CHECK IN: Friday, July 25, 2008 @ 5:30 PM OPENING CEREMONY: Saturday, July 26, 2008 OPENING ROUND POOL PLAY--- Middletown Sting is in Pool H which includes:      Blue Thunder, PA, Conklin Raiders, NY and Tri County Hurricanes Blue, OH Saturday, July 26, 2008 Game 1:   Middletown Sting 3 --- Blue Thunder, PA 1 The Sting opened their 2008 PONY Nationals campaign with a 3-1 win over the Blue Thunder from Pennsylvania. Kelly Feodorov went the distance in the circle to record the win. Feodorov scattered 5 hits, struck out 13, and walked 1. Feodorov ended the game by striking out the final two hitters with runners on second and third. After 3 innings the game was scoreless. In the top of the fourth the Blue Thunder took a 1-0 lead. The Sting answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Alyssa Castagna's hard grounder was misplayed by the second baseman to lead off the inning. With one out, Kyra Poudrier lined a triple off the right field fence to tie the game at 1. In the fifth, the Sting scored two more. Brooke Franco led off the inning with a single. Kat Mosca sacrificed Franco to second. Feodorov singled to left. Franco went to third and Feodorov advanced to second on the throw. The next batter was Castagna who laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Franco. On the play the pitcher fielded the ball and shuffled to the catcher in an attempt to get Franco at the plate. Castagna rounded first and headed to second. The catcher fired down and nailed Castagna but a great slide floored the shortstop and that allowed Feodorov to score from third. This gave the Sting a 2 run lead and the win.   Sunday, July 27, 2008 Game 2:   Middletown Sting 1 --- Conklin Raiders, NY 0 In the first game on Sunday, the Sting defeated the NY Conklin Raiders 1-0. Kelly Feodorov went the distance for the shutout victory. Feodorov tossed a 3 hitter, struck out 7, hit a batter, and had no walks. The Sting's only run came in the top of the 6th. With two outs and nobody on Alyssa Castagna drew a walk. Mal Dorflinger hit a sharp grounder to the third baseman who threw the ball past first into right field. Castagna advanced to third, took a wide turn and when the right fielder held the ball Castagna raced home with the winning run. Game 3:   Middletown Sting 3 --- Tri County Hurricanes Blue, OH 1 In Sunday's second game the Sting defeated the Ohio Tri-County Hurricanes 3-1. The Sting trailed 1-0 until the 6th. In the 6th, Kyra Poudrier led off the inning with a walk. Alysha Pieta sacrificed her to second. Taylor Bartolotta hit an infield single and Ashley Stokes drew a walk to load the bases. Brooke Franco knocked in the tying run with a fielder's choice. With two outs Kelly Feodorov's grounder to second was thrown away and Stokes and Franco scored to give the Sting a 3-1 lead. Feodorov picked up the win in relief as she held the Hurricanes scoreless over the last 4 innings. POOL H --- FINAL RESULTS W L T TEAM RF RA 3 0 0 Middletown Sting 7 2 2 1 0 Conklin Raiders, NY 10 4 1 2 0 Blue Thunder, PA 7 11 0 3 0 Tri County Hurricanes Blue, OH 3 10   ELIMINATION ROUND --- Monday, July 28, 2008 --- Wednesday, July 30, 2008    Middletown Sting is in Bracket 8 with CT Hornets Red, PA Intensity White, Czech Republic    and PA Chester County Stars Blue. Monday, July 28, 2008 Game 4:   Middletown Sting 12 --- CT Hornets Red 0 The Sting entered bracket play 3-0 with a top seed, but for the most part they won those games with great pitching and defense. Today the Sting showed they could hit. In the bottom of the first, the Sting racked up 5 hits and 5 runs. In the second, they connected for 5 more hits and 6 more runs to take an 11-0 lead. In the third, consecutive singles by Kyra Poudrier, Michelle Brown, and Taylor Bartolotta ended things as the Sting mercy ruled their opponent with a 12 run lead after 3 innings. Bartolotta ended with 3 hits and 3 RBI's. Kat Mosca had 2 hits and 4 RBI's. Alyssa Castagna had 2 hits and 2 RBI's. Poudrier had 2 hits and 3 runs scored and Brown added 2 hits. Kelly Feodorov picked up her fourth win of the tournament by retiring 9 out of the 10 batters she faced.   BRACKET 8 --- RESULTS AFTER DAY ONE W L T TEAM RF RA 1 0 0 Middletown Sting 12 0 1 0 0 PA Chester County Stars Blue 9 1 1 1 0 Czech Republic 15 14 1 1 0 CT Hornets Red 6 17 0 2 0 PA Intensity White 10 20   Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Game 5:   Chester County Stars Blue, PA 3 --- Middletown Sting 1 The Sting lost their first game of the National PONY tournament on Tuesday afternoon. The Sting lost 3-1 to the Chester County Stars from Pennsylvania. After four innings the Sting trailed 1-0. In the bottom of the fifth, the Sting tied the score and threatened to take the lead. With one out, Ashley Stokes singled and with two out, Kat Mosca walked. A single by Kelly Feodorov loaded the bases and a single by Alyssa Castagna tied the score at 1. The Sting was unable to add anymore and left the bases loaded. In the top of the sixth, the Stars took the lead. A two out single, followed by a line drive homerun gave the Stars a 3-1 lead. The Sting made things exciting in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and nobody on, Mosca and Feodorov singled and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Castagna hit a hard ground ball right at the second baseman to end the game.   