Pictured from left to right: Front Row: Jackson Tomski, Zach Etzin and Bobby Vogler; Second Row: Adam Sczecienski, Craig Wilson, Kyle Witherspoon, Manager Jim Etzin; Third Row: Aaron Chretien, Jimmy Glynn and David Lett; Back Row: Coach Jeff Tomski, Coach Jim Glynn, Ty Kiafoulis, Jack Iwrey,
John Mansfield, Coach Craig Wilson and Coach Mike Mansfield
Farmington Hills Yankees Win Commerce Classic
The Farmington Hills Yankees, a 12-year-old travel baseball team that competes within the Kensington Valley Baseball and Softball Association, recently won the 14th Annual Commerce Township Classic at Maple Glen Park.
Competing against 11 other teams from throughout Michigan and Ontario, the Yankees lost their first game in extra innings to a team from Grosse Pointe but then defeated teams from Farmington, Monroe and Thornapple Valley to enter the semi-finals as the fourth seed (wild card).
In the semi-finals, the Yankees once again faced Grosse Pointe, jumped out to a 3-2 lead but gave up the tying run in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of that same inning, cleanup hitter Ty Kiafoulis (Our Lady of Sorrows) drove a 3-1 fastball over the centerfield fence to send his team to the finals.
In the championship game, the Windsor Canadians quickly established a 5-0 lead. However, the Yankees persisted by scoring four runs in the fourth inning to narrow the gap. In the bottom of the sixth, the Yankees had already rallied for two runs when John Mansfield (East Middle School) hit a single to right field to drive in Zach Etzin (Power Middle School) with the winning run.
Offensively, the Yankees amassed 55 hits throughout the tournament, scoring 40 runs and compiling a .374 team batting average. Of particular note were Aaron Chretien (Clifford Smart Middle School) going 11 for 15, Kiafoulis hitting his 10th, 11th and 12th home runs of the season, David Lett (Dunckel Middle School) scoring eight runs, Mansfield (8 for 10) and Craig Wilson (East) going 4 for 9.
On the mound, Etzin (3-0), Jimmy Glynn (Sorrows), Jack Iwrey (Orchard Lake Middle School), Lett (2-0), Mansfield, Bobby Vogler (Dunckel) and Wilson combined for 37 strikeouts. These outstanding pitching performances, combined with the stellar defensive play and clutch hitting of Adam Sczecienski (Dunckel), Jackson Tomski (Power) and Kyle Witherspoon (Dunckel), enabled the Yankees to keep every game close and pull out some hard-earned victories.
By the end of the tournament, the Yankees had come from behind in three of the six games they played and defeated the winners of all three divisions at least once. Given the three home runs Kiafoulis had and Mansfield hitting .800 over the six games, both shared the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
–submitted by Jim Etzin
