ELYRIA – Sometimes you just better take advantage when the opportunity is given.

Avon had its chance to add what looked like an insurance run at the time when John Sopko tripled in the tie-breaking run in the fourth inning with no outs.

However, Sopko was left stranded at third and Boardman bounced back for a 4-3 win that sent Avon to the losers bracket of the Little League Majors
(age 11-12) state tournament at Vic Janowicz Park.

“We had a man on third but we couldn’t get him in,” Avon coach Scott Massa said. “I just got done telling (the team), ‘We’ve got to take advantage with a guy at third and less than two out.’ You’ve got to put the ball in play and not just back to the pitcher.”

Boardman pitcher Trent Humphries managed to wiggle his way out of that precarious spot by inducing a bouncer back to the mound, a strikeout and a groundout to first.

Still, Avon still had a 3-2 lead at that point.

“That was the game to me,” Massa said. “Not scoring (Sopko) was the game. I’m not saying I knew it at that point but it came back to haunt us.”

Boardman scored twice in the bottom of the fifth on an error, a wild pitch and two hits.

Boardman takes today off before resuming play in the winners bracket Monday against today’s Hardscrabble-North Canton winner. Hardscrabble, which is located in Clayton near Dayton, defeated Maumee 1-0 Saturday. North Canton had a bye.

Mount Vernon faces New London in another winners bracket game today. New London was a 7-6 winner over Wheelersburg.

“My guys battle,” Boardman coach Frank Beato said. “There were a couple errors we shouldn’t have made but we played tough baseball. Once in awhile, it’s going to happen and you just have to deal with it. They hung in there and we got a nice win.”

Sopko started on the mound for Avon and drove in two of its three runs. Andrew Golik’s bloop single just inside the first-base foul line in the second inning drove in the other run. Chad Botson and Jeffery Laraway had the other Avon hits.

Avon is back at it today in the losers bracket against Wheelersburg at 2 p.m. Defending champion Hamilton easily crushed Ashtabula 27-1 to advance to a Monday matchup against the Mount Vernon-New London winner. The tournament runs through next weekend.

“It’s a lot harder now,” Massa said of his team’s chances. “We’ll have to win five or six straight games as opposed to playing on Monday. It’s a tough one to lose but it was a good game and that’s a good team.”

Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

MAJORS STATE TOURNAMENT
at Elyria East’s Vic Janowicz Park

SATURDAY’S SCORES

• Boardman 4, Avon 3
• Hardscrabble 1, Maumee 0
• New London 7,   Wheelersburg 6
• Hamilton 27, Ashtabula 1

TODAY’S GAMES
Winners bracket

• Hardscrabble vs. North Canton, 11 a.m., Field #3
• Mount Vernon vs. New London, 11 a.m., Field #6

Losers bracket

• Avon vs. Wheelersburg, 2 p.m., Field #3
• Maumee vs. Ashtabula, 2 p.m., Field #6

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