Portage South Looking to Add Games for the 2012 Season

The Portage South Black Squirrels are looking to add games to their 2012 season.  If you have a team interested in playing games, please contact Jesse Michel (jmichel404@gmail.com).

Portage South Announces 2011 Wall of Fame Class

The 2011 Portage South Baseball Wall of Fame class was selected in August with four former Black Squirrels being honored.  Nick Dean, Brandon Fedor, Jason Hensley and Dannon Svab were chosen by the PS Wall of Fame committee.

Nick Dean began his 9-year PS career in 2001.  He played his high school baseball at Southeast High School.  Dean played in 194 games for Portage South in his career, which is 5th best in team history.  He is in the top ten in almost every career offensive category.  Dean struck out 14 batters in a game against Manchester in 2001, which a PS game record.  He was an All Star in 2001, 04, 06, 07, 08.  Dean was also named to 1st Team All AA League in 2006 and Honorable Mention in 2005 and 2008.  He won the PS Stan Musial Batting Title in 2005 with a .442 average.

Brandon Fedor started with Portage South in 2005 and played 4 seasons.  He played baseball at Crestwood High School and the University of Mount Union.  Fedor was a finalist for the Frank Garcia MVP award in 2005.  He was 1st Team All AA League in 2005 at 1B and Honorable Mention in 2006 and 2008.  Fedor was selected as an All Star in 2005, 06 and 08.  His 51 hits in 2005 is still tied for 3rd most in a season and .373 career batting average ranks him in the top 5.

Jason Hensley was a member of the inaugural team in 1997 through 1999.  He returned for the 2002 season.  Hensley played his high school baseball at Rootstown High School.  He was a finalist for League MVP in 1998, hitting .491 (3rd best in a season) with a then record 3 homeruns along with 24 RBI.  Hensley won the 1998 Stan Musial Batting Title.  His career was cut short due to a knee injury and still ranks in the top 10 for career homeruns.

Dannon Svab played for PS during the 2001, 2002 and 2004 seasons.  He played his high school baseball at Streetsboro High School.  Svab was the PS MVP in 2001 and was a finalist for NEO AAA League MVP.  He hit .417 with 7 2B, 2 HR and 23 RBI.  His 40 hits in the 2001 season was only the second time in team history of a player having at least 40 hits in a season to that point.  Svab left baseball to pursue his professional boxing career and then on to promotions for MMA Akron.

2011 Portage South Team Awards

With the 2011 season coming to end, Portage South announces the annual team awards.  The PS MVP was presented to Phil Smith.  Smith had 31 hits, 25 runs scored, 6 doubles, 5 triples, a homerun and drove in 23 runs.  He also finished the season with a .431 average.  Tyler Rost hit .437 this season to win the Stan Musial Batting Title.  The team's Cy Young was awarded to Walt Samson.  Samson went 8-3 with a 1.74 ERA in a PS record, 76.1 innings pitched.  He also struck out 73 batters.  The fourth and final award given out is known as "The Herb".  The 2011 Herb went to Kyle Campfield.

Portage South Finishes Season as Runner-up in the Wood Bat Classic

The Portage South Black Squirrels entered one final tournament for the 2011 season, the Wood Bat Classic in Akron, OH.  PS would be matched up in pool play with the Akron Irish and Akron Dreams of the Roy Hobbs League and Sunrise Inn from the Warren AA League.  Portage South would play the Irish in the first pool game.  The Irish would get on the board first with 3 runs in the first inning and another run in the third.  PS would cut into the lead with a 3 run third inning.  Ron Spears had a bases clearing double to account for all 3 runs.  The Irish would increase their lead to 5-3 with another run in the fourth inning.  Portage South tied the game in the fifth inning with a 2-run frame.  Tyler Rost and Kevin Haley both walked with 1-out.  Spears hit a single to score Rost and Danny Campfield followed with a single to score Haley.  The game would remained tied heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.  PS would load the bases in the inning with 3 consecutive singles.  Danny Campfield hit a sacrifice fly to score Haley for the win.  Walt Samson got his 8th CG of the year for the win.  Spears was 3-4 with a 2B and 4 RBI.

