Birkle leads comeback as Bedford Elite captures Fair tournament title

MONROE – The finals of the 66th annual Monroe County Fair Baseball Tournament didn’t get off to a good start for Tyler Birkle.

He walked four and hit a batter in the opening inning, giving up two hits and five runs.

Bedford Elite 12-U coach Clifford Albain didn’t lose faith in Birkle.

“I told him, ‘Don’t get down on yourself. We’ll come back and I’ll come back to you,'” Albain said.

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Albain’s crystal ball was right on the mark.

Bedford roared back from a 7-2 deficit, then turned to Birkle to toss the final inning of a 16-10 victory over Ida Gold in the championship game on Thursday, July 23.

Birkle perfectly embodied what Albain told the entire team after falling into an early hole.

“I told them to just stay focused and we would battle back,” the coach said.

Birkle’s bat played a big role in the comeback.

The clean-up hitter doubled, singled, tripled and scored four times in a 3-for-3 performance. He missed out on a chance to hit for the cycle when he was intentionally walked with runners on second and third in the final inning.

Right behind him, Xander Rising stroked a trio of doubles, driving in a run each time.

“They’ve been doing it back-to-back all year,” Albain said of Birkle and Rising.

Make that back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

No. 6 hitter Noah Norton racked up three hits, drove in three runs and scored three times. No. 7 hitter Cashton Albain drove in four runs with a pair of hits.

Another key hitter was lead-off man Eli Sandin with three hits.

Pitching gave Bedford the opportunity to come back. After the rough opening frame, Norton threw two strong innings then Rising didn’t up a run or a hit in the fourth and fifth.

Bedford had to overcome quite a bit of adversity to capture the title, it had just nine healthy players on the roster.

“Unfortunately, we lost one two weeks ago and another last weekend,” Albain said. “And we only had 11 on the roster. These guys were awesome.”

The same group of boys played in the tournament last summer and didn’t fare well.

“We kind of got beat up,” Albain said. “These guys really worked hard. It shows wat can happen with hard work.”

Ida Gold hopes to learn from that example.

It was a team of 11-year-olds that beat Ida’s 12-U team to make it to the championship game.

“I am really proud of these boys,” coach Chris Cuolahan said. “This was a lot of fun.”

Tucker Ray delivered a three-run double for Ida in the first inning, Zeke Billau doubled home two runs and Nolan Wilson produced a run with a triple.

Ray and Easton Lehr finished with two hits each.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Birkle leads comeback as Bedford Elite captures Fair tournament title