Total Domination

The town of Old Forge has a rich baseball tradition.

The current Little League indicates that tradition will continue for a long time.

In 1992, the Old Forge High School baseball team won a state title and the Devils also earned the PIAA District 2 Class A title four years and counting. The winning tradition has been passed down and is continuing with the young baseball players in Little League.

The Old Forge 9 and 10 year old team won the District 17 9 and 10 year old All-Star tournament with a 11-9 win over North Pocono on June 10. The win gave Old Forge the title and a change to compete in the Section 5 All-Star Tournament with a change to compete in the state tournament.

Old Forge dominated the District 17 tournament, with a 7-0 run, including three wins by the way of the 10-run rule. All 13 players on the Old Forge team contributed to the title with a team first attitude. All of the pitchers pitched well and the offense was strong from the top to the bottom.

The title game ended on a unique play. The game didn't end with a winning homer or a strike out, but on a heads up play by the pitcher and catcher. North Pocono had a runner on third base and was in the middle of staging a dramatic late comeback when a pitch sailed over the head of Old Forge catcher Patrick Donovan. He hustled to the back stop to retrieve the ball and flipped it to pitcher Mason Boettger, who was alertly covering home.

Boettger applied the tag to the North Pocono runner to end the rally and the game.

"It was fun," said the humble Donovan about Old Forge's tournament performance. After the win, Old Forge players surrounded Donovan and carried him off the field. Old Forge's impressive season ended in the Section 5 playoffs last week. Old Forge lost its first game by a score of 17-7 to Back Mountain.

However, Old Forge regained its winning form in the second game behind strong pitching by Donovan, who also had two hits in the 10-3 win against Paupack. The win set up a rematch with Back Mountain. But Back Mountain prevailed 14-3 ending an impressive All-Star run for Old Forge.

The coaches who helped lead Old Forge to the title are Shawn Nee, Dan Mozeleski and Steve Boettger. The players were Patrick Banks, T.J. Stalica, D.J. Megotz, Danny Smallacombe, Brandon Nee, Brendan Mozeleski, Kevin Welsh, Joey Mancuso, Shane Smith, Lorenzo Febbo, Joey Verespy, Donovan and Boettger.

Old Forge was 8-2 in the two tournaments and over that span Old Forge got several clutch plays from its players. Mozeleski showed impressive power over the course of the tournament by belting five homers.

Old Forge also got strong pitching from Welsh and clutching hitting from Nee and Smith.

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