Unionville got warmed up for the state tournament by cranking home run after home run in the derby
By Dave Conard Sports Editor, UnionvilleTimes.com
All tens teams gathered for the opening ceremonies at the state tourney
SCHWENKSVILLE—The mercury almost eclipsed the century mark on Friday and the action was almost as hot as the 2012 Eastern Pennsylvania Cal Ripken U12 tournament hosted by Central Perk Youth Association got underway with the opening ceremonies.
The time and money spent planning such a huge undertaking as the state tournament, reaped huge dividends already as the army of volunteers and staff at Central Perkiomen YA performed to the all-star level of the participants with opening ceremonies and the home run derby proceeding with out a hitch.
Tri Township’s Tommy Mitchell blasts a home run in the derby.
From the conditioning of the field, bevy of snacks and food available at the snack bar to the outstanding array of prizes up for grabs in the raffles that will carry on all weekend, tournament directors Rich Coletta, Rob Sandora and Mr. and Mrs. Rittenhouse should be commended on their attention to detail, as nothing was left to chance, except of course the weather.
As the teams proceeded into the major league field, one at a time each player was announced by the folks ATI Entertainment as the champions and runner ups from five districts formed a ring around the entire diamond.
Perkiomen Valley High School’s Becca Caprio followed the introductions with a rousing performance of the national anthem and it was game on, as the all stars from ten teams took turns pounding the baseball in the home run derby.
Pennsbury’s Tommy Ericckson led the way for the Falcons as they posted 276 team points following the team from Harleysville as the Hornets recorded 404 points to take the early lead in the competition.
Following a 340 point performance by BYC, 311 points racked up by Langhorne and 257 point accrued by Towmancin, who got three home runs from Owen Thomas, it was time to bring out the big guns.
Unionville’s Jack Adams cranks the scoreboard during the blast derby
Tri Township’s Tommy Mitchell (from Central Bucks East) was the first of the night to crank a shot off the scoreboard, which counted for 24 points, following a great effort by fellow Patriot Andrew Neat, who rapped out three home runs, two of mammoth length.
The total points for Tri-Township had no even been tabulated, when the Indian stepped to the plate.
With darkness looming the rules were altered slightly as District Nine runner up Unionville took the batter’s box, as the number of swings each player would receive would be five instead of ten, yet the points were doubled to equal the ten swings previously taken.
Indians slugger Jack Adams crushed two balls that cleared the fence by 40 feet before he blasted one of the Coke sign in the middle of the scoreboard for a bonus.
Theron Schilling blast one of his three home runs during the derby.
Followed by Theron Schilling, who continued the trend as he launched two ball that have yet to land, Unionville proceeded to put their mark on the derby as the final two squads struggled to get to the plate before darkness fell and the scores were still being tabulated as the host squad Central Perkiomen tried to hit in almost total darkness.
Saturday’s schedule for the 12 U state tournament is as follows
CP Majors field
8:00 am Pennsbury vs Llanerch Hills
10:30 am Unionville vs Towamencin
1:00 pm Tri-Township vs Pennsbury
3:30 pm Llanerch Hills vs Unionville
6:00 pm Towamencin vs Tri-Township
CP Rotary Field
8:00 am Langhorne vs Harleysville
10:30 am BYC vs Central Perk
1:00 pm Warrington vs Langhorne
3:30 pm Harleysville vs BYC
6:00 pm Central Perk vs Warrington
