South blanks Russians Howard lifts Boynton Beach into semifinal round

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BANGOR – As the Boynton Beach, Fla., all-stars took the field to take on Russia in each team’s final game of round-robin pool play on Thursday, the tie-breaking equation at work at the Senior League World Series had made their title hopes crystal clear.

Win and stay.

Lose and go home.

Thanks to an offense-by-committee approach and a stellar pitching outing by No. 4 starter A.J. Howard, the boys from Boynton Beach are staying: They topped Moscow 11-0 at Mansfield Stadium to finish pool play with a 3-1 record.

Moscow finishes 1-3.

If Moscow had won, it would have left both teams, as well as Canada, with 2-2 marks. The tourney’s second tiebreaker would have given Canada the final four berth based on fewest runs allowed per defensive inning played. Two teams from each pool advance to Friday’s semifinal round.

It never came to that.

Howard said that while the do-or-die scenario didn’t hurt his team’s motivation, it didn’t change one thing: the Boynton Beach players were confident in their ability to advance.

“We knew if we played 100 percent, we’d be in no matter what, because our team is able to hit and play defense,” Howard said.

Boynton Beach scored two runs in the first, one in both the second and third, and blew the game open with a three-run fifth and four-run seventh.

A sign of their offensive depth: When Jeremy Griffiths finally reached base on an RBI single in the top of the seventh, he supplied Boynton Beach’s ninth hit of the game … one apiece from each starter.

Howard, meanwhile, was cruising, allowing just five hits in the complete-game effort. He struck out eight, walked two, and threw 59 of his 85 pitches for strikes.

“I felt very in control,” Howard said. “All my pitches were working and I had a good defense behind me, so I just let it fly.”

Howard’s complete game put the Florida stars in great shape for the weekend.

“Now I’ve got my three aces basically rested and ready to go,” Boynton Beach manager Danny Wilson said.

Griffiths said he’s eager for the weekend.

“Pretty much, there’s two words to really say about it,” he said. “Play baseball.

“You play your hardest and see if we come out No. 1. You see what happens, because that’s all you can really do. You don’t have control over the game. You just play your hardest.”

Boynton Beach shortstop Dolan Owens, who entered Friday with the tourney’s top batting average, went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Owens is now 8-for-12 (.667) in the World Series.

Anthony Orr and Shawn Arena each doubled for Boynton Beach.

Moscow received singles from five different players.

BOYNTON BEACH, FLA. 11, MOSCOW, RUSSIA 0

Boynton Beach (3-1) Moscow (1-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Orr, c 4 1 1 0 Zitarev, lf 3 0 0

Griffiths, cf 4 2 1 1 Tokarev, ss 3 0

Owens, ss 4 2 2 1 Kornev, cf 3 0 0

Vento, 3b 5 2 1 1 Karmushov, c 3 0 0

Maldonado, 1b 3 1 2 1 Shabanov, 3b 0 0

Howard, p 5 0 1 0 Kasheev, 3b 2 0 0

Arena, 2b 2 2 1 0 Piliya, p-1b 3 0 0

Souza, lf 2 0 1 1 Chtchrbkov, 1b-p 3 0

Herring, lf 2 1 0 0 Maksin, 2b 1 0 0

Wright, rf 3 0 1 1 Aiuzatouline, 2b 1 0

Kondrashov, rf 1 0 0 0

Totals 34 11 11 6 Totals 23 0 5 0

Boynton Beach 211 030 4 ? 11

Moscow 000 000 0 ? 0

E?Owens; Tokarev 3, Chtcherbakov; LOB?Boynton Beach 10; Moscow 4; 2B?Arena, Orr; DP? Howard-Arena-Maldonado, Owens-Maldonado;SB?Griffiths, Maldonado 3, Wright

Boynton Beach IP H R ER BB SO

Howard (W, 1-0) 7 5 0 0 2 8

Moscow IP H R ER BB SO

Piliya (L, 0-2) 1* 4 3 3 1 1

Chtcherbakov 6 7 8 3 6 5

*faced two batters in the second

WP?Piliya, Chtcherbakov; T?1:57; ATT?200 (est.)