RELEASE DATE: 7/5/09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Cherry Hill rallies for two runs in eight inning to win 2009 Joel Stephens Invitational Championship

MANSFIELD – Pat Moran delivered a two-out, two run walk-off broken-bat single in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally Cherry Hill to a 8-7 win in the championship game of the 2009 Joel Stephens Invitational Sunday afternoon at Mansfield University’s Shaute Field.

Williamsport took a 4-0 led in the first inning on a grand slam home run by Brian Stopper and held a 6-3 lead before Cherry Hill rallied for three-runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the game into extra-innings.

Stopper gave Williamsport a 7-6 lead with a run scoring triple in the top of the eighth before Moran dramatic game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth.

Brockville (ONT) beat Horseheads,NY 7-3 to capture its second straight Josh Palmer title in the runner-up division.

Joel Stephens Invitational All-Tournament Team and Special Awards

Joel Stephens Most Valuable Player – Pat Moran, Cherry Hill

Jeff Hunter Outstanding Pitcher – Vince Molesky, Williamsport

Jeff Jones Outstanding Hitter – Brian Stopper, Williamsport

Cliff Dobson Outstanding Infielder – Matt Speckmann, Cherry Hill

Randy Naylor Outstanding Outfielder – Joe Cona, Cherry Hill

Stan and Doc Heaps Sportsmanship Award – Taylor Hackett, Northern Tioga

All-Tournament Team

- Kevin Childs, Corning

- Jake Meehan, Horseheads

- Matt Brewer, Big Flats

- Jerry Coleman, Brockville

- Robert Gummo, Bellefonte

- Mike Stark, Greece

- Collin Kelley, Williamsport

- Kurt Wertz, Williamsport

- Sean Gold, Cherry Hill

- Ryan Martin, Cherry Hill

Joel Stephens Invitational Final Day

9:00 Games

Palmer Semi-Final – Big Flats (2-2) vs. Horseheads (3-0-1)

Big Flats           10

Horseheads      11

MANSFIELD, Pa. – Horseheads rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Big Flats, 11-10, in the Palmer Championship semi-final at Shaute Field.

Big Flats scored four runs in the third inning and four more in the fifth inning and led 10-8 entering the bottom of the seventh inning before Horseheads rallied back for the win.

Mark Minotti led off the inning with a single and Mike Jankowski reached first base on an error. Ernie Kirkwood batted one runner in with a single and then Jake Meehan’s single scored Kirkwood and Jankowski for the winning run.

Jake Coon earned the win on the mound after not allowing a run in the seventh inning. Coon was the fifth pitcher to see action in the game for Horseheads.

Ryan Sheesley threw the seventh inning and was credited with the loss for Big Flats.

Jake Meehan finished the game 3-for-5 with one RBI and Minotti was 3-for-4 with two doubles and one RBI to lead Horseheads at the plate. Todd Meehan was 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.

Matt Brewer had one RBI and two runs scored for Big Flats. John Seidman and Brian Poppleton each added RBIs and Mark Terwilliger added a double and one run scored.

Big Flats           004       042       0          10-7-4

Horseheads      021       041       3          11-13-3

Big Flats (2-2): John Seidman, Kris McQuay (4), Ryan Sheesley (7) and Matt Brewer

2B – Mark Terwilliger

RBI – Brian Poppleton, Zach Homerda, Seidman, Brewer

Horseheads (3-0-1): Mark Minotti, Calvin Woolheiser (3), Mike Jankowski (4), Ernie Kirkwood (6), Jacob Coon (7) (W, 1-0) and Jake Meehan

2B – Minotti (2), Justin Stowell

RBI – Minotti, Meehan, Coon

Palmer Semi-Final – Corning Gray (2-2) vs. Brockville (3-1)

Corning Gray     3

Brockville          8

MANSFIELD, Pa. – Brockville scored four runs in the top of the second inning and never looked back en route to an 8-2 win over Corning in the Palmer Championship semi-finals at Kelly Field.

Brent Daviault earned the win on the mound after throwing six innings and allowing two runs. Ross Graham closed out the game in the seventh inning and allowed one run.

Eric Garvey took the loss on the mound for Corning after allowing four runs in two innings.

Jerry Coleman led Brockville at the plate with four RBIs, while Matt DeLuca added one double. Jeremy Austin and Aaric Ross each had doubles for Corning.

Brockville          040       112       0          8-11-1

Corning             000       110       1          3-6-0

Brockville (3-1): Brent Daviault (W, 1-0), Ross Graham (7) and Matt DeLuca

2B – DeLuca

RBI – Jerry Coleman (4)

Corning (2-2): Eric Garvey (L, 0-1), Andrew Syrett (2), Matthew Smith (5) and Bryan Dann

2B – Jeremy Austin, Aaric Ross

12:00 Games

Stephens Semi-Final – Greece (2-2) vs. Cherry Hill (3-0-1)

Greece              2

Cherry Hill         6

MANSFIELD, Pa. – Cherry Hill scored three runs in the second inning and added two more in the third to defeat defending champion Greece, 6-2, in the Stephens Championship semi-finals at Shaute Field, earning a berth in the championship game.

