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August 1, 2012

American Legion playoffs: Milton routed on heels of huge win

By Bill Torr For The Daily Item

BOYERTOWN — A day after winning its first ever state tournament game in a rout, Milton Legion dropped a second round match-up with Doylestown, 11-1 in a seven inning mercy rule game Wednesday.

It was a tough defeat for the young squad on the heels of the program’s biggest win.

Milton sparkplug Reynaldo Adames got the start on the mound. Adames surrendered eight runs to the Region 2 champions in three and two thirds innings of work. Reliever Bryan Reich allowed the final three runs of the game to cross. Manager David Byers summed it up simply, “Reynaldo didn’t have his best stuff.”

Milton’s first-round victory was aided by seven Penn Hills errors, a luxury that they were not afforded against a defensively sound Doylestown team. The Tigers, out of southeast Pennsylvania’s Bux-Mont League, surrendered just one error on an errant throw during a double play attempt in the second.

Meanwhile, Doylestown piled on the runs, scoring in each of the first six innings, and taking the lead for good in their first at-bat.

“Give Doylestown credit, they hustled and put the pressure on us,” added Byers.

There were a few bright spots in the loss for Milton. Mark Artley, the starting third baseman, came on in relief and tossed a perfect seventh inning which included two strikeouts. Byers was able to clear his bench and give playing time to reserve players Frankie Manzano, Josh Brown, Brandon Stokes, and Jeff Levitan.

With such a young team (all but one player is eligible to return next year), the experience gained at Bear Stadium this week is invaluable. Even with that in mind, this loss is especially tough for a team which had lost this season by a combined six runs before Wednesday.

Milton plated its lone run of the game when second baseman Jordon Bordner reached on a walk to lead off the second inning. Bordner advanced to third on a hit by Taylor Porter. He later scored on an RBI fielder’s choice by catcher Brady Chappell.

Doylestown took the lead in the first when Joe Monaghan scored on an RBI single by Ryan Clow. They tacked on two more in the second on just a hit, they were aided by a free pass and a hit batsman.

In response to Milton’s run in the second, the Region 2 champions countered with two of their own in the third and three more in the fourth. They added to the lopsided score with a couple more runs in the fifth and got the game clincher in the sixth.

The Region 5 champions mustered just three hits and were held without over the final four frames. In addition to Porter’s base hit, Adames chipped in a single and Damian Moyer stroked a two-out double in the first inning.

Doylestown starter Marty Martens was dominant, he went the full seven innings and struck out nine while surrendering a run on just 80 pitches.

Milton will return to action at Bear Stadium at 12:30 p.m. today against Region 8 champion, Wilcox.

With the win, Doylestown advances to the winner’s bracket final tonight where they will take on Spring City.

With the team’s biggest loss of the season behind them, and their season on the line, Milton will look to continue its historic run and become the first Region 5 team to win the state championship in over 40 years.

In Wedneday’s other contests, Hempfield East played a sound game and eliminated Penn Hills by a 7-3 score. Host Boyertown could not find its bats and was defeated 2-0 by Milton’s next opponent, Wilcox. Spring City downed Ephrata 6-3 in another winner’s bracket game.

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