A.J. Brosious said he’s happy there will be one more Blue Mountain League baseball game at Egypt Memorial Park this summer.

Brosious helped to ensure there will be one more game at Curt Simmons Field by coming up with two RBI-singles, both with two out, in a 6-3 Jordan AC Orioles win over the Limeport Bulls Tuesday night.

It knotted the best-of-five championship series at a game apiece. Game 3 is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Limeport Stadium and Game 4 is now also necessary, meaning the series will return to Simmons Field at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Clutch hitting also returned for the Orioles, who are in the league finals for the fourth straight year and playing for their third title in that stretch.

In addition to Brosious’ RBI singles in the first and third, Dom Bayo hit a two-run home run to break a 3-3 tie in the fourth and Pat Kregeloh had two RBIs, including a run-scoring triple to deep center in the first.

But perhaps the biggest star of the night for the home team was veteran pitcher Evan McAndrew, a Parkland High and Mansfield University product, who went the distance with a seven-hitter. He walked one and struck out six. Four of the hits he allowed came in the first two innings, when he surrendered a two-run home run by Jack Rothenhausler, but he allowed just three over the last five.

“Down 1-0 in the series, we needed a good start to bounce back and put ourselves in a spot where our pitcher on Thursday can give us a lead, and we can come back here up 2-1 on Saturday,” McAndrew said. “I was just trying to get ahead. The biggest thing was first-pitch strikes, whether it was off-speed or fastballs. I had to see how my velo was doing. I had a little bit today, but it was humid tonight, and I ran out of gas a little bit. I just praise my hitters and defense for playing a great game.”

In previous postseason games, the Bulls gave up a total of two runs. That’s why two runs in the bottom of the first, especially after Rothenhausler’s two-run home run in the top half of the inning, were important for Jordan AC.

Then Bayo, a Wilkes University product who played a big role in past Orioles title teams, had his biggest hit of the postseason to give the Orioles a 5-3 lead.

“It has been a struggle for me up until this point, and I just wanted to help out,” Bayo said. “I didn’t know it was going to be a difference-maker in the game, but we needed a big hit. I was glad I could deliver.”

Bayo, a Wyoming Valley West High School graduate, hit a career-low .261 in the regular season.

“I spent a lot of the offseason trying to improve on my swing, and I got too much in my head,” Bayo said. “I started thinking too much. So, I’ve tried to go back to my old ways and just try to hit the ball hard. Today it felt good. Hopefully I can build off that.”

Bayo calls McAndrew “the big boy on the hill.”

“It’s hard to see when he’s on the mound because I am in center field, and stand behind him, and I am a lot shorter, but he’s a horse out there and delivers big all the time,” Bayo said.

Brosious said McAndrew, who threw 73 of his 96 pitches for strikes, “has an attitude” when he takes the mound.

“We finally got him a week’s rest, and he gave the bullpen a rest,” Brosious said. “He wants to go seven because of the competitor he is.”

If the series goes five games, McAndrew would likely get the ball in Game 5, but neither side is looking that far ahead. The focus is on Game 3 which will feature Joel Bartoni going for the Orioles against Joe Deperno for the Bulls.

“This is what you’d expect,” Bulls manager CJ Saliby said. “We know how good a team the Orioles are, and they are not going to go down without a fight. We didn’t expect this to be an easy series. We expected a battle, and they came out swinging the bats. Cooper [Michael, the Bulls starter] didn’t have his best stuff, but he battled. He gave us five innings. We hit some balls hard and left guys on base and missed some opportunities. We got away from our game a little bit. But we just have to move on.”

All-league team, award-winners announced

While the best teams, the Limeport Bulls and Jordan AC Orioles, were competing, the best players were selected by the league’s 10 managers as the amateur league wraps up its 79th season of quality amateur baseball.

Easton’s Logan Castellano, who batted .359 with 30 RBIs and nine home runs, was voted the MVP. He was also the home run champ.

Aaron Schneider, an Allen High graduate who hit .359 for the Limeport Dodgers, was voted Rookie of the Year, and the Dodgers’ skipper Andy Robison, who led his team from a four-win season in 2024 to the league semis, was voted Manager of the Year.

The Dodgers’ Brian Robison, who played in all 27 regular-season games, was selected the Iron Man of the year and Alan Ottinger was voted the Umpire of the Year.

The all-league team featured: Brock Bollinger, catcher, Northern Yankees; Nate Kester, first base, Martins Creek; Trey Hinkle, second base, Jordan AC Orioles; Pat Kregeloh, third base, Jordan AC Orioles; Brayden D’Amico, shortstop, Limeport Bulls; Ian Csencsits, Orioles, Castellano, and Jon Fleck, Martins Creek were picked as the all-league outfield. Hayden O’Neill, a Liberty High grad who went 6-2 with a 1.52 ERA, was voted the all-league pitcher. O’Neill struck out 52 in 53 innings and had a 1.08 WHIP.

Jorge Montes of the Bulls was a utility man selection on the all-league team.

 

Originally Published: August 12, 2025 at 4:51 PM EDT