In game two of pool play, Portage South would play Sunrise Inn at Packard Park in Warren.  PS scored first with a run in the fourth inning.  Ron Spears doubled and scored on a Kevin Yelinek double.  The Black Squirrels would get 4 more runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-0 lead.  Tyler Rost singled to start the inning.  Kevin Haley would follow with a sacrifice bunt which he reached base.  Jimmy Jamieson would hit a double to score Rost and Haley.  Phil Smith scored Jamieson with his double and would score on a single by Danny Campfield.  PS would 2 runs in each of the next two innings and win 9-2.  Nic Carucci threw 6 innings for the win, striking out 12.  Rost was 4-4 with a 2B and 2 RBI.

The final game of pool play had PS versus the Akron Dreams.  Portage South got out to a 6-0 lead with 4 runs in the second and 2 more in the third.  Kevin Yelinek had a 2-run single in the second inning along with a Jimmy Jamieson RBI single.  Danny Campfield had a double in the third to score Ron Spears and Campfield scored on a Jason Preising single.  The Dreams would score 2 runs in the bottom of the third, but PS would open the game up with 3 runs in the fourth.  PS added another run in the sixth and won 10-2.  Eric Schaffer went the distance on the mound for his 5th win of the season.  Kevin Haley had 3 hits to lead the PS offense.

After going 3-0 in pool play, Portage South earned the #1 seed and would face the Akron Horned Frogs.  This game was a pitchers duel with Portage South scoring the only run of the game in the fourth inning.  Jimmy Jamieson singled and stole second.  He advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a Ron Spears single.  Brad Thomas went 7 innings for the shutout win.  Kevin Yelinek was 2-2 with a 2B.

In the Championship game, the Portage South Black Squirrels would face the Akron Hurricanes.  A tough sky to start the game made it difficult in the first inning for the Portage South fielders to see fly balls.  The Hurricanes took advantage of it with 2 hits that may have been caught without the orange sky.  The Hurricanes got 2 runs in the first and another run in the top of the fourth, taking a 3-0 lead.  PS got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when Phil Smith, who reached base after being hit by a pitch, scored on a bases loaded walk to Mike Haney.  The Hurricanes scored again in the fifth inning and Portage South matched with a run in the bottom half of the inning to stay within 2 runs.  Smith tripled and scored on a Ron Spears sacrifice fly.  Akron would get another run in the seventh and win 5-2.  Smith had a triple and scored both PS runs.

Portage South Wins the 2011 Greater Akron AA League Championship

Portage South entered the League tournament as the #1 seed and played the #5 seed, Alliance White Physical Therapy.  After rain washed the games from Monday to Tuesday, the second round games were played at the Ballpark in Hudson.  Portage South scored first with 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning.  Kevin Yelinek and Kevin Haley walked and Jimmy Jamieson singled to load the bases.  Phil Smith scored Yelinek with a sacrifice fly.  Haley would score on a Ron Spears groundout.  Alliance would come back and tie the game in the fifth with a 2-run frame.  PS was able to push 2 more runs across in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-2 lead.  Haley singled, then Walt Samson bunted him to second.  Smith and Spears walked to load the bases again.  Haley and Smith scored on the Jesse Michel single.  Alliance was unable to score in the seventh and Portage South would win.  Samson went the distance for PS on the mound for the win, striking out 10 batters.  Michel was 1-2 with 2 RBI including the game winning RBI for the Black Squirrels.

In the Winner's bracket final, the Akron Lasiks would take on the Portage South Black Squirrels.  The Lasiks got 2 runs in the second to take the lead.  Portage South cut that lead in half with a run in the bottom of the second.  Mike Darrah tripled to start the inning and scored on a Mike Haney sacrifice fly.  The Lasiks would 9 more runs over the next 3 innings and win 11-1.  Nic Carucci allowed just one run in 5 innings of work for the win.  Jimmy Jamieson was 2-2 for Portage South.  The loss also snapped a 18-game winning streak for the Black Squirrels.

