Medei brings home a winner

Leads Tri-Co to 4-2 victory in Tri-County/Blue Mountain League All-Star Game.

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call


One of the nice things about all-star games is that players who normally play on losing teams get the chance to play on a true winner for one night.

A perfect example came last night in the fourth annual Tri-County League/Blue Mountain League All-Star Classic at Limeport Stadium. Chris Medei of the lowly ICC Pirates smacked a two-run single to break a tie in the top of the eighth inning and send the Tri-Co Stars on to a thrilling 4-2 victory before 600 entertained fans.

The win was the Tri-Co's first in four meetings. The BML won the first two encounters before last year's game was rained out after a few innings and never replayed.

Unfortunately, some rumblings of discontent have surfaced between the two leagues and unless the differences are settled, last night's game may be the last between the Lehigh Valley's two amateur baseball leagues.

Based on last night's thriller -- a game that made the major league's All-Star game about as exciting as watching paint dry -- the biggest loser should the series end would be the local fans.

"It's a super showcase and it would be a shame to see it end," said Limeport Bulls' and Tri-Co manager Ishky Fatzinger. "Personally, I would like to see it go on and on and on.

"There are some problems going on between the leagues, but hopefully they'll be resolved. The fans would be the big loser. I know the players in both leagues love to play it. It's a natural since both leagues exist so close here in the Lehigh Valley."

But if the series does end, the Tri-Co members were happy to prove that they could not only play with the BML, but beat its best on a given night.

"It's good to show the Blue Mountain League that we're not inferior to them," said Medei. "They've been giving us some crap about a couple of things. So, we wanted to show them something.

"Ishky told us before the game that this one could be the last game and said we should show them they're not anywhere above us."

"I think they got the message," added Fatzinger.

Actually the best points of the night went to the pitchers on both sides. The hurlers allowed just 12 hits and the Tri-Co arms were especially impressive, yielding just four hits.

Tri-Co struck first in the top of the second inning when Emmaus' Kyle Fisher delivered a two-out single to right to score Gilbertsville's Jeff Evans. The BML answered with a pair in the bottom half of the frame when Martins Creek's Bob Siemon doubled in a run and scored on an infield out by Bethleon's Jeff Bosak.

Tri-Co tied it up in the top of the fourth when Evans slugged a towering home run down the left-field line. It hugged the line so much that BML coaches argued that the ball was actually foul.

The game remained tied until the eight when Stahley's Tony Galucy and Dave Lutte delivered back-to-back singles and advanced into scoring position on Todd Greb's sacrifice bunt. That's when Medei got his rare moment in the spotlight.

"It was just great to be here, especially since I play on a team that has just seven wins and really, I don't know how many losses ... but it's quite a few," Medei said. "It was a first-pitch fastball. I was looking to hit anything fast and he threw it down the middle of the plate. I was fortunate to drive it up the middle and get the runs home."

The bouncing ball just eluded diving BML second baseman Mike Mihalik, who was playing in tight in an effort to try to cut off a run at the plate.

Medei's moment of glory nearly vanished in the darkness of a gorgeous summer night as BML staged serious threats in both the eighth and ninth innings.

In the eighth, a single, an error and a walk loaded the bases with one out, but Mihalik hit a liner to shallow left that Gilbertsville's Greg Gilbert snagged with a leap and then threw to second for a double play.

In the ninth, the BML had runners at second and third with nobody out, but had a runner thrown out at the plate trying to score on a grounder to short. With the bases loaded and two down, Dave Arndt got Brian Stone to ground out to short to end it.

"Our pitching and defense was just outstanding," said Fatzinger. "That's a Murderer's Row over there, but our guys shut them down. We were able to get just enough offense to win it."

Hellertown and BML manager Bob Zerfass could only tip his hat to the other side.

"They did a super job and you've got to give them credit," he said. "We had a left-handed hitting lineup in there early and they shut us down with some strong left-handed pitching. We were struggling because those guys are good, but still, our hitting wasn't indicative of the kind of league we have. We just didn't hit and when we had some opportunities, we didn't get the job done."

Zerfass hopes his league will have an opportunity to keep the series going.

"I don't know all the politics involved," he said. "We look forward to playing an all-star game with another league and this has been a great series. I don't know what's going on. But I'm sure we'll do what's good for our league and they'll do what's good for their league and hopefully, everything will work out."



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- July 19, 1992

Copyright © 1992, The Morning Call