Titusville off and running to start D-1 action

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June 30, 2009

By Jim Hunter The Meadville Tribune Tue Jun 30, 2009, 12:22 AM EDT

VERNON TOWNSHIP — Titusville’s two-year bitterness showed Monday night.

Determined to improve on its third-place finish as 10-year-old all-stars in 2007, Titusville — a 12-year-old dominant squad this year — opened the District 10 Little League Baseball Tournament with a 10-0 victory over Vernon at Roche Park.

Titusville will play Tri-Boro on Wednesday in winner’s bracket second-round action, while Vernon will meet Cochranton in loser’s bracket action.

“Yeah, it’s a good start,” said Titusville coach Larry Roberts. “We finished third two years ago as 10-year-old all-stars and they didn’t like it. They have had a bitter taste in their mouths ever since.”

One Titusville player in particular — pitcher Matt Baker.

Pitching in all-star competition for the third consecutive year, the hard-throwing Baker dominated the Vernon batters by yielding only a single to Tyler Prince in the third inning. He struck out 11 and walked one.

“Matt knows how to pitch,” said Roberts. “He’s a very mature 12-year-old. He knows what to do on the mound ... throw strikes early. He was very impressive.”

Vernon coach Ryan Neubert agrees.

“Most of our kids have seen his kind of stuff, but we just couldn’t get the bat on the ball,” said Neubert.

Titusville chipped away en route to its win — scoring two runs in the first inning, three in the second, one in the third and four in the fifth.

In the first, Matt McCord led off with a single and Brian Faulkner and Tyler Ripper coaxed back-to-back walks to load the bases.

Clean-up batter Mike Gionti followed with a liner ... into the glove of Vernon first baseman Prince, who stepped on first base for a double play.

Prince’s gem was soon forgotten as Vernon mishandled Baker’s grounder, allowing McCord and Faulkner to score.

In the third, McCord roped a two-run triple and scored on a wild pitch.

Leading 6-0, Titusville finished off Vernon in the fifth. Seth Melhenbancher and McCord belted RBI singles and Tommy Rust and Taite Foley also collected one-baggers.

Short Hops: McCord, Titusville’s leadoff batter, did his job by going four-for-four. “Matt is the tone setter for us offensively,” said Roberts ... Rust was Titusville’s other multiple-hit performer with a two-for-two outing ... Defensive gems: Vernon left-fielder Jarrid Miller robbed Faulkner of a hit with a diving catch in the second inning. One batter later, Vernon third baseman Matt Neubert made a stellar over-the-shoulder catch in foul territory ... Baker threw 44 strikes on 61 deliveries.

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Titusville off and running to start D-1 action

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