Boardman Community Baseball’s powerful 12-year-old all-star team bashed Austintown, 16-3, last Sunday at the Fields of Dreams to earn their third, straight district championship.
      Under the direction of manager Brian Fonderlin and coaches Rob Eicher and Lou Cardona, the team moves on to the state tournament next week in Ashtabula. Last year Boardman’s entry finished fourth in the state event, where again this year its key competition is expected to come from Hamilton County.
      The local stars will depart for Cedarquist Park this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. with a police and fire escort from the Southern Park Mall.
      Boardman bats are a key feature of this year’s team as 10 of it 12 members have clubbed 90 home runs on the season.
      Leading the way are Mike O’Horo and Alex Cardona with 16 yard shots apiece, while Cam Kreps has knocked 15 balls over the fence and Cam Buford has wracked-up 14 round-trippers. Behind them are Travis Harvey and Jake Fonderlin with 10 round-trippers each.
      In last Sunday’s district title match-up, O’Horo slammed a three-run yard shot in the fourth inning and backed that up in the fifth frame with a grand slam to slam the door on Falcon hopes.
      Boardman assumed a 3-0 lead in the game in the first stanza, keyed by a Kreps two-run blast.
      Travis Harvey picked-up the mound win.
      The Boardman stars mercied every one of their foes in district competition, opening with a 23-9 rout of Canfield in the opening contest, as Cardona got the pitching win.
      In the second game, Boardman destroyed Howland, 16-0, this time with Harvey notching the mound win.
      In semifinal play, Austintown was the victim, 13-0, with Cardona on the mound.