Youth baseball: Crest Hill Sports Huddle wins DuPage River PONY title

Using a nine-run first inning, Crest Hill Sports Huddle catapulted itself to a 14-3 win over Channahon Vast Investment Properties LLC in the championship game of the DuPage River PONY League baseball championship game Monday night in Crest Hill.

After Channahon posted a two-run top of the first inning that included an RBI single from Evan Stuchly, Crest Hill responded with authority, capitalizing on four walks and a hit batsman to go with singles from Damian Arteaga, Damian Herrera, Freddy Casa and Mikey Laudadio.

The scoring settled down until the fourth inning, when Channahon closed the gap by a run on a Joseph Chiappini run scored, but Crest Hill reasserted its control with five more runs fueled by a squeeze bunt by Dillon Sanchez and a double by Herrera.

Crest Hill winning pitcher Herrera was the tournament MVP. He threw a three-hitter and allowed only one earned run, striking out seven, in the title game. Herrera also helped his own cause at the plate with a single and a double driving in two runs.

Crest Hill finished the season with a 30-1 record. The team was managed by Joe Marshall, who was assisted by Wazy Jaber.

Crest Hill’s 12-year-old Bronco team also won the DuPage River Championship on Sunday night by defeating Romeoville, 9-1.

The Bronco team finished the season with a 23-0 record. The team was coached by Dan Marshall.