Oh baby, ICC rolls to 10-3 win

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call

 

Mike Brosious has been waiting for two things this summer.

One, for his wife Mindy to deliver the couple's second child and, two, for his ICC Pirates to bust out offensively.

The new addition to the Brosious family didn't make his or her debut Saturday night at Lehigh Township, but the ICC offense sure showed up.

The Pirates exploded for three runs in the third and six in the fourth to rout the host Brewers 10-3 in Game 1 of their opening round playoff series in the Tri-County League.

ICC can end the best-of-three series today at Bethlehem Township. Game time is 5 p.m.

The Brosious baby was due July 24, but the ICC offense was more overdue.

"This is the first time we've hit in a long time," said Brosious, whose fifth-seeded team improved to 19-13. "In the middle of the year we weren't hitting anything. We got shut out three times and must have left 200 guys on base. But the bats started to come around in the last week of the season. We have pitching. If we hit like this, we'll go places."

Mindy Brosious didn't deliver, but catcher Kyle Ruff did. He broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run home run to right-center with one out in the third.

"It was a 2-0 fastball," said Ruff, a Northampton High grad. "He was trying to throw a strike and I wanted to be aggressive."

Lehigh Township (24-10) came back with two in the bottom half of the third to close within 4-3, but the Pirates put the game away in the top of the fourth when two Lehigh Township miscues opened the flood gates.

"We didn't come ready to play today," said Brewer player-manager Shawn Andrews, whose fourth-seeded team had been the Tri-Co's best over the final one-third of the season. "I don't know if we overlooked them or what. Everybody around the league is talking about us playing [No. 1 seed] Gabelsville in the next round, but if we don't come to play [Sunday], there will be no next round."

ICC had just four hits in the big inning. Tony Damico and Dan Fazakas had two-run singles and Corey Schneck and Dave Stauffer also delivered run-scoring hits.

The seven-run cushion was more than enough for Ryan Lindley, who never had a 1-2-3 inning, but scattered three hits over his last three scoreless innings before the handing the ball to Dan Bingaman for a perfect seventh.

"Ryan threw real well," said battery-mate Ruff. "He was throwing hard and hitting his spots. Having a big lead helped to take the pressure off."

But despite the win, Brosious knows all too well that the pressure remains on his team. The Pirates beat Lehigh Township in Game 1 of the best-of-three opening round series last year, only to drop the next two.

"We know we can't relax," said Brosious, who can't relax for other reasons as well. "I've got my beeper with me wherever I go. Maybe the baby will come Monday when we have an off day."


ICC Pirates           013 600 0 -- 10 9 0

Lehigh Township  102 000 0 --   3  9 3


Hilgert, McNamara (4) and Schmitt; Lindley, Bingaman (7) and Ruff. W: Lindley. L: Hilgert. HR: ICC, Ruff (3rd, 2 on).



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- July 29, 2001

Copyright © 2001, The Morning Call