Stahley's bedevils Limeport to capture Tri-County title

By Jeff Schuler
Of The Morning Call


With its backs to the wall, Stahley's turned into tigers during the Tri-County League playoffs -- and as a result, the Angels have added the league's post-season crown to their regular-season title.

Stahley's overcame not only an opening-game loss to Limeport in the championship finals but also an early five-run deficit last night, then later turned a fatal throwing error in the bottom of the sixth into a game-winning four-run rally that lifted the Angels to an 11-7 six-inning victory before a large crowd at Scherersville.

It was the second straight series that Stahley's had to overcome an opening-game setback. Silver Creek had won the first game of the semifinals before the Angels roared back with 8-3 and 18-4 wins.

"I thought we'd have a little bit of a letdown after the regular-season title, and then we had to play nine games in 11 days against the best teams in the league," Angels player/coach Ray Ganser, who came out of the bullpen to slam the door on Limeport after the visitors had bolted to an early 6-1 lead, said after getting away from a bear-hug by teammate Dave Lutte.

"But these guys proved that when their backs were against the wall they can come back, and that's what they did today. They did everything they had to do to win the game today, and I'm proud of every person on this team ... a total team effort."

Ganser came on after Limeport turned Tim Brader's wildness -- helped by some spotty calls that had both benches howling at various times during the game -- into a five-run second inning, the key blows a two-run homer by Jack Goddess and Chris Kernick's two-run double off the left-field chalk that gave the Northern Division runners-up their 6-1 lead.

Ganser held Limeport in check through the fifth while his teammates clawed their way into a 7-6 lead, then pulled himself after Ish Fatzinger's game-tying double in the top of the sixth.

"Sometimes I'm too pig-headed; I had him 0-2, and thought if I put the pitch in the right spot he couldn't hit it. But I missed it and he nailed it," Ganser said of Fatzinger's hit.

Bob Schleicher came on after Ganser walked Mike Schmick and got out of the inning on a flyout and a fielder's choice. Then, with it obvious that the bottom of the sixth would be the last inning, Lutte smoked a lead-off ground-rule double off Jack Undercuffler, and an intentional walk followed by an unplanned pass put Undercuffler and Limeport in a no-out jam.

Undercuffler came back with a strikeout, and Jeff Snyder followed with a bouncer toward first baseman Chad Arnold, who was playing up on the grass. But Arnold's throw to the plate skipped past Goddess, allowing pinch runner Mike Witkowski and Joe Aleszczyk, who alertly sped home when no one covered the plate, to score.

Moments later, Greg Wotring drilled a two-run single to right, and after Tony Galucy's fourth hit -- a smash off Undercuffler's leg -- home plate ump Dick Serfass called a halt to the proceedings.

"We all knew that (the home sixth) was going to be it; you couldn't have played another inning under conditions like this," said a disappointed Ish Fatzinger, whose club had won five straight playoffs games, including sweeps of Gilbertsville and Upper Perk, before the Angels won Sunday's second game of this series. "It was a slow-moving game and we just ran out of light."

The 50-something Fatzinger gave Limeport an early lead with an RBI single in the first, but Galucy smoked Mike Brosious' fourth pitch in the bottom of the inning over the short right field snow fence for a game-tying homer. However, Goddess followed a Brader walk in the second with a homer to left center, and the former Detroit farmhand later issued two more passes before Jim Schaffer's sacrifice fly and Kernick's double gave Limeport its early lead.

Ganser got the final two outs of the inning, and Stahley's began to claw back with the help of some timely hits after Limeport turned double-plays in the second and third innings that seemingly killed first-and-second, no-out threats.

In the second, Wotring and Galucy drilled RBI hits after the twin- killing that cut the lead to 6-3. And an inning later, Keith Brader delivered the two-out single that cut the deficit to 6-4.

"That's the type of team that we have; our guys just battle and battle and battle," said Lutte, who had three hits. "Not to slight Limeport, but I knew we were going to hit their pitching. I knew they couldn't contain our offense, because we can explode at any time."

They did in the fourth. Galucy roped a lead-off single, and after Rick Wittman lined sharply to right, Dale Weiss reached on an infield single, and Lutte chased in both runners with a double just beyond the reach of left fielder Schmick. That brought in Undercuffler, who - - as he would also do in the sixth -- intentionally walked Aleszczyk and unintentionally passed Keith Brader.

And after Mookie Smith went down looking, the Angels went ahead on a bizarre play. On a full count, Snyder chopped a ball to Schaffer at third, but in turn lost a footrace to the bag with Aleszczyk, then pulled Joe Fatzinger off the bag at first. Fatzinger seemingly made the tag on Snyder, but the collision knocked the ball out of his glove, allowing Lutte to score a go-ahead tally.

"Everytime we faced the possibility of our season ending we found a way to come back," Lutte observed. "And we peaked at the perfect time of the season."



jeff.schuler@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- August 13, 1991

Copyright © 1991, The Morning Call