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Connellsville wins District 9 Little League title

By Jim Downey jdowney@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
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John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard

Connellsville players celebrate with the championship trophy after defeating Dunbar, 11-1, for the District 9 Little League 10-12 Championship, Wednesday, at Connellsville’s Bob Bailor Field.

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Dunbar's Tyler Sankovich (9) runs the bases after opening the game with a solo home run in the first inning of the District 9 Little League 10-12 championship game against Connellsville Wednesday at Connellsville's Bob Bailor Field.

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Connellsville's Zane Addis (11) celebrates with teammates after hitting his second home run of the evening, a solo walk-off homer that gave Connellsville an 11-1 victory over Dunbar for the District 9 Little League 10-12 Championship Wednesday at Connellsville's Bob Bailor Field.

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Dunbar's Logan Lowery (21) steals third in the fourth inning of Wednesday's District 9  Little League 10-12 shampionship game against Connellsville at Connellsville's Bob Bailor Field.

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John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard

Teammates congratulate Connellsville’s Jared Hough (2) after he hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning of the District 9 Little League 10-12 championship game against Dunbar, Wednesday, at Connellsville’s Bob Bailor Field.

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Dunbar catcher Kace Shearer (18) waits for the throw as Connellsville's Jared Hough (2) slides into home, scoring the second of two runs on a hit by teammate Jacob Puskar in the third inning of Wednesday's District 9 Little League 10-12 championship game at Connellsville's Bob Bailor Field.

Dunbar scored first Wednesday night, but Connellsville did the rest of the scoring to win the District 9 Little League 10-12-year-old Championship in four innings, 11-1.

The Connellsville all-star team now advances to the Section 2 tournament beginning on July 15, hosted by the Kittanning Little League. Section 2 encompasses sections 9, 2, 4 and 26. The winner of the section tournament advances through to the state tournament.

Tyler Sankovich spotted the visitors a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a solo home run, but Connellsville responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning.

The ball kept flying out of Bob Bailor Field in the bottom of the second inning with a three-run home run by Jared Hough and a two-run shot by winning pitcher Zane Addis to extend Connellsville’s lead to 7-1.

Jake Puskar’s two-run single sparked a three-run rally in the bottom of the third inning, and then Addis led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot to invoke the mercy rule.

The Connellsville offense was efficient with only seven hits and four walks. Puskar had a pair of singles, and Hunter Harshman and Beau Bigam both had a single.

Addis struck out seven, walked three and allowed three hits. Dunbar’s Mason May took the loss, striking out four and walking four.

Connellsville, the host team, opened with a bye, defeated Carmichaels, 6-2, and advanced to the title game with a 13-3 win against Dunbar on Saturday.

Dunbar had to fight back through the loser’s bracket reach the title game after losing to Connellsville.

The Dunbar 10-12 all-stars defeated Fairchance Monday, 13-4, to advance to the title game. Jesse Rogers hit a pair of home runs and May blasted another in the win. Sankovich struck out seven in the victory.

“Hats off to Dunbar to get into the championship game,” praised Connellsville coach Brett Puskar.

The group of 11 Connellsville all-stars now has it sights set on advancing through the four-team section tournament. This group won the 9-10 title in 2015 and the 11-year-old crown last year, but did not advance to the section championship in either season.

“They have some unfinished business in the section tournament,” said Puskar. “The pitching is better this year. Our offense 1 through 9, anyone can put one out. They need the mental toughness to get through the next level.

“They’re ready to go from what we’ve seen. We still haven’t played our best game, yet.”

Members of the district-winning Connellsville squad are Bigam, Hough, Puskar, Harshman, Addis, Aiden Newmyer, Hunter Clarke, Clay Dean, Anthony Piasecki, Mike Harim and Gabe Ruggeri.

Dunbar’s 10-12-year-old all-star squad included Logan Thomas, Kace Shearer, Sankovich, May, Grayden Plume, Bailey Kennedy, Logan Lowery, Brayden Curry, Teran Kemp, Bobby Maloy and Rogers.

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