Big Valley 11/12s outlast Mifflin County in epic battle
- By Kenny Varner
- Updated: July 3, 2015
BELLEVILLE- Like two heavyweight fighters battling for the title, Mifflin County and Big Valley 11-12-year olds tussled back-and-forth until the very end.
After two ties and a deadlocked game going into the bottom of the fifth, Big Valley got the runs it needed, coming mostly from the middle to last part of their line up to pull out the 4-2 victory.
The future for Mifflin County high school baseball is very bright as both teams displayed great fielding skills in both the outfield and the infield.
It was also a pitchers duel for most of the contest as Big Valley went with hurler Colby Bodtorf while Mifflin County went to ace pitcher Brian Yetter. Ironically both pitchers mirrored each other early on as both runs from each team came from a home run and a wild pitch resulting in a stolen home base.
Bodtorf pitched to all but one batter in the game before giving the ball to Ethan Eichhorn. Eichhorn did not disappoint as he collected the save.
Going into the bottom of the fifth, the two teams were stalemated at two.
Brycen Hassinger led of the inning with an innocent walk. He moved to third thanks to a Kaden Milliron single.
With runners on first and third, Cole Knable poked a clutch single, allowing Hassinger to score on the play.
Milliron moved up to third on the hit, setting the stage for Austin Wagner. Wagner was also clutch under pressure blasting another RBI single, ending the scoring a at 4-2.
In the top of the sixth, Bodtorf picked up his 13th and 14th strike out.
With two out, Yetter kept the game going with a walk.
However, Eichhorn came in and closed the door on the game.
In the bottom of the first, lead off hitter Marshall Maidens ended the scoreless contest with one mighty swing of the bat. His roundtripper made it 1-0.
Mifflin County tied the game in the top of third thanks to the speedy running by Brando Souders. He led off the inning with a single and stole his way all around the base paths, tying it at one.
In the bottom of the inning, Bodtorf took a page from Souders book except he walked before working his way home via the stolen base, putting Big Valley back in the lead at 2-1.
Mifflin County’s Jaxson Pupo knotted the game once again as he blasted one over the right field fence, tying the game until the fifth inning.
With the victory, Big Valley will face Philipsburg on Sunday while Mifflin County will have to battle through the second tier.