WESTFIELD – Despite not playing for nearly a week due to weather, McDonald’s won its first City Cup championship since 2012 and defeated two-time champion Sons of Erin for the second time in as many games.
The duo of Nick Kavrakis and Nick Clegg shut down the potent Sons offense and the defense backed up their pitching prowess to win Monday night’s pitching duel, 2-1, at Bullens Field. Liam Whitman drove in the two runs in the first inning three batters into the game.
“Nick Kavrakis gave us some good pitching; we had timely hits and we didn’t make any errors–that’s how you win a 2-1 game,” said Head Coach Chris Baran. “The guys have been battling all year and it’s very good to see a team effort.”
Kavrakis earned the victory for the No. 3 seed, pitching six innings and allowing four hits to the regular season champions. Clegg entered after the first two Sons batters reached in the seventh inning and retired the side, clinching the second win in a week for McDonald’s against Sons of Erin after dropping three of the four regular season meetings.
Liam Whitman continued his offensive tear this tournament against Sons of Erin, smacking a two-run double to give McDonald’s an early 2-0 lead, scoring Clegg and Connor Cottengim. Whitman drove in six runs over the two tournament meetings with Sons of Erin, including a three-run double in the first meeting to help McDonald’s win 5-4 Wednesday night.
Cottengim recorded two hits to lead the visitor’s offense, including the only hit Sons of Erin starting pitcher Sean Moorhouse allowed after the first inning. Similar to their previous meeting, McDonald’s used a combination of pitching, defense and timely hitting to hold the home team until late in the game.
“We were missing two of our better players and still beat the No. 1 seed twice in a row,” said Baran. “(The defense) was spotty at times. Early in the season, there were growing pains, but by the end they were rolling. It was pretty inevitable.”
Sons of Erin cracked the scoreboard in their final at-bats on a RBI single from Andrew Tobias, driving in Ryan Towle. Towle and Noah Murray started the inning by reaching on a walk and one of five Sons hits. After forcing a pitching change, Clegg induced a flyout and groundout before allowing Tobias’ single. WIth runners on second and third with two outs, Clegg induced a strikeout to end the game and seal the victory.
