BROOKVILLE — Punxsutawney pitchers Blake Hughes and Jacob Gourley combined on an efficient six-hitter, leading their team to a 6-1 win over the Brookville Little League (12-and-under) All-Star baseball team at Zufall Field last Thursday.
While the loss ended Brookville’s District 10 Tournament run at 1-2, Punxsutawney advanced to the losers’ bracket final before losing at Bradford, 6-4, Monday night.
Bradford has to beat DuBois twice in the finals, the first game set for Wednesday.
After a one-hour delay at the start due to a rainstorm that blew through town, Punxsutawney went to work and scored five of its runs in the first four innings. That was enough for the mound duo who combined to throw just 76 pitches in six innings.
Hughes got the decision in a four-inning outing, giving up six hits and no walks with four strikeouts while Gourley threw just 14 pitches in two innings, retiring all six batters he faced.
Brookville’s lone run scored in the third inning when Tyson Bair led off with a double to right field. He moved to third on Christopher Bazylak’s single. Bair escaped a rundown play on a grounder hit back to the mound by Jonah Masters to load the bases, then scored when Elliot Schreckengost grounded into a forceout at third base.
After that, the lone hit after the third came on Walker Lindermuth’s one-out double in the fourth.
Brookville did everything but score in the bottom of the first when Harris Whitling doubled and Benley Myers singled. With runners at second and third and no outs, Lindermuth grounded out to third and Whitling was thrown out trying to score on the play for a double play.
Lindermuth started for Brookville and went 5 1/3 innings before running out of pitches. He gave up five hits while striking out five and walking four. Max Barkley and Noah Cassatt finished out the final 1 2/3 innings.
Neither team committed an error.