NORTH JUDSON, IN When the calendar rolls over to July two things are constant, Independence Day fireworks and the start of the Town and Country State tournament. After a long week of baseball, the Plymouth 12U earned the right to play in Monday night’s District Championship game. When the dust settled, the Pilgrims claimed victory with a 6-2 win over District host North Judson.
Preston Wolfe worked a quick three-up, three-down top of the first inning.
Ryan Gadziola got the boys in red started with a mammoth first-pitch homerun. The smoked ball had barely landed when Preston Jessen singled, starting another Pilgrim first inning rally. Immediately following Jessen’s laser that ricocheted off of the Blue Jays starting pitcher’s back, Preston Wolfe launched a triple scoring Jessen and himself following a North Judson error. Plymouth led 3-0 after the first.
The second inning saw the Pilgrims plate another run after a Malachi Sieh double gave sweet-swinging North Judson-born Mason Bales the opportunity to rope a RBI single up the middle.
The Pilgrims added two insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth. Blake Mackey and Bales started the inning off with two consecutive walks. Quick-handed lefty, Jak Chaney smacked a double scoring both baserunners and promptly finishing Plymouths fourth, leading 6-0.
The Blue Jays battled back in the top of the fifth with a Connor Benson single up the middle. Dillon Stewart followed with a hard-hit triple, scoring Benson. Noah Radkte would continue the rally singling in Stewart. After a mound visit by the Pilgrim coach, relief pitcher Chaney would strike out the side ending the inning up 6-2.
Chaney took the mound again in the sixth inning, shutting the door on North Judson, catapulting the Pilgrims to a District championship celebration.
“Offensively we had timely hitting and put the ball in play hard,” commented head coach Nick Chaney. “Our physical performance was keyed by our mental approach which was a good learning moment for the boys. Defensively we played one of our best games of the season. The night was capped off by Gadziola’s homerun.”
Plymouth had some great offensive performances on the night. They were led by Jessen going 3-for-3, Wolfe 2-for-3 with an RBI and Chaney finishing things off going 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Ending a great week of pitching was Wolfe, who in this game pitched four innings, giving up zero runs, on zero hits, while striking out six Blue Jays. For the tournament the Plymouth hurlers pitched 21 total innings, giving up only four earned runs on eight total hits.
“After a disappointing performance in the Boys of Summer league tournament, our boys were determined to have a better performance,” concluded Chaney. “From the get go, mentally we were into every game and excited to play. The four boys who pitched in the tournament (Wolfe, Chaney, Gadziola and Bowling) were sharp.”
The Plymouth 12U, sponsored by Emergency Forklift Services, move to 21-6 on the season. The surging Pilgrims are back at it again on Friday, playing the winner of West Central and Bremen. Plymouth’s Semi-State first round match will start at 6:00pm, in Rochester.
PLYMOUTH 6, NORTH JUDSON 2
at North Judson
North Judson 0 0 0 0 2 0 2-3-2
Plymouth 3 1 0 2 0 X 6-9-1
WP – Wolfe (4-1). LP – Benson. HR – Gadziola. 3B – Wolfe, Jessen, Stewart. 2B – Chaney, Sieh