Vincent Emanuelo earned the win on the mound for Cherry Hill after allowing two runs on six hits in five innings of work. Ryan Martin earned the save, throwing the last two innings and not allowing a hit.

Chase Grissom took the loss for Greece, allowing five runs on seven hits in the complete game effort.

Joe Cona finished with two RBIs for Cherry Hill and was joined by Juan Torres and Sean Gold, each with one RBI.

Greece’s lone RBI came from Derek Twamley.

Greece              000       200       0          2-6-2

Cherry Hill         032       001       x          6-7-2

Greece (2-2): Chase Grissom (L, 0-1) and Nick Bunce

RBI – Derek Twamley

Cherry Hill (3-0-1): Vincent Emanuelo (W, 1-0), Ryan Martin (6) (S) and Juan Torres

2B – Sean Gold

RBI – Joe Cona (2), Torres, Gold

Stephens Semi-Final – Williamsport (3-1) vs. Bellefonte (2-2)

Williamsport      1

Bellefonte         0

MANSFIELD, Pa. – Williamsport scored one run in the top of the ninth inning and held Bellefonte off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning to earn a 1-0 victory and a berth in the Stephens Championship game.

Vince Molesky was the star of the game for Williamsport, throwing the complete game and allowing no runs on just two hits with 12 strikeouts to earn his second pitching win of the tournament

Levi Knoffsinger took the loss after allowing one run and scattering eight hits in a complete nine inning performance.

Brian Fischer was 2-for-2 in the game and had the winning RBI to lead Williamsport at the plate. Jon Taddeo and Molesky each added a double.

Williamsport      000       000       001       1-8-0

Bellefonte         000       000       000       0-2-1

Williamsport (3-1): Vince Molesky (W, 2-0) and Brian Stopper

2B – Jon Taddeo, Vince Molesky

RBI – Brian Fischer

Bellefonte (2-2): Levi Knoffsinger (L, 0-1) and Eric Regel

Palmer Championship – Brockville (4-1) vs. Horseheads (3-1-1)

Brockville          7

Horseheads      3

TIOGA, Pa. – For the second consecutive year, the Brockville Bunnies claimed the Palmer Championship, defeating Horseheads by a score of 7-2 in the final game at Stephens Field.

Brockville becomes the third consecutive team to repeat as Palmer Champions. Bradford County won the Palmer title in 2004 and 2005. Mansfield claimed the title in 2006 and 2007.

Brockville’s Jerry Coleman earned his second All-Tournament honor in as many years to lead the team.

3:00 Game

Stephens Championship – Williamsport (3-2) vs. Cherry Hill (4-0-1)

Williamsport      7

Cherry Hill         8

MANSFIELD, Pa. – In what proved to be one of the most thrilling championship games in Joel Stephens Invitational history, Cherry Hill rallied to earn a 8-7 victory over Williamsport in extra innings Sunday at Shaute Field.

Williamsport led 6-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, but Cherry Hill scored three runs to tie the game and force extra innings.

Williamsport took the edge again, plating one run in the top of the eighth inning, but Cherry Hill rallied with two runs in the bottom of the inning to seal the come-from-behind win.

Joe Cona was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the eighth and was thrown out when Dante Cassano reached base on a fielder’s choice. After C.J. Szymcak lined out to short, Juan Torres earned a pinch-hit  walk to bring up Pat Moran, the ninth batter in the lineup. With the count at two balls and one strike, Moran ripped a base hit over the second baseman’s head, plating Cassano with the tying run and Torres with the winning run.

Lost in the final inning was the performance of Williamsport’s Brian Stopper, who hit a grand slam in the first inning and had a triple that plated the leading run in the top of the eighth inning.

Ryan Martin was credited with the win on the mound, after throwing the final inning. Gabe Noyalis was credited with the loss after entering the game with one out in the seventh inning.

Moran had four RBIs in the game to lead Cherry Hill. Sean Gold had two hits and two RBIs and was joined by Joe Cona with one RBI.

Stephen Stopper joined Brian in leading Williamsport at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Brian Fischer had a pinch hit single and an RBI in the sixth inning and Kurt Wertz finished the game with two hits.

Gold and Martin were named to the All-Tournament team from Cherry Hill, while Wertz and Collin Kelley were named to the All-Tournament team from Williamsport.

Moran was named the tournament MVP, with teammate Matt Speckmann earning the most outstanding infielder and Cona earning the most outstanding outfielder.

Brian Stopper was named the tournament’s most outstanding hitter and teammate Vince Molesky was named the tournamen’s most outstanding pitcher.

Williamsport      410       000       11         7-14-1

Cherry Hill         030       000       32         8-6-0

Williamsport (3-2): Nick Keener, Gabe Noyalis (7) (L, 0-1) and Brian Stopper

2B – Stephen Stopper   3B – Brian Stopper        HR – Brian Stopper

RBI – B. Stopper (5), Brian Fischer

Cherry Hill (4-0-1): Joe Calogero, Christian Rahman (6), Ryan Martin (8) (W, 2-0) and Sean Gold

2B – Kevin Bordner

RBI – Pat Moran (4), Sean Gold (2), Matt Speckmann, Joe Cona