BLOOMSBURG -- A few weeks ago, a group of Danville 12-year-olds traveled to a local tournament hoping to scope out some competition they could possibly face in the District 13 Major Division Baseball tournament.
So despite cruising to a 17-run victory in its district opener on Sunday, Danville knew things would be tougher when it met Warrior Run in a winners' bracket game Tuesday night at the Bloomsburg Town Park.
Warrior Run's squad featured many of the same players it did when it knocked Danville off by a run at the tournament a few weeks back. With that knowledge, Danville turned the tables, getting two home runs from Tom Brouse and a strong effort from Bryson Cromley on the hill in a 7-1 victory.
The Montour County all-stars (2-0) will now play either South Columbia or Bloomsburg in the winners' bracket final on Saturday back at Town Park. Warrior Run will meet Millville on Thursday night in an elimination game.
"They beat us 3-2 a couple of weeks ago, so we knew they had a good team," said Danville manager Bill Mettler. "(Warrior Run) has good pitching and some good hitters, so the guys knew we were going to have to play well."
Danville played well enough to score runs in each of the first four innings, sparked by Brouse, who did not start Sunday's opener after missing some practices leading up to tournament play while on vacation. He made up it for Sunday, belting a homer in a win over Berwick. He jump-started Danville's offense Tuesday, slamming the first pitch he saw from Warrior Run's Zach Miller over the fence in left-center to stake Danville to a 1-0 lead in the first.
In the fourth, Warrior Run had a chance to pitch around Brouse with one out and a runner on second, but instead they opted to pitch to him and he made them pay. Brouse worked a 2-2 count before launching another homer to nearly the same spot beyond the fence.
"I was surprised they pitched to him the third time," said Mettler. "He hit a rocket the first time and the second time, even though he was out, he hit it hard again. I would have walked him in the first inning after what I saw him do in the last game."
The homer gives Brouse three home runs in two tournament games, as well as six RBIs. While Brouse handled things at the plate, Cromley worked his way in and out of trouble for five solid innings on the hill. The lefty fanned eight and allowed just two singles to Bender. The only run came in the fourth, and it was unearned.
Cromley got all the run support he would need in the first few innings. After Brouse's solo shot in the first, Danville tacked on three runs in the second to make it 4-0. Alex Mettler singled to lead off the inning and Kyle Brady followed with a double. One run scored on an error before Jon Stemm singled home a run, and Dan Seebold pushed home another run on a sacrifice fly.
Brady singled home Cromley in the third to make it 5-0, more than enough support.
"Bryson pitched a nice game," said Bill Mettler. "His pitch count was up a little bit and I wasn't sure how long he would be able to go. But he got some quick outs and was able to get us through five (innings)."
Brouse and Brady each had two hits for Danville, while Bender had two of Warrior Run's three hits. Andy Walker doubled in the sixth for Warrior Run, but was left stranded there on a fine play by Brouse to close the game.
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