Led By The Wizard, Bristol Post 382's Magic Continues At States

The 411: It took the Bristol players a while to shake the rust off their bats, following a five-day lay off after winning the first Regional title in team history.

In this case, while there were three batters, Post 382 lit up the scoreboard again with 17 base hits in a 12-1 over West Hempstead in a mercy rule shortened game in the opening round of the Pennsylvania Sate tournament.

Mike McLeod was lights out as he fanned eight and allowed only five hits in eight innings of work in which he allowed one earned run. McLeod had intended to mix in some breaking pitches to go with his heater but since West Hempfield never caught up the ole No. 1, catcher Brian Beyer stuck with what was working.

"We talked bout working in some breaking balls," Beyer said. "But his fast ball was so dominant that we didn’t want to give them a chance to get their bat speed going. He was unhittable today and as a catcher it is great to know what ever I put down he is going to hit the glove."

Post 382 churned out runs all but one of the innings played and left a runner on third in the only frame where they did not record a run.

Helped by two double plays, the Bristol defense allowed three runners all day to reach second in one of the most dominating post season performances of this history making season in which they have now won 10 consecutive games.

Players of the game: Mike McLeod was again stellar in leading Bristol to the win exhibiting complete control and leadership on and off the field along with battery mate Brian Beyer, who went 2-for-4 at the plate, scoring two runs and driving in another. It was a play that won’t make the stat sheet in which Beyer again helped manufacture a run. Beyer advanced from first to third on a ground out to third base as he noticed the shortstop and third baseman had both came in beyond the dirt, Beyer seized the opportunity and one pitch later he raced home following a wild pitch.

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2

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4

5

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7

8

R

H

E

Bristol

2

2

0

1

1

3

1

2

12

17

1

West Hempfield

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0

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

5

3

Other Key performers: Jeff Lesko was 3-for-5 at the dish, scoring tow runs, while Zach Phillipi scored a pair of runs in a 1-for-4 hitting performance. Right fielder Kyle Tepper, who made two running catches in the field also made an impact with the bat as he went 3-for-5 with 2 runs scored to compliment first basemen Ryan Hires and his 3-for-5, 2 RBI day.  

Inside the lines: "Brian again showed why he is the smartest 'baseball' player I have ever coached," Bristol manager Tim Monoghan said. "He saw me just look as came around second and he just went, having him behind the plate with so much room to the backstop gives us a huge advantage. I don’t think we had our best day hitting the ball by any stretch. We had a lot of hits but not many that were really hard."

Say what? "I knew we would get it cranked up again," McLeod said. "These guys have been crushing the ball all year. To get that kind of run support as a pitcher is more than I could ask for. I know my job is to throw strikes and get us back in hitting."

Extra Innings: Mike McLeod was called "the wizard" by an opponent early on this season, since the slender right hander resembles Harry Potter, but muggle or not no one was safe from his heater today. Bristol will face the winner of Tuesday night's game between host West Lawn and Millcreek.

Pennsylvania State Tournament bracket at Owls Field at Ted Palka Park

GAME 1  Tuesday July 26  9:45       Black Hawk 11  Redland 3

GAME 2 Tuesday July 26   1PM        Bristol 12  West Hempfield 1

GAME 3 Tuesday July 26   4PM        Plains vs Boyertown

GAME 4 Tuesday July 26   7PM        Millcreek vs West Lawn

GAME 5 Wednesday July 27        9:45          Redland vs loser Boyertown/Plains

GAME 6 Wednesday July 27        1PM          West Hempfield vs loser Millcreek/ West Lawn

GAME 7 Wednesday July 27        4PM         Black Hawk vs winner Boyertown /Plains

GAME 8 Wednesday July 27        7PM         Bristol vs winner Millcreek/ West Lawn