YOUTH BASEBALL: OWEGO (BENSLEY) EXPLODES LATE TO ROUT HOST TEAM AT U-E 12U TOURNAMENT (2019-07-25)
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Owego (Bensley) overcame a 3-1 deficit in the top of the fourth inning, then continued to roll to a 19-3 victory over U-E (Ferraro) at the U-E 12U Tournament Thursday evening.
Owego scored four runs in the fourth and four more in the sixth to build a 9-3 lead, then cushioned that advantage with 10 runs in its final at-bats.
The offensive explosion in the sixth started with back-to-back one-out doubles by Connor Kotski and Kam Wicklund. Kotski drove in two runs and Wicklund one to make it 13-3.
Following a walk, Jake Bensley smacked another double, pushing the lead to 15-3. An error off the bat of Matt Higgins plated another run, then Joe Palladino singled in a run, Evan English walked with the bases loaded and Mason Grippen singled in the final run.
Higgins reached on an error and scored on a Palladino base hit for a 1-0 edge in the first.
In the fourth, Palladino scored Higgins and Brendan Schofield with a double to tie the game at three, and English put Owego up for good, 5-3, with a two-run home run.
Higgins drove in Wicklund and Nick Brown with a double, and Schofield plated Bensley and Higgins with a single in the fifth to make it 9-3.
Palladino went 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI, and Grippen was 3-for-4 with a run and RBI.
Brown was 2-for-2 with two runs; Wicklund went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI; and Higgins was 2-for-4 with four runs and two RBI.
Schofield contributed a hit, two runs and two RBI; English had a hit, two runs and three RBI; Kotski had a hit, a run and two RBI; Bensley had a hit, two runs and two RBI; and Lewis added a run.
Kotski picked up the win, scattering six hits and a walk over four innings while striking out seven. He allowed one earned run. Lewis pitched the final two frames, fanning three and walking one without yielding a hit.
