By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Baseball action heated up this past weekend at Fireman's Youth Park as the Cal Ripken Baseball League continued its playoff action.
Sunday was the start of the Major and Minor Leagues World Series where only two teams in each division remain. The team that wins two out of three games will be crowned champions on Tuesday or Wednesday evening.
An awards banquet will be held on Wednesday to wrap up the 2005 season.
Howard Township wrapped up its season on Saturday with closing day ceremonies being held.
The Cubs took the Major League Championship with an 11-1 record on the season.
Niles FOP Little League will begin playoffs tonight with the Minor Leagues beginning at 5:30 p.m. Major League will begin Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
The Minor League championship will be held Thursday at 6 p.m. and the Major League championship will be held Friday at 6 p.m. Awards Night will also be held on Friday at 6 p.m.
The Niles-Brandywine Girls Softball Association 9-10 year old division will begin its playoffs today with games a 6 and 7:45 p.m.
Cal Ripken Baseball League
Orioles vs. Indians
The Orioles took an 11-8 win over the Indians Friday evening to advance them to the Major League World Series in Cal Ripken baseball action.
Buck Bourdon took the win on the mound for the Orioles with Austin Searles suffering the loss.
Top hitters for the Orioles were Bourdon with two doubles, Brian Exner with a double and a single and Matthew Dodge with a double.
The Indians were led offensively by Jason Andrews with two singles and Tyler Hartman with a single.
Cubs vs. Phillies
The Phillies were victorious over the Cubs, 12-4, in Cal Ripken Major League baseball action Friday evening to advance them to the Major League World Series.
Dustin Purcell took the win on the mound for the Phillies with Patrick VanKirk suffering the loss.
The Cubs were led offensively by Jeremy Becker who had a single.
Top hitters for the Phillies were Purcell with three singles, Greg Rhodes with a three run home run and Colin Latislaw with two singles.
Phillies vs. Orioles
The Phillies took a 9-2 win over the Orioles Sunday in game one of the Major League World Series in Cal Ripken baseball action.
Dustin Purcell was the winning pitcher for the Phillies and Chris Longoria suffered the loss.
The Phillies were led offensively by Greg Rhodes who had a home run and two doubles, Colin Latislaw had a two run home run and a single and Zack Rose had two singles.
The Orioles were led by Matthew Dodge who had three singles and David Kiefer and Adam Earles both had two singles.
The two teams will meet again on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Fireman's Youth Park for game two of the World Series. The team that wins two out of three games will be the champions.
Blue Jays vs. Mariners
The Mariners suffered a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays in the Rookie Playoffs at Fireman's Youth Park Saturday morning.
The Mariners had a 1-0 lead early in the game, but the Jays were able to bring in two runs to take a 2-1 lead.
A double by J.J. McIntyre of the Mariners put two runners in scoring position, but were left stranded in the fifth inning.
One last attempt to catch up in the final inning wasn't enough for the Mariners as Shevin Yazel was the only Mariner to hit and make it to base before the Jays got three outs to walk away with the win.
The Jays were led offensively by Jodey Ernsperger, Brandon Garrett and Adam Irons all had two singles.
The Mariners were led by Alex Hardy who had two singles and Justin Knapp and McIntyre both had doubles.
Red Sox vs. Cardinals
The Cardinals took a big 21-7 win over the Red Sox in four innings in Minor League playoff action Saturday.
The Sox took a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Cardinals quickly responded by scoring 12 runs.
The Sox scored three more runs in the third and fourth innings, but one run in the second and eight in the third was enough to give the Cardinals the win.
Chris Mangus took the win on the mound for the Cardinals. Mangus had six strike outs and three walks in two innings pitched.
Courtlan Gordon suffered the loss for the Sox and had two strike outs and six walks in one inning pitched.
The Sox were led offensively by Kainen Tighe, Gordon and Blake King who all had one single each.
The Cardinals were led by Kody Jankoviak who had three singles, Mangus had two singles and Jake Wright had a triple.
