Easton had Berks County League champion Twin Valley on the ropes this evening in the opening round of the Region 2 American Legion Baseball tournament.
But the Outlaws were ultimately saved by Tyler Sternat's three-run double in the top of the 11th inning, giving Twin Valley a 9-6 win over Easton before a crowd of 250 at Bear Stadium in Boyertown, Pa.
The loss drops Easton (18-11) into the losers bracket where the Northampton County League runner-up will face Lehigh County League champ North Parkland (25-5) at 9:30 Sunday morning in the double-elimination tourney.
Easton got seven-plus gutty innings from starter Adam Martino, who gave way to reliever Alec Benson, who pitched manager Mickey Corpora's team into the 11th before Twin Valley (32-9), which beat host Boyertown two out of three times this season, broke through.
"Both pitchers, Adam and Alec, pitched great," Corpora said. "Two pitches kind of hurt Adam, that one triple (by Izzack Albright) in the seventh that drove in two runs and that RBI single (by Ryan Plank) in the third that gave them their first run. That's hurt us all year -- we make the right pitches but in the wrong location."
Trailing 6-4, Easton scored twice in the eighth to tie the game. Back-to-back singles by Wil Raisner and John Spadoni, who had two hits, started things and an error by Sternat at shortstop on Ryan Amentler's grounder loaded the bases.
Ryan Statham, who also had two hits for Easton, dropped a single into right to score the first run and Calo Stone's infield hit in the hole between first and second tied it up at 6.
In the top of the 11th, Billy Readon drew a leadoff walk off Benson, who was in his fourth inning of work, and Albright singled in front of center fielder Troy Naiden. Benson appeared to be working himself out of the jam when he retired cleanup hitter Ryan Plank on a pop-up and Gabe Witmer on a long fly to Naiden.
But Benson hit Matt McInaw with a pitch to load the bases and Sternat followed with a gapper in right-center to clear the bases.
"Tyler has been a great defensive shortstop for us but hitting is not his strongest virtue," Twin Valley manager Matt Royer said. "That's why he bats seventh for us. We're shorthanded right now. Our No. 1, 2 and 3 pitchers were unavailable and I didn't have a pitcher in the dugout. Our bullpen was on the field."
Sternat went 3-for-5 and finished a home run short of the cycle for the Outlaws, who lived up to their nickname with 10 stolen bases in 10 attempts. Leadoff hitter Jon Abbadusky and Brian Olsen each had three steals.
Twin Valley took a 1-0 lead with a run in the first on leadoff walk by Jon Abbadusky, a stolen base and an error by second baseman Austin Veres. Veres started because starting shortstop Malin Loebsack left the team unexpectedly Friday to travel to Stevenson University in Maryland, according to Corpora.
Regular second baseman Nick Beinlich shifted to shortstop for the tournament.
Beinlich went 3-for-5 with two runs, driving in a run in the sixth with a single while Easton scored twice to take a brief 3-2 lead.
TWIN VALLEY (ab-r-h-bi) Abbadusky cf 4-2-1-0, Reardon 2b 5-3-2-0, Albright ss-p 5-2-2-2, Plank lf 6-0-2-2, Moeller lf 0-0-0-0, Royer dh 4-0-1-0, McInaw 3b 5-1-0-0, Sternat rf-ss 5-0-3-3, Olsen 1b 5-1-1-0, Alexy c 4-0-0-0, Witmer p-rf 2-0-0-0. Totals 45-9-12-7.
EASTON (ab-r-h-bi) Naiden cf 6-0-0-1, Lisinicchia 3b 5-1-1-0, Kosa ph 1-0-0-0, Beinlich ss 5-2-3-1, Raisner lf 4-1-1-0, Spadoni 1b 5-1-2-1, Amentler rf 5-0-0-0, Statham dh 4-1-2-1, Stone c 4-0-1-1, Veres 2b 4-0-0-0, Martino p 0-0-0-0, Benson p 0-0-0-0. Totals 43-6-10-5.
Twin Valley (32-9) 101 000 310 03--9 12 4
Easton (18-11) 000 102 120 00--6 10 3
E -- Abbadusky, Sternat 2, Alexy, Beinlich, Veres 2. DP -- Twin Valley 1, Easton 1. LOB -- Twin Valley 10, Easton 8. 2B -- Sternat, Lisinicchia. 3B -- Albright, Sternat. HBP -- By Benson (McInaw, Sternat). S -- Alexy, Veres. SB -- Abbadusky 3, Reardon 2, Albright, Olsen 3, Witmer, Beinlich, Raisner.
Witmer, Albright (7) and Alexy; Martino, Benson (8) and Stone. W -- Albright. L -- Benson. SO-BB -- Witmer 3-3, Albright 1-0; Martino 4-2, Benson 0-2.