Abell Wins Season Opener

The Jack Abell baseball team won their regular season opener against Perma seal of Frostburg 4-0 at Ort Field.

The pitching tandem of Josh Van Meter and Jack Hawkins held PermaSeal to a single hit. Abell got on the board in the second inning after a lead off single by Nate Condor, who went to second on an overthrow. Condor stole third and scored the first run on an RBI single by Steven Mckenzie.

Abell added two more runs in the fourth inning. Dylan Shockey lead off with a single and was moved to third on a double by Nate down the right field line. With runners on second and third, Logan Obrien had a hit to drive in Shockey. When Logan drew a throw from the catcher while stealing second, Nate came home to score Abell's third run. They added another insurance run in the fifth when Trenton Swan stole home after hustling to third on a fielders choice grounder.

The shutout was preserved in the fifth when Permaseal has a runner on second who tried to score on a single to right field, but was gunned down at the plate following a throw from O'Brian to Van Meter who then threw to waiting Dylan Shockey at the plate who easily tagged out the runner.

Abell plays next this Friday at Moss Cottage in Mt Savage.

Pictures from Pepsi Tournament

There are some good pictures taken by the photographer that was at the Pepsi tournament. They can be viewed at
tristaterunnur.smugmug.com Go the part that says Jack Abell.

Your 2008 Pepsi Tournament Champions

Congratulations to the 2008 Jack Abell Baseball Team for winning this years Pepsi Tournament held in Cresaptown.

It wasn't easy. The team played a very tough Atlantic Broadband Giants team from Cresaptown. Jack Abell won their first four games to take them through the winners bracket, but faced the Giants on Wednesday evening on came out on the short side of a 3-1 game. This was Abells first loss which meant they had a rematch on Thursday night.

Abells bats were quiet (only 3 hits) on Wednesday night, but they came alive early and often on Thursday. They jumped on top with a run in the first, but they Giants scored one as well. After that, though Abells Josh Van Meter settled down on the mound and put the clamps on the Giants offense. Abell kept hitting though and quickly jumped out to a 7-2 lead. When Jack Hawkins came in to pitch inning 4-6, he kept the lid on the potent Giants offense to preserve a 7-2 victory for Abell, giving the Lavale team the Pepsi tournament victory.

It was truly a team effort throughout the tournament, with several outstanding defensive plays. Colton Civic caught a line drive and doubled the runner off of first in the Championship Game. Nate Condor was in the middle of two different double plays for the defense. Dylan "Mo" Shockey threw out several would be base stealers during the tournament. Jack Hawkins made several good stops at second base. Josh Van Meter went deep in the hole on a play to preserve a one run lead against Lavales Personal Best. Chad Broadway had a sweet catch on a sinking line drive in the tournament. Brooke Knieriem and Steven McKenzie made good plays at first base. Twenton Swan and Logan O'Brien had big catches in the outfield and Travis "Yac" Yacobowski and Tyler Hotchkiss helped anchor down an outfield that didn't commit any errors all tournament.

It was a good win and good tournament for the team; they get ready to start the regular season this Tuesday.