Blue Mountain's pitching holds off Tri-County 5-3

Polaha, Toth single in winning runs in seventh.

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call


Maybe this is simply the year for the pitchers to dominate all- star games.

Just as was the case last Tuesday in Chicago, the hurlers -- with some help from outstanding defense -- dominated yesterday's Lehigh Valley amateur baseball showcase between the Blue Mountain League and Tri-County League. The BML's pitching was just a bit better in its 5- 3 victory before several hundred entertained fans in Limeport Stadium.

Bill Polaha of Banko's and Lehigh Township's Dave Toth each singled in runs in the bottom of the seventh to provide the difference for the BML, which made it two straight over the Tri-Co stars in a midsummer series that began last year.

"That's two years in a row that they (the Tri-County stars) have given us very good games," said Bicentennial's Dave Hemerly, whose two-run home run in the first inning for the BML was the game's lone long ball. "Someone told me that they were missing four of their best pitchers. Since I umpire in that league, I know the good pitching they have. They are basically a pitchers' league and we're known as a hitters' league."

The BML lived up to that billing early as Bill Coyle of Limeport singled with one out in the first and came around to score on a double by Banko's Mike Mihalik. The next hitter was Hemerly, who drilled a pitch from Coplay's Jim Emerick over the wall in right to give the BML a 3-0 lead.

It looked like it was going to be a long day, especially since the game was tapped for nine innings. Instead, the 8-1/2 innings were completed in little more than two hours, thanks to the quality pitching.

"When Hemerly hit the home run and we got those three runs, I thought we would just keep hitting that way," said Bicentennial and BML manager Bob Hilinski. "It didn't work out that way. In an all- star game, there are so many pitchers and they all work just an inning or two. That makes it hard for the hitters to get into any kind of rhythm."

The Tri-Co did get in a groove long enough to tie the game. Dale Weiss and Jeff Snyder, both of the Allentown Angels, singled in runs in the second inning and Weiss came through again with an RBI single in the fourth to tie the game.

From there, though, the Tri-Co was blanked by five different pitchers -- Mike Saylor, Jeff LaPorta, Mike Conelias, Bill Flyte and Troy Heffelfinger -- over the last five innings. The BML was also held scoreless for five straight innings after the opening-inning fireworks.

Then in the seventh, Mike Miorelli got things started with a one- out walk. With two gone, Banko's Doug Focht singled to set the stage for his Oriole teammate Polaha.

"I went after the first pitch and he (Tri-Co's Bob Drumbore) just hung a curveball real bad," Polaha said. "I was just fortunate to drive it to left field. This was just a well-played game. It's fun to be playing with guys you go against all summer."

The fun continued for the BML after Polaha as Toth drilled another run-scoring single to left to make it a two-run game. That was more than enough of a cushion for the BML pitching staff, which allowed just four hits over the last seven innings.

The BML did have one scare in the eighth, however, when the Tri- Co had two on with two out. Drumbore hit a hard grounder that first baseman Van Shell made a backhand stop on while moving to his right and then flipped the ball to the pitcher covering (Flyte) for the inning-ending out.

Shell also made a nice play in the ninth, while Bicentennial's Brian Chisdak made a few diving catches in center for the BML earlier in the game.

"These guys are picked for this game on their performance both offensively and defensively and those kind of plays are what an all- star game is all about," Hemerly said.

"I think the fans got their money's worth," said Limeport A.A.'s Ishky Fatzinger, who handled the Tri-Co team. "You would think that with all the big bombers on both teams, there would have been more scoring. But I guess the old saying that `good pitching stops good hitting' still holds true.

"I'm pleased with the showing of our league. I'm just glad we have this game and I think we should continue it. Our league has really improved over the last five or six years to the point that we can be competitive with the Blue Mountain. I played in the BML 20 years and know how good it is, but I think we (the Tri-Co) have opened some people's eyes with how close these games have been."



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- July 16, 1990

Copyright © 1990, The Morning Call