Angels romp 9-3 over Gilbertsville

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call


A message was sent to defending Tri-County League champion Gilbertsville last night in Scherersville.

The message -- received in the form of a convincing 9-3 loss -- is that the Angels aren't going to be a heavenly foe come playoff time.

Every member of the starting lineup had at least one hit, while Ray Ganser and Matt Hlay combined for a five-hitter on the mound as the Allentown Angels dominated Gilbertsville in a matchup of Tri-Co division leaders and likely championship series foes.

"We definitely wanted to let them know that if we face them in the championship series they're going to be in for a struggle," said Dave Lutte, who led his team's 13-hit attack with three hits, including a two-run home run. "They're not going to walk through us like they have the rest of the league for so many years."

Gilbertsville, which has won the league title four times in the last six years, came into last night's game with a seven-game winning streak and the league's best record at 17-3. They left with just a half-game lead over the Angels (16-4) in the battle for the best seasonal mark and the all-important home-park advantage in the playoffs, not to mention a deep respect for the Angels.

"We were totally outclassed tonight," said Gilbertsville player- manager Ryan Fox. "They are a quality club. They have real good pitching and there's no question it's going to be a good series if we face them in the playoffs. We gave them a little help tonight by botching two double-play balls, but I don't think that would have mattered. We've been playing well, but tonight we didn't. I guess we were due for a night like this."

The Angels, who dropped their only previous matchup with Gilbertsville 2-1, were also due to bust out offensively. The Allentown lineup is filled with quality hitters, but the team has gone through most of the summer depending on its pitching which has allowed more than four runs just once all season.

"This is not the way we've been scoring this season," Lutte said. "We've really had to scratch and claw to win games. We've been winning 3-2, 5-4. We've had to rally three or four times in the seventh inning to win games and have gone into extra innings five times."

"We haven't come through with the bats and that's why I was a little worried tonight when we fell behind 2-0," said Ganser, the team's player-manager. "The way we've been scoring, getting just two or three runs a game, I thought we might be in trouble."

Pete Kurtz's double set up Gilbertsville's run in the first and the Rangers made it 2-0 in the third on a run-scoring single by Jeff Evans.

But the Angels roared back with three in the second -- the last tally coming when Tony Galucy hustled to third on a wild pitch and scored on an overthrow at third -- and took command with three more in the third. Dave Chapman's two-run double was the key blow in that inning.

Considering how well Ganser was throwing and that they have their own version of the Reds' "Nasty Boys" in their bullpen with righthander Hlay (16 straight scoreless inning) to go with lefty Tim Brader (just out of the minor leagues), the Angels didn't need any more runs. But they got three more in the fifth anyway when Lutte pounded his home run to straightaway center.

"We have a good time on this team," Lutte said. "We're all good friends and we like to do a lot of things together away from baseball. We're usually loose and are goofing around before the game, but tonight I think we came here in a more serious mood. We wanted this game."

Should the Angels get to play and defeat Gilbertsville in the playoffs, it would be their first league title of any kind.

"That's our goal, that's what we've wanted for a long time," said Ganser, a Tri-Co veteran of 14 years. "We don't have a sponsor. The guys kick in the money themselves to keep us together. A championship would be a nice payback."

ICC PIRATES 9, EAST TEXAS 5 -- The ICC Pirates used a pair of four-run innings to defeat East Texas in Tri-County League action last night.

Rich Guman went 3-for-4 and knocked in two runs with a double for the Pirates (8-14). Rich Ballek was     2-for-2, drove in two runs with a triple and stole two bases. Dave Medei added two hits and scored a run.

Todd Csensits went 3-for-4 and hit a two-run homer for East Texas (9-13).



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- July 19, 1990

Copyright © 1990, The Morning Call