Diamond Backs vs. Devil Rays
The Devil Rays grabbed a 13-3 win over the Diamond Backs in Minor League playoff action at Fireman's Youth Park Saturday.
Mitchel Dehn took the win on the mound for the Rays. Dehn had seven strike outs and two walks in three innings pitched.
Michel Pancoast suffered the loss for the Diamond Backs. Pancoast had four strike outs and four walks.
Top hitters for the Rays were Evan Hartman with a double and two singles and Tye Cheney with two singles.
Top hitters for the Diamond Backs were Tyrin Libertowski and Cody Ortiz-Leonard both with one single each.
Babe Ruth Baseball League
Juniors League
Expos vs. White Sox
The Expos took a 6-4 win over the White Sox in Babe Ruth baseball action Sunday afternoon.
Cody Pierson grabbed the win on the mound for the Expos against Tyler Knisley.
The Expos were led offensively by Bryant James, Cameron Ondresky, Adam Saltzman, Glen Ferenczi and Pierson who all had singles and Nick Fedore had a double and two RBIs.
The White Sox were led by Mike Connors who had two singles and two RBIs, Derrick Vigonsky had two singles, Trevor Ernsberger had a double and Dave Schoenleber had a single.
The Expos are now 3-7 and the White Sox are 1-9 on the season.
Cubs vs. Reds
The Cubs claimed an 11-4 win over the Reds at Thomas Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Dustin Zimmerman and Jake Harris took turns on the mound for the Cubs and Jesse McCombs and Brad Ritchey both pitched for the Reds,
Top hitters for the Cuns were Nick Hartman, Sam Whittaker, Zimmerman and Josh Eaves all with singles, Alex Lindzy with a single and a double, Travis Rooney with two singles and Joe Knuckles with two singles,
Top hitters for the Reds were Paris Dickinson and McCombs both with doubles, Dominique Pompay with two singles and A.J. Moore and Noah Udell both with singles.
Yankees vs. Reds
It was a close game, but in the end the Reds took a 7-6 victory over the Yankees in Babe Ruth baseball action Sunday afternoon.
Danny Reidenbach took the win on the mound for the Reds against Sam Hatch.
The Yankees were led offensively by Keith Weber with a double, Josh Patterson with a single and a RBI, Zach Bloss with two singles and a RBI, Cody Maynard with two singles and Hatch and Josh Getz both with singles.
The Reds were led by Udell with two singles, Jake Ferguson, Brad Ritchey and Zac Sharkey all with singles, Jesse McCombs with two singles and Dominique Pompay with two doubles and two RBIs.
The Yankees are currently 7-4 on the season and the Reds are 6-4.
Clay vs. Astros
Visiting Clay took a 9-8 loss to the Astros at Thomas Stadium Thursday evening.
Clay had a 2-0 lead, but in the bottom of the fourth the Astros scored five runs to put it up 5-2.
Five runs from Clay in the fifth put it back in control of the game with a 7-5 lead and another run in the sixth put it up 8-5.
The Astros made a quick comeback in the sixth scoring three runs to tie the game.
In the eighth and final inning, the Astros were able to bring in one run and take the 9-7 victory.
Kevin Gross and Tyler House both took turns at the mound for the Astros.
Adam Disco and Robbie Fonatno both pitched for Clay.
The Astros were led offensively by Fross with two singles, Devon Morre with a single and a RBI, Robert Wagner with a single, Brian Evans with a double, single and a RBI, Zac Gerber with two singles and two RBIs, Alex Bellaire with a single and a RBI and Ricky Briand with a double and a single.
Clay was led offensively by Mike Zimmerman, Matt Petchie and Fontano all with hits.
NBGSA
Selge took an 8-2 win over Dugout in the 11-12 year old division Thursday in girls softball action.
Alexis Lennox took the win on the mound for Selge against Alex McIntee.
Lennox had nine strike outs and allowed no hits in three innings pitched.
McIntee had four strike outs and allowed two hits in four innings pitched for Dugout.
Top hitters for Selge were Heather Daniels and Tara Chamberlain both with one single each.
The two teams will meet again on Wednesday at Fireman's Youth Park.