Wolves Down Moose 11-1 To Win Ellwood City Little League Championship

The Wolves downed the Moose, 11-1, to capture the in-house Ellwood City Little League Championship at Freidhoff Field on Tuesday night.

Joe Zito powered the Wolves to the title with his arm and his bat. Zito fired a two-hitter and fanned 15 batters on the mound and rapped a triple and two doubles at the plate. The Wolves, managed by Justine Zona, went undefeated in the double-elimination playoff with a 3-0 record.

After the Moose failed to score in the top of the first inning, the Wolves erupted for six runs in the bottom of the inning. Luca Zito led off with a single and Cameron Keller ripped a single to right field sending Zito to third base. Zito scored on a wild pitch to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead. Joe Zito followed with a double to the left field fence scoring Keller to give the Wolves a 2-0. Michael Pelissier reached on an error and Emmett Reitnauer was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Samuel Anthony followed with a single to drive in Zito and Pelissier to increase the Wolves lead to 4-0. With two outs, Carlow Morrow walked to load the bases. An error allowed Reitenour and Anthony to score to raise the Wolves’ lead to 6-0. The Wolves added a another run in the bottom of the second inning. Joe Zito doubled to right field, moved to third base on a fielder’s choice and scored on a fielder’s choice to give the Wolves a 7-0 lead.

The Wolves added to their lead with a three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Luca Zito reached on a fielder’s choice, Keller walked and both scored on Joe Zito’s triple to increase the Wolves lead to 9-0. Zito scored on a fielder’s choice to up the lead to 10-0. In the top of the fourth inning, the Moose tallied a run. Isaiah Thompson led off with a single and Mason Bable followed with a walk. Both runners moved up on a passed ball and Thompson scored on a wild pitch to narrow the Wolves lead to 10-1. The Wolves scored a solo run in the bottom of the frame. With two outs, Brayden Kline was hit by a pitch and Morrow delivered an RBI-double to give the Wolves an 11-1 lead. Zito fanned all three batters he faced in the top of the fifth inning and the 10-run rule was invoked to give the Wolves the title.

Wolves’ winning Pitcher Joey Zito allowed two singles and recorded all 15 outs by strikeouts. Zito also led the Wolves at the plate with a triple, two doubles and three RBI. Morrow doubled and walked twice with an RBI and Samuel Anthony singled with three RBI. Keller and Luca Zito singled and drew a base on balls. Henrii Larkin and Isaiah Thompson singled for the Moose.

The Wolves roster is as follows: Samuel Anthony, Gavin Jones, Cameron Keller, Brayden Kline, Carlow Morrow, Jacob Otlowski, Michael Pelissier, Emmett Reitnauer, Gabriel Singer, Alton Sipes, Joseph Zito and Luca Zito. The Wolves were managed by Justine Zito and the assistant coaches were Keith Keller and Gene Pelissier.