July 15, 2012 7:00 a.m. SAEGERTOWN —
French Creek Valley was all smiles after winning its fourth consecutive Crawford-Venango American Legion baseball title on Saturday afternoon at Ed Acker Field, but the Creekers didn’t rush the diamond once Luke Basko retired Meadville’s final batter.
After all, they want more.
FCV (25-1) put together a pair of four-run innings to defeat Meadville 9-2 and earned a 2-0 sweep of the best-of-three championship series. As the game completed and the championship and runner-up trophies were present, both teams shifted their attention to next weekend’s Region 8 tournament at St. Marys.
“I just think we work so hard in practice that it was just another win,” said Adam Bronson, who is one of four FCV players who just finished his first year of college. “The reason we didn’t celebrate very much is because it’s not our overall goal. ... It’s kind of a mini hurdle before a big mountain climb.”
FCV’s ultimate goal is a state title. The Creekers finished second in the region last season following a 4-3 loss to champion Millcreek.
“It’s exciting to see them not be that celebratory for this,” FCV manager Brandon Crum said. “Because they know what they’re capable of. ... They know we should be down playing at states and playing for a state championship.
“That’s our goal. That’s what we want to do,” he said. “Whether we do it or not, I don’t know.”
Meadville (10-11), meanwhile, had just 10 players on Saturday. The team still advances to regions as the runner-up.
Manager Rob Shartle expects 12 players to make the trip to St. Marys, and he’s confident about what his team can do when it plays its best.
“It’s just a matter of getting hits fluently and keeping them throughout the game — not a couple here, a couple there,” said Shartle, Meadville’s 21-year-old manager who was playing on the team just a few years ago. “That’s what really hurts us. If we hit all game long, we’re as good as anybody else.”
Meadville jumped out to a 2-0 lead in its first at-bat. Alex Glatch singled and Matt Thompson reached on an error before another error brought Glatch home and put Thompson on third base. Thompson was then plated by Corey Lynn’s deep sacrifice fly in the left-field corner.
“I kind of got my hopes up (after) we jumped on them 2-0,” Shartle said. “But then again, like I said (Friday) night, you can’t ever lay down on these guys. They had a couple big innings and we didn’t.”
FCV, which committed five errors in the game, would not let up another run during the final eight innings.
FCV’s Scott Sada was in control during six innings on the bump. He didn’t allow an earned run and struck out three.
“It starts on the mound,” Crum said. “We’ve been getting good pitching performances all year. Scottie Sada, the youngest guy on our team, just comes out and throws strikes. He challeged the strike zone and did exactly what he needs to do.”
Jacob Digiacomo and Basko were solid on the mound during three innings in relief. They didn’t allow a hit and combined for four strikeouts, including three by Digiacomo.
FCV answered Meadville’s quick start with a run in the bottom of the first. Kyle Wise hit a leadoff single, was bunted to second base and stole third before Tyler Walters drove him home with a single. Walters finished the game 3-for-4.
The Creekers trailed 6-2 through five innings prior to Friday’s 7-6 victory. They wouldn’t wait as long on Saturday.
The game was broken open by FCV’s four-run fourth. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases for Brandon Sherman, who drove home a pair with a single.
Hunter Johnston later hit an RBI triple, and his run on A.J. Thompson’s RBI groundout bumped the Creekers’ lead to 5-2.
FCV distanced itself in the eighth inning by scoring four more times. All four runs were unearned, with Stephen Sada lacing an RBI double and later scoring on an error to make it 9-2.
Lynn took the loss during four inning of work, allowing five runs on six hits. He pitched well, though he couldn’t avoid FCV’s big fourth inning.
Glatch surrendered four unearned runs during four innings of relief work. FCV managed just two hits off Glatch, though he beamed two and walked two batters.
Walters had FCV’s only multi-hit game. Glatch and Tyler Lynch each went 2-for-4 for Meadville.
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