By Harold Zeigler
New Era Sports Writer
One night into the 59th annual New Era Midget Baseball Tournament
a familiar pattern appears to be taking shape.
The Mountville Indians seem to be the class of the midget-midget
field again.
The defending champs in the 10-12 age group opened defense of
their title with a solid 7-2 victory over the Mountville Phillies
at Mount Joy's Kunkle Field Thursday night.
Monday night in the semifinals the Indians will meet a team they
have already beaten six times this season.
So can anybody keep them from winning again?
"We're really due," said Mount Joy Blue coach Ron Wagner, whose
team is 0-6 against the Mountville Indians this season. "The
kids are really up for this."
Mount Joy Blue earned its spot in the semifinals with a 1-0 victory
over Hempfield Black. Jason Sauder pitched a two-hit shutout
and Peter Sheetz drove in the only run with an RBI single in
the fourth to lead Mount Joy (23-12).
The Mountville Indians and Mount Joy Blue will meet in one semifinal
Monday at 6 p.m. at Kunkle. The other semifinalists will be decided
tonight at Kunkle, where the Warwick Phillies meet Pequea Valley
at 6 and Manheim Township Black meets Manheim at 8. Those winners
play Monday at 8 p.m.
This has been another banner season for the Mountville Indians,
who ran their record to 42-7 with Thursday night's win. Despite
the fact that only four players are back from last season's New
Era Tournament midget-midget champs, the Indians have lost to
only two county teams this season. The other five losses have
come in tournaments to teams from outside the area.
"Last year we really had a dominant team," said Indians coach
Bob Sauders. "We had some really big boys on that team, and this
year it's not the same composition. We have to work a little
harder for our runs, compared to what we did last year. We have
played a lot of very close games."
The Mountville Phillies (30-8) were no match for the Indians
because they are Mountville's lower-level midget-midget team.
The Indians get the cream of the town's crop. The Phillies get
what's left over.
The Indians won the Penn Manor League's Section 1-A title. The
Phillies won the Penn Manor League's Section 1-AA title. They
never met this season until Thursday night, and the result was
not surprising.
Indians pitcher Derek Welsh pitched 41-e innings of no-hit ball,
striking out eight. Alex Manacher pitched the other 12-e innings
and allowed two hits, one a solo homer by the Phillies' Brandon
Hickey.
Meanwhile, the Indians' offense rapped out seven hits and took
advantage of three Phillies' errors. Aaron Law went 2-for-3 with
2 RBIs, and Josh Longsderff went 2-for-3 with 1 RBI.
"I really didn't want to play that team," said Sauders, fearing
a one-sided contest.
But the Phillies wanted to get them, even though it was like
the Reading Phillies taking on the Philadelphia Phillies.
"We were looking forward to it," said Phillies coach Brian Hickey.
"We've been talking all year about playing them. All our guys
wanted to play them.
"They had the first 12 picks (to select players), we had picks
13 through 24. Picks 13 through 24 did their best.
"We really thought we could win the game. The key was for us
to play defense, and we struggled on some plays.
"We came up a little short, but it was fun."
The Mount Joy-Hempfield game was much more competitive.
Sauder and Hempfield's Jordan Neff were locked in a scoreless
pitcher's duel until the fourth inning, when a two-out error
gave Mount Joy life. Jon Heisey then walked, and Sheetz singled
to drive in Derek Miller.
That's all Sauder needed. He allowed only two hits, both to leadoff
hitter Josh Mush. Mush reached third with one out in the first,
but was stranded there. He reached second in the third inning
but was stranded again.
Sauder, who struck out only four, then retired the last 10 batters.
He was helped by a defense that did not commit an error.
"We've been playing good defense all year. That's been holding
us together, and timely hitting," said Wagner.
"It was one of those nights," said Hempfield Black coach Jerry
Byers, whose team ended its season with a record of 24-12. "We
just didn't hit."
Sauder is Mount Joy's No. 2 pitcher, but he pitched like a No.
1.
"This was probably one of my better games," Sauder said. "It
was my second complete game."
It was the third time this season that Mount Joy Blue beat Hempfield
Black.
"I was worried about that," said Wagner. "But these guys played
great ball."
"They have our number for some reason," said Byers. "I had a
feeling we'd win tonight. We were crushing the ball in BP."
Now Mount Joy Blue will have to figure out a way to beat the
Mountville Indians.
"We've just got to play a good game," Wagner said. "You can't
make any mistakes against Mountville. Then you have a shot at
them.
"But it'll take a great team to beat them."
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(Click on photo to enlarge or see other photos)
Tradition is key to Indians' success
By Keith Schweigert
Assistant Sports Editer
Bob Sauders is big on tradition.
His Mountville Indians Midget-Midget team is steeped in it. Players
know about the glorious exploits of previous champions and strive
to equal them.
This year's group has a lot to live up to. Mountville is gunning
for its third straight New Era Tournament title and its fifth
since 1995.
The Indians took the first step with Thursday night's 7-2 victory
over the Mountville Phillies.
"The New Era Tournament is the big one," said Sauders, who is
in his 17th season with the program. "It's very meaningful to
the kids. We play in a lot of tournaments in a season, but this
is the one the kids really want to win and the one we aim for
every year."
This year's team is much different than the one that romped through
the early rounds of the tournament and won the title with a 4-3
extra-inning victory over Hempfield Black in last year's final.
That team was literally perfect, going 40-0 to become just the
second team in 57 years to win the New Era Tournament with an
undefeated record.
Most of the players from that team have moved on to the Junior-Midget
level. Only four are back this season.
But the winning tradition continues.
The Indians' victory Thursday night improved their record to
42-7. Only two of those losses were to area teams. The rest came
in the weekend all-star tournaments they regularly attend.
"Last year, we were fairly dominant," Sauders said. "This year,
we've had to scuffle more. We've been in a lot of 1-run games.
It's been tougher, but we're trying to keep it going."
They've been going for a long time. The Indians' season started
all the way back in March. In addition to their Penn Manor League
schedule, they've played in several all-star and AAU tournaments.
Mountville plays about 50 games in an average season.
That's a big commitment for your average 12-year-old, but Sauders
has no trouble keeping his players focused.
"It's not hard to get them out," he said. "They're at practice
early, every day. I don't have to push them to attend - they
push each other.
"I believe in a lot of practices, but not long ones. We're there
for an hour or so, that's it. We want to make it fun."
Such a rigorous schedule can also be tough on the parents. Vacations
have to be scheduled around games. Shuttling the kids to the
games can be a grind, especially when you throw in four or five
out-of-state tournaments.
But Sauders rarely has any problems.
"We have a talk with the parents every year," he said. "For the
most part, they know what they're getting into, and they're very
supportive. They know we're going to play all the kids as much
as we can, but there's no guaranteed playing time.
"Have there been some years where we've had some problems? Sure.
But overall I'd say we've had less than the average team. The
support system we have in place has been great."
He gets plenty of support at home as well. His wife, Deb, understands
his commitment and supports it.
"If you ask her, she'll tell you this is my life," he said with
a laugh. "I couldn't do this without her understanding. She's
there at every game."
Sauders must be doing something right. Thursday night, the hills
around Kunkle Field were dotted with former players back to cheer
on the Indians and their longtime coach.
And he still enjoys teaching youngsters how to play the game.
"I like the kids," he said. "It's a good age group. They're eager
to learn, and they work hard. Over the years, my coaches and
I have developed a good chemistry with them. That's the thing
I like the most."
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