Kaden Beaverson of the York Young Revolution slides safely back to first base on pickoff attempt.
By Sean Reilly
They call him “Money,” and Athan Miller was just that for the York Young Revolution on Saturday afternoon.
The moniker for the Revolution player comes from the fact that his middle name is Triton, so that his initials are ATM.
He was also money on the pitching mound for his team against Complete Performance Baseball at the 15U School’s Out tournament at Diamond Nation, by allowing only two early runs over five innings in an 11-2 victory in Flemington.
The win capped a 2-0 opening day at the tournament for the Pennsylvania team, which defeated Baseball U from New York, 8-0, in its first game. It can win its pool by defeating Rip City (1-1) in its finale on Sunday, and can also advance with a loss or tie pending tiebreakers.
York didn’t take long to command a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Josh Pecones led off with a single, and after the next two batters were retired, Nick Bender also singled. Grayson Copenhaver then doubled to the fence in left field to score both runners. He then scored after Vincent Klinedinst singled to shallow center.
Complete Performance got two runs back in the bottom of the inning. Leadoff man Connor Pane walked and No. 2 batter Chris Suriani singled. Both would score, on a single by Anthony Blackford and fielder’s choice off the bat of Anthony Irving.
But after that, Miller locked in for York. He allowed only three other base runners, a two-out single by Pane in the third, a two-out walk to Irving in the fourth and a hit batsman (Andrew Myles) with two down in the fifth.
“I was comfortable,” Miler said. “It helped that I was able to pitch right away with a lead.”
While Miller was pitching scoreless ball after the first inning, his team extended its advantage to 4-2 in the fifth inning. Copenhaver (3-for-5) led off with a single, stole second and scored on a single from Klinedinst, who finished 2-for-3 and was also hit with a pitch once.
York put the game out of reach by scoring seven times in the sixth. Copenhaver singled in the first run, Logan Kessler hit a two-run single, Pecones added an RBI double, and Cade Funchbaugh delivered the biggest blow with a three-run double.
It was a fitting end to the day for Funchbaugh, who threw five shutout innings in the first game of the day with nine strikeouts.
“We had a good day,” he said. “It’s nice and comfortable to be 2-0, now we have to bring the bats tomorrow.”
Complete Performance ended its day with a 5-4 loss to Rip City. It will close out play against Baseball U NY (1-1) on Sunday afternoon.