Since joining the Blue Mountain League in 2014, the Limport Bulls have won five league championships and lost in the finals two other times.

The Bulls punched their ticket to the amateur baseball league’s championship series for the eighth time in 11 seasons Thursday night, routing the Limeport Dodgers 13-1 to sweep the best-of-five semifinal series three games to none.

However, while the Bulls have been the league’s most successful franchise for over a decade, they don’t stand still.

While still having veterans on the roster who have been part of the team’s core over the past decade, manager CJ Saliby has continually added to the roster. He has fortified his team by getting young players, some out of high school, to refresh his lineup and keep it fast and aggressive.

“We’re trying,” Saliby said. “A couple of guys are a little older, so the last few years we’ve been trying to find the right group of young kids. It was kind of hit or miss when I first got here, but we feel like we have the right kids to infuse our team who will play our kind of baseball. We want kids who are fast and can run and hit. You look at Collin Peacock [a 2025 Becahi graduate], who hits ninth, but he makes stuff happen and creates havoc on the bases and plays phenomenal defense in center field.”

Peacock had a hit, reached on a walk, stole a base, and scored two runs in the series-clincher against the Dodgers.

Recen Liberty High graduates Brayden D’Amico and Jack Rothenhausler combined for seven his, five RBIs, and five runs scored. Noah Adams, Reece D’Amico, and Zach Smith all had two-run hits.

Smith’s two-run double broke a 1-1 tie in the third. Adams had a two-run single, and Reece D’Amico had a two-run double in an eight-run fourth inning when the Bulls collected six hits, three walks, and had another batter hit by a pitch.

The top-seeded Bulls (24-6) compiled 16 hits in all and outscored the Dodgers 24-1 in the series sweep. They also stole five bases Thursday night.

“That’s our game … put the ball in play and use our speed,” Saliby said. “That’s been our way for awhile. It’s hard to hit home runs here. You bunt, you run, you do the little things and we have guys who can do that.”

After Adam Maini and Copper Michael tossed shutouts in the first two games, Joe Deperno and Jared Schaffer combined on a four-hitter in Game 3.

The Dodgers, the BML’s biggest surprise this season with a 13-14 regular-season record after going 4-22-1 last year, were simply overmatched by their Limeport Stadium neighbors after sweeping the Easton Falcons two games to none in the quarterfinals.

“Andy Robison [the Dodgers] manager did a heck of a job,” Saliby said. “They played really well all year, made a playoff run and won that first round. We knew we couldn’t take them lightly.”

Robison, who has been involved with the Dodgers for 39 seasons in some capacity, was happy to be in the playoffs again.

“It has been a long time,” he said. “The key this year was the chemistry of our team. I won’t take the credit for it because I think some of the guys fell into our lap. They called and asked about playing. That’s been my weakest thing — recruiting. I hear about certain kids around the Lehigh Valley. I reached out to Eric Schmitt, and he had two kids from his Whitehall team interested in us. We had Tyler Reichenbach with us last year, and he came back, and this year, Konnor Moyer came with him. They really helped us, and getting Brad Rissmiller from Pen Argyl was big, too.”

Robison said he’d like to add a few pieces with guys “if it works out in their lives and they want to stay in the area and they’re interested in playing or a few more years. I kid about it, but most of our guys are entering their prime. We haven’t won a championship since 2001, and we haven’t gotten deep in the playoffs more than once or twice since then. So, this was fun.”

The Bulls will have their fun in the finals. They will play either the Northern Yankees or have a title-game series rematch against the Jordan AC Orioles. The Orioles lead the other semifinal series two games to one and can clinch a finals berth with a win in Game 4 at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Yankees avoided a semifinal sweep with a 4-0 Game 3 win on Thursday night behind the one-hit pitching of David Ciaccio, who walked one and struck out six. Ian Csensits had the lone Orioles hit, while Jacob Houtz homered and Jake Cambria drove in two runs for the Yankees.

If the Orioles win and finish off the semifinals on Saturday, the championship series would begin Sunday night at Limeport. If the Yankees win on Saturday, that would force a Game 5 in that series on Sunday, and the finals wouldn’t begin until Tuesday night at Limeport.

“No matter who it is, we expect really close, competitive games,” Saliby said. “And we expect a great atmosphere here and over at Egypt.”

 

Originally Published: August 8, 2025 at 8:45 AM EDT