Connellsville LL all-stars advance to title game
The Connellsville 10-12 Little League all-stars bounced back Monday night with an 18-8 victory over Sharpsville in four innings to advance to the Section 2 title game.
Connellsville advances through the loser’s bracket to play North Allegheny in the championship at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Connellsville lost to North Allegheny, 18-2, Sunday, and would have to defeat North Allegheny twice to advance to the state tournament.
The bats were alive in the loser’s bracket final with Sharpsville taking a 2-0 lead against starting and winning pitcher Jake Puskar.
Connellsville countered with 10 runs in the bottom of the inning.
Jared Hough had a two-run home run and a single in the rally. Puskar had an RBI double and single in the inning. Hunter Harshman added an RBI double. Hunter Clarke and Beau Bigam both singled.
Sharpsville scored six runs in the top of the second and the game remained 10-8 until the bottom of the fourth when Connellsville exploded for eight runs.
Zane Addis blasted a grand slam and Hough invoked the mercy rule with a solo home run. Harshman and Mike Harim both singled, and Puskar added a double.
Puskar started and pitched the first two innings for the win, allowing eight runs with one walk and no strikeouts. Addis pitched the final two innings, allowing no runs with four strikeouts.