BRACKET 8 --- RESULTS AFTER DAY TWO W L T TEAM RF RA 2 0 0 PA Chester County Stars Blue 12 2 3 1 0 Czech Republic 27 15 1 1 0 Middletown Sting 13 3 2 3 0 CT Hornets Red · ELIMINATED · 11 31 0 3 0 PA Intensity White · ELIMINATED · 12 24   Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Game 6:   Middletown Sting 5 --- Czech Republic 4 The Sting defeated the Czech Republic 5-4 and moved into the bracket finals and a chance to advance into the sweet 16. Alysha Pieta pitched a complete game victory. Pieta gave up 5 hits, struck out 3, and walked 2. The Czech Republic jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fifth, the Sting did all their damage. Brooke Franco led off the inning with a hit into left field. Kelly Feodorov hit as grounder off the shortstop to put runners on second and third. Alyssa Castagna singled to load the bases and Kyra Poudrier singled home 2 runs to tie the game at 2. Castagna scored on a wild pitch to put the Sting up 3-2. Poudrier also scored on a wild pitch. Ashley Stokes and Pieta drew back-to-back walks and Mal Dorflinger singled home Stokes to increase the lead to 5-2. The Czech Republic answered with 2 runs in the top of the 6th to cut the lead to 5-4. The game was called in the bottom of the 6th when the hour and twenty minute time limit expired. · CZECH REPUBLIC IS ELIMINATED · Game 7:   Chester County Stars Blue, PA 4 --- Middletown Sting 1 The bracket finals began 20 minutes later against the Chester County Stars from Pennsylvania. The Stars defeated the Sting 3-1 in the second round of bracket play. The Stars scored a run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, Kelly Feodorov singled. Alyssa Castagna sacrificed her to second and Ashley Stokes singled her home to even things up at 1. The Stars took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, a two out singled by Alysha Pieta and a walk to Chelsea Pantano gave the Sting an opportunity to score but both runners were left stranded. The Stars scored 2 more runs in 7th and increased their lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the 7th Pantano led off by reaching base once again. A fly out and a 1-6-3 double play ended the game. · MIDDLETOWN STING IS ELIMINATED · BRACKET 8 --- FINAL RESULTS W L T TEAM RF RA 3 0 0 PA Chester County Stars Blue 16 3 2 2 0 Middletown Sting · ELIMINATED · 19 11 3 2 0 Czech Republic · ELIMINATED · 31 19 2 3 0 CT Hornets Red · ELIMINATED · 11 31 0 3 0 PA Intensity White · ELIMINATED · 12 24 PA Chester County Stars Blue wins Bracket 8 and advances to the championship round.   CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND --- SINGLE ELIMINATION FIRST ROUND --- Thursday, July 31, 2008 --- 9:00 AM Game Team Team 1 Philipsburg Hurricanes, PA   0 S.E. MA Xtreme, MA  7 2 Dixie Chicks, VA  7 Valley Extreme Red, OH   1 3 Ohio Aftershock, OH   2 Top Gun, NJ   1 4 New Era Diamond Girls Gold, NY  0 Pittsburgh Spirit Gold, PA  1 5 Ohio Magic, OH  0 Jersey Storm, NJ   3 6 CT Eliminators Red 2 Lightning Elite, NY  1 7 Bagsai Heat, NY  11 Quebec Rebelles 92, Canada   3 8 Chester County Stars Blue, PA  6 Richmond Rampage, VA  5 SECOND ROUND --- Thursday, July 31, 2008 --- 11:00 AM Game Team Team 9   S.E. MA Xtreme, MA  1 Dixie Chicks, VA  2 10 Ohio Aftershock, OH   0 Pittsburgh Spirit Gold, PA  1 11 Jersey Storm, NJ   0 CT Eliminators Red 5 12 Bagsai Heat, NY  3 Chester County Stars Blue, PA  4 SEMIFINALS --- Thursday, July 31, 2008 --- 1:00 PM Game Team Team 13 Dixie Chicks, VA  3 Pittsburgh Spirit Gold, PA  2 14 CT Eliminators Red 3 Chester County Stars Blue, PA  2 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME --- Thursday, July 31, 2008 --- 3:00 PM Game Team Team 15 Dixie Chicks, VA  2 CT Eliminators Red 3 CT Eliminators Red wins the 2008 PONY 16U Nationals. Congratulations.

 

PONY NATIONALS INFO! There will be a daily curfew in place for the players and I ask that parents cooperate with the curfew times to keep your daughters in tip top shape. It is very important to get proper rest and re-hydration! Don't worry they will have plenty of time for fun. Tournament will be held July 25th through August 1st in Vienna, Ohio

Hotel will be: Comfort Inn & Suites --- 5425 Clarkins Drive,Youngstown, OH Link to Hotel Web Site