PF Flyers 12U wins Field of Dreams tournament in extras
At the end of regulation, the PF Flyers 11U/12U team was tied 9-9 in the championship game of the Field of Dreams Tournament when Caleb Blankenship hit a line-drive single to left to put the Flyers ahead 10-9.
Because of the extra inning rules, the Eastern Iowa Ghosts started with a runner on second and one out. Peyton Johnson got the final two outs to lock down the win and tournament championship.
The win capped an incredible week and season for the Flyers.
The team, which included five 11-year-olds and a 9-year-old all playing up, traveled to Iowa to the Field of Dreams movie site for the tournament. After starting the week with a pool play loss to the Eastern Iowa Ghosts, the Flyers ripped off five wins in a row to win the championship and finish the season at 28-8.
The Flyers lost 8-3 on Monday despite Ryan Edwards, Johnson and Isaac Mahle all going 2-for-3.
They rebounded later in the day with a thrilling walkoff win. Jackson Meinberg led off the bottom of the final inning with a walk. He stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before Blankenship singled him in to win the game 6-5.
The Flyers won 11-1 on Tuesday. Chance Young and Johnson combined to go four innings, striking out five and allowing no earned runs.
Colton Rash, Mahle and Ryan Edwards all hit home runs.
The Flyers won 5-3 in their second Tuesday game, led by Blankenship’s three-run home run. Carter Biron also homered.
That win sent the Flyers to the semifinals. Meinberg dominated, allowing one hit and one earned run in four innings. Meanwhile the offense, put up 10 runs led by Biron’s two-run home run. Ryan Edwards was 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBI. Luke Levandusky was 2-for-2 with a double, two runs and two RBI.
That set up the shootout with the Eastern Iowa Ghosts.
The Flyers jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.
Gavin Brockhoff hit a two-run triple, and Johnson had an RBI single.
The Ghosts tied the score in the bottom of the second, but Levandusky hit an RBI single in the top of the third. The Ghosts answered n the bottom of the third with a run.
Young put the Flyers back on top with a bunt single that scored Steely Edwards from first base. Mahle added an RBI single. Johnson drove in an insurance run in the fifth to make the score 8-5.
The Ghosts cut the lead to 8-7 in the bottom of the fifth. Brockhoff got one of the runs back with an RBI double in the top of the sixth. But again the Ghosts tied the score to send the game into extra innings, setting up Blankenship’s heroics.
