Johnston Takes Game 1 Of Regionals

Johnston's 13- to 14-year-old Junior Little League squad took advantage of several errors by opponents Davidsonville, MD, on the way to a 12-2 win in Freehold Township, NJ.

The local squad, for the second year in a row, held South Maryland (0-1) scoreless through four innings behind starting pitcher Joe Bongiovanni, who gave up two hits and a walk while striking out four.

After scoring a run in the second, Johnston (1-0) racked up four more in the top of the third as South Maryland committed five errors through that point in the game, and added another seven in the final three innings.

Chris Jeletic and Michael Kalin scored for Maryland off Johnston reliever Jacob Podmaska, who walked three batters in the bottom of the seventh.

South Maryland sent six pitchers to the mound, including starter Tate Confer (2.2 IP, 5 runs, 3 hits, 2 K, 4 walks), who was charged with the loss. Five other hurlers lasted an inning or less, and three gave up at least two runs each.

Johnston is next scheduled to play on August 8, and awaits the winner of the August 7 match-up between host team Freehold Township NJ and Pennridge PA.

Information for this report was gathered from a live game report on Gamechanger, a site hosted by the Freehold Township Little League.