Drumbore and Evans power Gabelsville win

Pair accounts for 7 RBIs in Tri-County League victory over ICC.


By Ted Meixell
Of The Morning Call


Rob Drumbore and Jeff Evans belting long home runs is nothing new; they've have been two of the Tri-County League's most feared sluggers for many years.

They did it again last night, powering perennial TCL power Gabelsville (nee Gilbertsville) to an 8-3 victory over upstart Central Division leader ICC (7-2) at Bethlehem Township Municipal Park.

Drumbore launched a towering three-run shot to center off sore-armed Pirates' starter Eric Steckel in the first inning to stake Gabelsville (6-3) to a quick 4-0 lead.

Then, after the Pirates had taken advantage of winning pitcher Brandon Mohr's bout with wildness to narrow the gap to 4-3, Evans connected for a grand slam off reliever Eric Baran in the fifth to break the game open.

All four runs from Evans' blast were unearned because of a two-out error -- but that didn't make them any less devastating.

Ironically enough, for differing reasons, neither Drumbore nor Evans had been able to contribute much to the Owls' seven prior games.

"Drummy's been struggling early on," said Owls' skipper Mike Moyer, who's also head baseball coach at Boyertown High School. "That was his first extra base hit this year, but it couldn't have come at a better time. It got us off to a fast start, and it's a lot easier game when you're ahead than it is when you're trying to catch up.

"Jeff (Evans) hasn't been able to get to many games. He's the head coach at Oley Valley, and his team's still alive in the state playoffs. They finished third in District 3. Matter of fact, they play (District 11 champion) Tri-Valley (today) at Pottsville. But Jeff's Jeff; he's been doing that for a lot of years."

Evans also doubled in a run just prior to Drumbore's homer, so the two combined to knock in all eight Owls' runs.

For a while, it appeared the Owls would need more than that -- simply because, while Mohr had a great fastball and fanned eight in six innings, he had trouble putting it or any other pitches in the strike zone. He also walked seven Pirates (including leadoff batter Pete Remaly three times) and hit a batter.

A bases-loaded walk to Chris Medei and Josh Mohlman's infield single drove in two Pirates' runs in the first. And Medei's single and Steve Unger's RBI double in the third made the score 4-3.

"Brandon pitches at Marshall University," Moyer said, "but he sat out this season with elbow problems. He's just getting his rhythm back and has had trouble with his control."

Pirates' manager Jim Marouchoc was more concerned with the condition of Steckel's shoulder than about the loss. "Eric's got tendinitis," he said, "and it's gotten real bad. It's a big concern for us.

"Eric Baran did a real nice job keeping us close, but the grand slam after the error killed us."



ted.meixell@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- June 3, 1996

Copyright © 1996, The Morning Call