Gilbertsville goes 1-up in Tri-County Finals 13-3

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call


Billy Fatzinger took the philosophical approach to his Limeport team's lopsided 13-3 loss to Gilbertsville in Game 1 of the Tri-County Baseball League Championship Series last night at the Rangers' Gabelsville A.A. Field.

"We were due for a good butt-kicking," Fatzinger said. "If we're going to get one, I'd rather get it in Game 1 than Game 5. This is a best-of-5, so we have time. But we've got to get the next one."

Indeed, the Bulls will need to slow the huge wave of momentum Gilbertsville has going in a hurry. Game 2 is 7:30 tonight at Limeport Stadium and a win would give the Rangers a 2-0 series stranglehold and put them a win away from their third Tri-Co title in four years and eighth in 12 seasons.

Gilbertsville has won 14 straight games, taking its last 11 games in the regular season before racking up three more victories in the playoffs. The Rangers, who lost to eventual champ East Texas in last year's semifinals, seem ready to reclaim their usual place at the top.

"We definitely want the title back," said Gilbertsville player-manager Mike "Doc" Moyer. "I've been in this league eight years and I think I've been on a championship team six times. We don't like to come in second. It was something different for us last year. We didn't like it."

Last night, the Rangers combined the two-hit pitching of Derek Witman with a 12-hit attack. They rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to take a 4-3 lead in the fourth, added a run in the fifth and blew it open with eight runs in the sixth.

Every player in the Gilbertsville lineup -- except cleanup man Jeff Evans -- had at least one hit. The bottom of the order was actually more productive than the top as the final four hitters -- Moyer, Ryan Fox, Dave Pence and Jake Brensinger combined for eight runs and eight hits.

Much, but not all of the damage, came against Limeport's ace lefty, Dennis Kinney, who entered the night with a 9-2 record and an ERA around 1.50.

The 43-year-old former major league pitcher didn't have his usual velocity or biting slider and scuffled through five innings plus before Fatzinger yanked him.

After Kinney left, the Rangers piled it on with a two-run single by Neil Fox and a grand slam by Pence highlighting the eight-run sixth.

"We faced Dennis earlier in the year and he shut us down," Moyer said. "Then again, he's been pretty much shutting everybody down from what I've been reading in the papers. I'm glad we finally caught up to him tonight and hit the ball. It was great to see everybody hitting up and down the lineup.

"The only guy who didn't get a hit was Jeff Evans, but you know he'll get his share. Pitchers pitch him a little tougher than they pitch the rest of us. He doesn't get the same pitches. He did have a couple of walks."

Witman, meanwhile, struggled with his control. He walked four in the first three innings and uncorked several wild pitches.

But when the lanky righthander got the ball over the plate, Limeport couldn't hit him. The Bulls pushed across two runs in the first without a hit and then got a home run down the line in left by Glenn Kushma in the top of the third that tied it 3-3.

However, the Bulls didn't get another hit until Kevin Kershner blooped a single to center in the seventh after the issue had been decided.

"Derek has a tendency to be a little wild," Moyer said. "He hasn't thrown in over a week because he didn't get to pitch in the semifinals against Silver Creek. Once he gets into a rhythm, he's pretty tough. We didn't help him at all defensively in the first inning, but he bounced back and pitched a good game."

Fatzinger tipped his cap to Witman, saying, "He's just wild enough. You can't lock in on him. Once you do, he'll move you back. Then when you're looking for something, he'll put it right over the plate. He's wild, but it's a positive kind of wild."

Witman had retired eight in a row before hitting Scott Heppenhimer with a pitch in the sixth. But he got the next two batters after that. He walked a batter and gave up a single in the seventh, but Gilbertsville turned a double play to end it.

"I think we can bounce back," said Fatzinger, who took the reins from his Hall of Fame father, Ishky Fatzinger, this season in Limeport and did an outstanding job guiding the Bulls. "We haven't been healthy, but the guys have filled in and did the job. They have really done more than I could have asked of them. We started out 7-6 and won 22 out of our next 24. We've been on a roll and now we need to get things going again."



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- August 9, 1995

Copyright © 1995, The Morning Call