BANGOR, Maine — Right-hander Bryan Yoder limited Old Town to three hits over 5⅔ innings and Mitch Massaro drove home six runs as Holmes County, Ohio, pulled away from Old Town 13-2 in a winners’ bracket game of the Senior League World Series on Tuesday night at Mansfield Stadium.
The victory advances the U.S. Central champs (2-0 in SLWS play) to Thursday’s 8 p.m. semifinal, while host Old Town (1-1) remains alive for a semifinal berth but must defeat the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands at 5 p.m. Wednesday in order to earn a rematch against Holmes County.
Old Town defeated CNMI 6-2 in its tournament opener on Monday.
Yoder had one strikeout while hitting a batter and walking one before leaving the game after throwing 75 pitches — making him eligible to pitch again Saturday should Holmes County reach the SLWS championship game.
Massaro had a triple and three singles, scored four runs and delivered two RBIs in each of the final three innings as Holmes County broke open a game that was just 2-0 through four innings.
Leadoff batter Tyler Gingerich added three singles, a walk and three runs scored in five plate appearances while Yoder contributed two doubles and a single and Derreck Miller doubled and singled twice as part of a 16-hit attack against four Old Town pitchers.
Ryan Hoogterp had two of Old Town’s five hits, both singles.
The game started at 9:38, some 98 minutes after originally scheduled due to a thunderstorm that caused a 2-hour, 2-minute delay after the first inning of the evening’s previous game between Upper Moreland, Pennsylvania, and West University, Texas.
The Pennsylvania team won that game 5-1 and is joined by Holmes County as the lone remaining unbeaten teams in the SLWS field.
Holmes County mounted the game’s first scoring threat, putting runners on second and third with two out in the top of the third as Noah Sommers was hit by a pitch and Gingerich reached on an infield hit and stole second base.
Old Town starter Dana Ouellette then fell behind Chris Kline by a 3-0 count before coming all the way back for an inning-ending strikeout.
Kline was the game’s early defensive star, as the Holmes County shortstop had four assists on cleanly fielded grounders as well as a slick catch of a one-hop throw to tag out Old Town’s T.J. Crawford on a stolen-base attempt to end the third inning.
Holmes County took the lead in the top of the fourth as Massaro hit a leadoff infield hit to shortstop and scored when Yoder blasted an RBI double into the foggy left-center-field gap.
Yoder advanced to third base as Miller beat out an infield hit toward first base and scored on Braden Mast’s sacrifice fly to right to give the U.S. Central champs a 2-0 advantage.
Hoogterp opened the Old Town fourth with an infield hit but was erased on yet another stellar defensive play by Kline, this time as he slid to field a high chopper headed up the middle, tagged second base for the forceout before springing to his feet to throw out Kaleb Gifford and complete the double play.
Yoder then walked Ethan Stoddard and hit Sheehan with a pitch to keep the inning alive for Old Town, but a comebacker to the mound by Cole Daniel ended the mini-threat.
Massaro’s two-run triple to deep right field highlighted a three-run Holmes County rally in the top of the fifth to make it 5-0.
Gingerich led off with a single to center and reached second on a pop hit-and-run single to right by Kline.
Massaro’s blast, well over the head of Old Town right fielder Nick Magoon, plated both runners, and he scored on Miller’s two-out double off Crawford’s glove amid the fog of center field.
Holmes County sent 10 batters to the plate and added four runs in the sixth inning on a two-run single by Massaro and RBI singles by Gingerich and Yoder.
The winners scored four more runs in the seventh as Massaro had a two-run single and scored on a double by Yoder before Miller followed with an RBI single.
Old Town averted the shutout in the bottom of the seventh. Dominic D’Angelo hit a one-out single and scored on Jacob Ketch’s two-out double to left-center field. A hit batter and two walks followed, with the free pass to Gifford forcing home Ketch.