After 2 days of rain delayed games, the consolation final was played.  In the consolation final, Portage South would face Team Diesel.  Team Diesel would score a run in the top of the second for a 1-0 lead.  Portage South came back with 2 runs in the bottom half of the inning to grab the lead.  Kevin Haley had a 2-run single in the inning.  PS would score 4 more runs in the third and found themselves up 6-1.  Mike Darrah doubled to start the inning and scored on a wild pitch.  Ron Spears singled and scored on a Kevin Yelinek double.  Tyler Rost also drove in 2 run in the inning with a double. Diesel was able to get a run back in the fourth, then they scored 3 in the fifth to close the deficit to 1 at 6-5.  Portage South held Team Diesel scoreless over the final 2 innings and won.  Eric Schaffer went 5 innings on the mound for the win.  Mike Price picked up the save with 2 scoreless innings of relief.  Haley was 3-4 with 2 RBI for Portage South.

In the first game of the Championship, Portage South would meet Akron Lasiks for the second time in the tournament.  The game was a pitcher's duel early with neither team scoring in the first 4 1/2 innings.  The Lasiks would score a run in the fifth on a bases loaded walk to Rob Beahn to score Mike Christopher, who had singled to reach base.  The score would remain 1-0 heading into the top of the seventh.  Mike Darrah would leadoff the seventh inning for Portage South with a game tying homerun.  In the ninth inning, PS got 4 straight singles to start the inning and push across 3 runs to make it 4-1.  The Lasiks scored a run in the bottom half, but fell short 4-2.  Darrah went 8 2/3 innings for the win on the mound for Portage South.  He also was 2-4 with a game tying HR in the seventh.  The Portage South win forced a second game in the Championship.

The Portage South Black Squirrels and Akron Lasiks met for the third time in the tournament to decide the 2011 Greater Akron AA League Championship.  The Lasiks got on the board in the top of the first with when Kevin Brown singled to left with 2 outs and stole second.  Rob Beahn followed with a single that scored Brown.  Portage South came right back with 2 runs in the bottom half of the inning.  Tyler Rost walked to start the inning.  Kevin Haley doubled to put runners at second and third.  Jimmy Jamieson followed with a single that scored both runners.  PS would push 3 more runs across in the third inning to make the score 5-1.  Again, Rost walked to start the inning.  Haley reached on an error and both runner were moved up by a Jamieson sacrifice bunt.  Phil Smith singled to score Rost and Haley then stole second base.  He would score on a Kyle Campfield double.  The Lasiks got a run back in the fourth when Ryan Petrusky, Mike Christopher and Jamie Matvey, all singled to load the bases.  Anthony Longhitano drew a walk to plate Petrusky.  Portage South would open the game up in the sixth with a 4-run frame.  Rost and Danny Campfield would single, followed by a Jamieson single that scored Rost.  Smith would walk to load the bases and Mike Darrah singled to score Campfield and Jamieson.  Smith then scored on a Ron Spears sacrifice fly.  Walt Samson went the distance on the mound for the Black Squirrels for his second win in the tournament.  Jamieson was 2-3 with 3 RBI for PS. 

Mike Darrah was 2-4 with 2 RBI in the game.  He went 7-14 in the tournament with a 2B, 3B, HR and 3 RBI.  Darrah also picked up a win over the Lasiks in the first game of the championship.  He was named the 2011 Dave Layton Tournament MVP.

Portage South Shows Big in 2011 AA League Awards

Coming off a season winning the regular season title, Portage South individuals were rewarded for their efforts.  Phil Smith was named Frank Garcia MVP and Walt Samson earned the Dave Young Pitcher of the Year Award in 2011.

Smith hit .489 for the year, which also earned him the league batting title, with 5 doubles, 3 triples and a homerun.  He led the league in Slugging percentage (.800) and triples.  His 22 hits were good enough for third in the league and was 4th with 18 RBI.  Smith won the award by 1 point over teammate, Jimmy Jamieson.

Samson was 5-1 in 6 starts this season with a 1.58 ERA.  He led the league in wins and strikeouts with 41.  He walked only 5 batters in 40 innings of work.  This was Samson second Dave Young Award, he also won in 2005 while playing with the Akron Storm.