Youth Sports Report:

Ripken: Forest Hills blasts way into U.S. title game

Posted Aug 20, 2009 by Nick Murray

Updated Aug 20, 2009 at 10:16 PM

Christian Whidden, Josh Russo and Jason Heinrich hit home runs as Forest Hills moved into the U.S. championship game at the Cal Ripken World Series with a 14-4 victory against Oregon’s Willamette Valley on Thursday in Aberdeen, Md.

Russo’s homer, his third of the tournament, capped a five-run first inning. Brandt Burrows led off the inning with a walk, then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Whidden walked. Darren Miller singled to bring home Burrows, and Heinrich singled to score Whidden. Heinrich was then picked off first for the first out, but Kyle Tucker singled to score Miller, and after Jonathan Diaz popped out for the second out, Russo homered to left-center field for a 5-0 lead.

Forest Hills added three runs in the second, with Heinrich hitting a two-run double, before Whidden and Heinrich each hit two-run homers in the fourth. Heinrich finished the game 4-for-4 with six RBIs, giving him 11 RBIs for the tournament.

Miller threw three scoreless innings on the mound to earn the win, allowing two hits and one walk and striking out five.

Forest Hills will face Upper Montgomery, Ohio in Friday’s U.S. championship game after Upper Montgomery rallied to a 6-5 win in seven innings against Lexington, Ky. in the second semifinal. The game can be seen on MLB Network, and is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. The International final between Mexico and Japan can also be seen at noon on the same network.