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Bulls win battle of TCL
leaders
Reliever Mincarelli
holds Sports Page `down'; Fatzinger drives in the winning run with sacrifice
fly.
By Ted Meixell
Of The Morning Call
When
Chris Mitchell left the Limeport Bulls to answer the call of pro ball, he
didn't leave manager Bill Fatzinger holding hat in hand.
Largely
because of that, and the facts that Fatzinger himself can still hit a whole
lot and run a little bit, the Bulls escaped Pfeifle Field in Bethlehem with
an 8-7, six-inning victory over Sports Page Monday night in a head-on clash
of Tri-County League division leaders.
Mitchell
was 5-0 with the Bulls before signing with Elmira of the independent
Northeast League. Before he left, he recommended a long- time friend,
Phoenixville native and right-handed chucker Ozzie Mincarelli.
Mincarelli, who pitched for both Phoenixville High and Montgomery County
Community College, relieved starter Jason Sigley with one out in the fourth
inning, three runs already in, Red Sox at first and third and the score tied
at five. Although Jay Wotring (2-for-4) scored the lead run on Dave
Stalsitz's grounder to short, Mincarelli struck Ben Talbott out looking to
end the inning.
Then, in
the bottom of the sixth, with the Bulls ahead 8-7, he got himself out of a
jam of his own making by fanning Jeff Stoneback to end the inning. The game
was called because of darkness after four Bulls batted in the top of the
seventh, and Mincarelli had his first Tri-Co victory.
"I've
known Chris (Mitchell) from as far back as Little League," Mincarelli said
of the Allentown College alum. "He hooked me up with (Fatzinger). I knew
enough about this lineup to know that, if I just held (Sports Page) down,
we'd score."
"(Mincarelli)
pitched an inning for us last week," Fatzinger said. "Now we need to get him
17 innings to be eligible for the playoffs."
Fatzinger and Glenn Bubser, with an assist from Pete Remaly (4-for-4),
supplied the late scores Mincarelli "knew" were coming.
After
the Sox took the lead in the fourth, Bubser whacked a double to lead off the
fifth and scored when Fatzinger slipped a bad-hop single into right.
Fatzinger then acted like anything but the 34- year-old he is. He went to
second on Remaly's third hit, then, stole third when Sox catcher Micah
Damato threw behind him as Mike Geiger fanned.
When
Jeff Sabo lofted a fly to short center, Fatzinger tagged up and narrowly
beat Jason Frederick's strong throw to the plate -- although the Sox all
begged to differ.
Sports
Page (17-6 atop the North Division) rallied in the bottom of the frame to
retie the game on a single by Jeff Stoneback, a wild pitch and Johnny
Rodriguez's clutch hit to left.
But
Bubser (2-for-4) legged out a triple when Frederick came up short on a
shoestring catch attempt -- and the veteran Fatzinger ushered him home with
the gamer with a long sac fly to center.
"I just
wanted to move Bubser to third after his double," Fatzinger said, "but it
took a bad hop and went through. After his triple, I was thinking fly ball
all the way -- and I got it out far enough for him to score."
The
Bulls upped their South Division-leading record to 18-2.
ted.meixell@mcall.com
From The Morning Call --
July 7, 1998
Copyright
© 1998,
The Morning Call
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