ASHTABULA---Boardman Community baseball’s Little League all-star team fell out of state tournament play last week absorbing two, straight losses in slugfests, 12-6, to New Albany; and 15-11 against Hamilton.
      In action last Thursday, New Albany surged to a six-run lead in the top of the first stanza, keyed by three home runs.
      Boardman got a four-bagger off the bat of Travis Harvey in the first stanza, when New Albany’s defense ended the inning tossing out jake Fonderlin at home plate on a passed ball. Fonderlin had reach base on a single.
      Boardman added four more runs in the second inning. Nick Yallech singled, Mike Fetsko reached first when he was hit by a pitch, and a Shay Eicher bunt single juiced the bases. Harvey stepped into the batter’s box and cracked a grand slam to cut the score to 6-5.
      Boardman juiced the bases again in the second when Fonderlin and Alex Cardona drew walks and Cam Kreps singled. They were left stranded on base on a line out to end the inning.
      New Albany added three runs on three singles in the fourth and Boardman scored once when Harvey crossed the plate on a passed ball. he had reached base on a double.
      The fifth frame featured a defensive play by Boardman left fielder Troy Waliszewski, who saved a home run at the fence with a nice grab.
      New Albany added a sixth inning home run to make the final tally 12-6.
      Harvey started on the mound for Boardman and got the mound loss. He was red hot at the plate with a pair of homers and a double for five RBIs. Fonderlin, Kreps, Yallech and Eicher all had singles.
      In semifinal play, Boardman opened first inning action against Hamilton with a pair of runs on round-trippers off the bats of Harvey and Cardona.
      Three walks, three singles and a home run put Hamilton in the lead, 6-2 in the second inning that ended on nice defensive plays by Waliszewski in the outfield and Griffin Schantz at second base.
      Boardman added a pair of runs in the second, as Shantz tripled, and Fonderlin and Harvey hit singles.
      In the third, Hamilton added three runs, key by a home run. The inning ended on a nice defensive play when centerfielder Mike O’Horo tossed to Waliszewski, who then tossed the ball to Cardona for an out at second base.
      Boardman added a run of their own in the third on a Waliszewski home run to trail Hamilton, 9-5.
      After Hamilton added a pair of runs on their half of the fourth, Boardman answered with a four-run surge to cut the margin to 11-9. O’Horo and Cardona clubbed a doubles, while Fonderlin, Waliszewski, Fetsko and Devin Whitaker added singles.
      Hamilton answered in the fifth with a pair of homers, and Boardman came right back with a pair of four-baggers off the bats of Harvey and Cardona to make the score 13-11.
      In the top of the sixth, Hamilton got two more runs. Boardman went down in their half of the final stanza, as Eicher reached on a single, but Yallech popped out to right field, Fetsko ground out to short as did Cam Burford.
      Boardman used four pitchers in the game as Harvey started, Kreps worked a third of an inning, Fetsko worked two-thirds of an inning and Waliszewski worked one inning.