Loyalsock juniors defeat Mid Valley in shutout fashion to open states
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On Thursday evening, the Loyalsock junior baseball team took on Mid Valley in the opening round of the state tournament. In that affair, it’d keep the momentum it put together through previous stints, shutting out Mid Valley, 5-0, to maintain its position in winner’s side of the bracket.
The shutout victory came thanks to strong performances from Loyalsock pitchers Parker Frederick and Alex Bjorkman.
Frederick opened the game for Loyalsock, getting his team through most of the contest. The starting pitcher allowed two hits and zero runs through 4 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking one. Bjorkman would follow him up well in relief, throwing 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball while surrendering zero hits, striking out two and walking one.
Offensively, Dyson Dupont led the way for Loyalsock, going 2-for-2 from the plate with two RBIs, two runs and a two-shot homer in the third that upped the team’s lead to 4-0. Jackson Keefer, Blair Bower and Landyn Smith added RBIs while Frederick (1-for-2), Cooper Velte (1-for-3) and Joel Stiger each attributed runs.
The scoring kicked off right at the beginning, as Dupont posted a leadoff single to start before him and Frederick – who got on base with a walk – got home on back-to-back fielder’s choices. From there, Loyalsock added two runs in the third before attaining an insurance run in the seventh off an RBI single from Smith.
With the win, Loyalsock advanced to the winner’s semifinals of the Pennsylvania junior league state tournament, where it’ll take on East Side. That game is set for Saturday at 11 a.m.