Little League: Avon tops Elyria in Majors tournament

ELYRIA — Avon didn't let a minor setback ruin its day. After giving up two in the first inning, Avon exploded for 15 unanswered runs, including a 10 spot in the fifth as it topped Elyria 18-2 in the winner's bracket of the Little League Majors (U12) tournament at Vic Janowicz Memorial Park in Elyria on Tuesday night. "We wanted to put some runs up on the board and put some pressure on them," Avon coach Bill Fecht said. "We have a great lineup. Everyone can hit, so we knew once we got some runs, we could get things going. Elyria has a tough team and we told our kids this was going to be a tough team to get going against." Avon advances to the final of the winner's bracket in Maumee against an opponent to be determined, tentatively scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. The winner of that game will need to lose twice against whoever comes up from the consolation bracket. Elyria will begin its quest to rise from the consolation bracket tonight at 6 p.m. against an opponent to be determined in Maumee. "This is going to leave a bad taste in our mouth, but we have to recognize it, feel it and then let it go," Elyria coach Scott Schisler said. "We're tried and true. We've been in these situations before. The scoreboard didn't really reflect our best efforts. The first part of the game we were in it. We felt like we were in it and we were in striking distance for the first part." Avon jumped out with three runs in the first but Elyria managed to answer thanks to a wild pitch and error that scored two runs with two outs. Avon refocused to end the rally with a strikeout then led off the second with back-to-back walks. Both of those runners scored — one on a wild pitch and the other on a double from Blake Bernard. Avon added three more in the third off a stolen base, error and wild pitch. Both teams pitched clean fourths, with Avon's A.J. Malloy striking out the last batter of the inning and his first batter of the game. Malloy led off the fifth with a double to spark a string of six straight hits, including four doubles, with every runner scoring. Avon scored 10 in the inning and Malloy retired the next three, clinching the win with a strikeout. "He pitched a good bit for us last year, too," Fecht said of Malloy. "We hadn't used him yet. We were kind of keeping him. Once we saw the situation, we wanted to get him in there. With two strikes against him, he got the bat on the ball and then had a sacrifice fly later in the inning, too." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.