Delta County Junior Boys Get Split At Regionals

FORT WAYNE, Ind.---Still alive and kicking.

The Delta County Junior Boys (age 13-14) got off to a rough start on Monday, as they lost to North Canton, Ohio, 17-11, in a pool play game at the Central Regional in Fort Wayne, Ind. But later in the day, the boys rallied to beat Fargo, N.D., 8-2.

The result leaves the DC boys with a 2-1 record at regionals, with a final pool play game scheduled for Tuesday morning against the team from LaGrange, Kentucky.

"The second game, they (his players) were a little better," Delta County Manager Tony Punzel said. "We still lost a little focus there in the middle. Kids were more concerned about the at-bat rather than the fielding."

"But once we got them re-focused and re-grouped, they came around all right."

Punzel decided to continue with his "pitching by committee" strategy, trying to keep as many of the boys eligible for the Kentucky game, and three potential playoff games.

He started with Jake Peterson, and things got off to a rocky start as Peterson gave up a single to Ben Bryant and a two-run homer to Jarod Burnside. Fargo led, 2-0, and Peterson retired the next five men he faced before using up his 20 pitches.

That led Logan Lamb to the hill, and he got the last out of the second inning.

In the bottom of the second, Jack Valentine put the DC All-Stars on the board with a solo home run over the left-center field fence. He was as surprised as everyone else.

"I haven't hit a home run since like three years ago on the small field," Valentine said. "This is my second one ever. I was pretty happy. I didn't think it was going at first."

Brandon Punzel, the umpire, and Fargo catcher Nathan Hanson are star-gazing.

In the third inning, Lamb gave up a walk and a single and left the mound with two out. Nick Aird came on to pitch, and he watched as Fargo's Luke Sandy hit a sinking line drive to left field. Valentine raced in and caught it just above the ground, saving the base hit and at least one, if not two, Fargo runs.

"I was just trying to knock it down and keep it in front of me and hopefully I could catch it," Valentine said. "About a foot off the ground. It was close."

In the bottom of the inning, Delta County took the lead. Sean Bissell and Brandon Punzel got back-to-back doubles, and Bissell scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.

Then Justin Popelka came through with an RBI single to make it 3-2, and Lamb's fly ball made it 4-2. Delta County added a run in the fourth inning as Hunter Garling had a long at-bat before whipping a double to the outfield fence, scoring Punzel, who had his second double earlier in that inning.

Aird was relieved on the mound after 20 pitches, and then Garling threw two innings, allowing no runs on one hit. He threw 35 pitches, so he will be available Wednesday.

The DC All-Stars put the game away with three runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by a long two-run homer by Bissell. In three regional tournament games in Fort Wayne, the Delta County boys have now hit eight home runs.

With the game well at hand, Punzel turned to Beem once again, in an effort to further save his pitching. And the big guy responded, allowing one walk but getting the final three outs.

Delta County outhit Fargo, 12-6, with five doubles and two home runs amongst those twelve base hits.

"I was just trying to do my best out there and throw strikes," Beem said after his second pitching outing of the day. "I don't have a lot of junk, just throwing a lot of fastballs."

Earlier in the day, not much went right as they faced the defending Central Regional Champions from North Canton, Ohio. And when things started to get better for the boys, it was far too late to change the outcome of the game.

The DC All-Stars gave up eleven runs in the third inning and fell behind, 15-1, before staging a late-game rally that came up short, 17-11.

Nick Aird holds the Ohio runner.

"The bottom line is that if we hadn't made so many errors, we would have beat those guys," Tony Punzel said. "I don;t how many extra outs we gave them during that ugly inning where we gave up 11 runs. Someone told me it was ten."

Punzel continued to work his pitching staff on Monday, and in this game, he chose a boy who has not pitched this All-Star season: Sean Bissell.

The North Canton boys teed off on him in the first inning, with Nick Hillyer getting a two-run hit.

Then Bissell hurt his own cause by dropping a pop-up, and on the next play, Brandon Punzel made an error at short.

Mike Paumier followed with a two-run single and DC was in a 4-0 hole.

Delta County got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Hunter LaMarch walked and scored on an error. But then came the third inning, which was a nightmare for the Michigan State Champions. Eleven runs. Seven hits. Two more errors. 54 pitches.

Hillyer had another two-run hit during that inning, and Jaret Rankin batted twice in the inning, and had RBI hits both times. But Punzel's two errors at short and a dropped fly ball in left field by Jake Peterson greesed the skids in that inning.

It was a frustrating game for everybody.

It looked like it would be a five-inning mercy game, but the DC boys did not give up. Logan Lamb hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to make it 15-2.

Then in the fifth inning, LaMarch and Bissell both doubled, and after Punzel walked (again), Hunter Garling was safe on an error by the second baseman and two runs scored.

That's when Bryant Beem stepped up and launched a three-run homer. It was 15-7.

"You just have to have confidence when you go up to the plate that you're gonna hit the ball," Beem said. "It was at my letters and it was just an easy swing. I didn't even think it was going out. That fence is huge out there (16 feet tall). I had to ask my first base coach, Rick Aird, if it was over, and he was like 'ya, get going'."

And Beem made his mark on the mound after that. Yes, Beem, on the mound!

"I told Beemer: the dark cloud is upon us and it's your call buddy," Punzel said. "Bissell got us this far, and now it's your turn. And he did a great job."

Great form, Bryant Beem!

"I pitched in Little League (regular season), but that isn't really that big of a deal," Beem said. "I've never pitched in travel ball or anything. I was surprised he brought me in."

After Justin Popelka and Logan Lamb both threw their 20 pitches (after Bissell threw 95), Beem was there just to eat up outs.

And he did, getting three outs on four pitches in the sixth inning. North Canton did score two runs off him in the seventh inning on a hit and two walks, but another error by Punzel made one of the runs unearned.

North Canton continued to change pitchers to keep them eligible for further action, and the DC All-Stars took advantage with four more runs in the seventh inning. Four walks and a hit-batsman helped, Bissell cracked an RBI double, and LaMarch drove in a run with a groundout. They were within 17-11, and the bases were still loaded.

But the game ended when Beem struck out, and the DC record fell to 1-1.

Bissell had two doubles and two walks at the plate, and took the loss on the mound.

Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see pictures and videos taken by Kammie Burks, and listen to radio replays of home runs by Lamb, Beem, Valentine, and Bissell.