Abington split its four games July 16-19 in Athens to finish fourth in the eight-team Pennsylvania 9-11-year-old Little League Baseball Tournament.
After winning District 17 and Section 5 titles, Abington dropped its state opener, posted two straight wins, then had its season come to an end with its second loss in the double-elimination event.
Council Rock-Newtown 5, Abington 3
Down to its last two innings, Abington scored three runs to cut into a 5-0 deficit before having its season come to an end.
Max Vazquez allowed just one earned run on three hits over 4 1/3 innings while striking out nine and walking three. He had a double and single to help Abington outhit Council Rock-Newtown 6-5.
Noah Tajan also doubled. Justin Johnson and Ben Hillebrand each drove in runs.
Abington 9, West Suburban 6
Abington reached the state Final Four with its final victory of the season July 18.
Penn Eckenrode led an 11-hit attack by going 3-for-4. Grady Tomachick was 2-for-3.
Justin Johnson threw 1 2/3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief and also contributed offensively. He drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first and another when one of his two walks came with the bases loaded, putting Abington in front 6-5.
Tajan had a two-run single in the four-run first.
Dylan Lyle started and did not allow an earned run in four innings.
Matthew Snyder drew two walks and stole two bases.
Abington 4, Hermitage 3
Abington bounced back from an opening loss at the state tournament by breaking a scoreless tie with four runs in the fourth inning of its first elimination bracket game.
Eckenrode went the distance for the win, striking out six and walking one.
Vazquez and Julian McDonough each doubled while Snyder, Tajan and Oliver Giroux drove in runs.
Hillebrand stole two bases.
Newtown-Edgemont 10, Abington 1
Newtown-Edgemont handled Abington in the July 16 state tournament opener.
Abington 9, Mountain Top 3
DORRANCE – Abington carried an unbeaten record into state play after winning the Section 5 title with the July 12 victory.
Abington tossed Mountain Top in a 6-0 hole by scoring a single run in the first, two in the second and three more in the third.
After Mountain Top scored a run, Abington scored twice in the fourth. Tajan doubled and Hillebrand singled. Both eventually scored on wild pitches.
“I’ve coached a lot of baseball and I’d say this is the easiest group to coach,” Abington manager Paul Locker said. “They play a lot of baseball. Most of these guys play travel so they have a lot of baseball under their belt.
“The style that I coach, I try to not let them get upset. No kid comes here to make a mistake. You make a mistake, forget about it and move on.”
Abington’s Max Vazquez tripled and scored in the first, singled and scored in the third and singled in the fifth to go 3-for-3. Oliver Giroux had a two-run double in the third.
Tajan went 2-for-2 and scored twice.
Lyle was the winning pitcher with help from Eckenrode, who finished up with 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Abington 12 Back Mountain 2
Abington scored seven runs in the second inning, setting the tone for a four-inning victory in the July 10 Section 5 winners’ bracket final.
Abington had one hit in the first inning — a single by Max Vazquez — but had six hits in the second to take an 8-0 lead. McDonough drove in two runs with a single. Tomachick had an RBI single. Vazquez doubled in the left-center gap to plate two more runs. Lyle knocked in two with a single.
“When we can hit one through 12, it’s great,” Abington manager Paul Locker said. “I changed my lineup a little bit today. The moves I made came through. I moved Grady to the leadoff. His on-base percentage was about .900 coming into the game and he came through with a couple big hits. Every kid produces and pitches in.”
Tomachick added a two-run double in the third as Abington increased its lead to 11-0. Noah Tajan scored the first run on a wild pitch.
Back Mountain was able to hold off the 10-run rule temporarily. Logan Hornak reached on a wild pitch third strike to start the fourth and Joe Bonomo followed with a walk. Both scored when Dante Pietraccini doubled into the left-center gap.
Abington ended the game with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Vazquez hit his second double and scored on a single by Oliver Giroux.
Vazquez finished 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Tomachick drove in three runs.
Abington 8, Mountain Top 1
Mountain Top did something July 9 that no District 17 Little League team could accomplish. It scored against Abington.
But one run against the District 17 champion, which blitzed its way to the Section 5 Tournament, certainly wasn’t going to be enough.
Instead, Abington finally pulled away with a four-run sixth inning to defeat host Mountain Top in the tourney opener for both teams.
Abington, which outscored its opponents 49-0 in three District 17 games, took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first as Lyle singled and scored on a double by Vazquez. Vazquez later scored on an error.
Mountain Top then scored its only run in the bottom of the first.
Mountain Top had just one more hit, an infield single by Anthony D’Arco in the sixth. Abington reliever Penn Eckenrode struck out six in 2 1/3 innings of work and the defense pulled off two double plays.
Abington also took advantage of six Mountain Top errors, with two coming in the four-run sixth. Patrick Keeler and Julian McDonough had RBI singles in the inning. Ben Hillebrand also had an RBI.
Abington increased its lead to 3-1 on an RBI single by Tajan in the second inning. Vazquez brought home James Kane with a sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 4-1.
8-10-YEAR-OLD TOURNAMENT
North Pocono 10, Abington 7
North Pocono ended the Abington season with an elimination bracket victory July 5.
South Scranton/Connell Park 5, Abington 2
Evan Ross went 2-for-2 and drove in a run for Abington in the July 3 winners bracket final of the District 17 Tournament.
Peter Adair drove in the other run.
Abington 13, North Pocono 4
Abington opened the double-elimination bracket portion of the district tournament with the July 1 victory.
