LITTLE LEAGUE ROUNDUP: Silver Creek 13s, HYR Seniors open with victories

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July 26, 2012

LITTLE LEAGUE ROUNDUP: Silver Creek 13s, HYR Seniors open with victories

By GREG MENGELT greg.mengelt@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Thu Jul 26, 2012, 01:56 AM EDT

> SOUTHERN INDIANA — Silver Creek’s 13-year-old All-Stars had 12 hits, drew 16 walks and took advantage of five Valparaiso errors in a state-tournament opening 26-4 victory at Wabash.

“That was a good start for us, to get the victory,” Creek manager Jeff Hawn said. “The kids got to get the nerves out of their system from being at state.”

Jacob Balz and Blake Wurm each went 3-for-3 for Silver Creek. Balz also had a sacrifice fly, drew a walk, scored twice and knocked in three runs. Wurm drew two walks, scored four times and drove in a run.

Six different Creek pitchers combined for five strikeouts.

“We didn’t have to waste any pitching,” Hawn said. “We should be in good shape for the rest of the tournament.”

Silver Creek faces Fort Wayne St. Joe’s today at 10 a.m. and Lowell Friday at 10 a.m. to complete pool play. The semifinal is scheduled for Saturday with the championship on Sunday.

• HYR Seniors starts strong at state: HYR’s Senior All-Stars opened the state tournament at Portage with a 13-7 victory over Wabash on Wednesday.

HYR fell behind 6-0 before scoring three times in the second inning, twice and the third and four times in the fourth to take the lead for good.

“ We started a little slow.” HYR manager Andy Stout said. “I had a little chat with them [while down 6-0 in the second inning]. We had to settle the guys down. They weren’t ready to play. We made a couple of plays, and all of the sudden, we were right back in the game.”

Braydon Hoke shut down Wabash over the final five innings to pick up the victory.

“My pitcher was on,” Stout said. “He came in and let the defense work for him. I told him I didn’t want to see any walks and he didn’t walk them. Our defense made plays. When the defense makes plays, it gives the pitcher more confidence and our pitcher got more confident. He shut them down after that.”

Aaron “Buck” Sneed went 2-for-3 with a triple. Brandon Stout drew three walks and had a single. He scored twice and stole two bases.

HYR faces the District 2 champions today at 1 p.m. and District 11 Friday at 5 p.m. to complete pool play.