Andrew (Mook) or Noah (Ross).”
No matter who Scheppelmann decides to put out there, one thing for sure is that he won’t have to worry about that pitcher not getting enough run support.
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Meadville explodes offensively to down Conneaut Lake
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