ICC topples Gabelsville in Tri-Co

Pirates oust defending champs and advance to the league title series.


By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call

 

It wasn't as dramatic as Luis Gonzalez's blooper off Mariano Rivera, but another baseball giant fell Tuesday.

And the vibrations from this tumble were felt throughout the landscape of Lehigh Valley amateur baseball.

A six-run first inning and savvy pitching by ICC left-hander Scott Stewart were the keys to a 7-4 Pirates victory in Bethlehem Township that brought an end to Gabelsville's three-year reign as Tri-County League champions.

ICC, which won the best-of-five semifinal series three games to one, advances to its first Tri-Co championship series. It will play at Lehigh Township at 5 p.m. Saturday in Game 1 of that best-of- five set.

"It's the biggest win we've ever had," said ICC manager Mike Brosious. "It was a total team win. We've gotten over a lot of humps in this postseason. We've always struggled against Limeport, but we beat them in the first round. Now, we've knocked off the three-time defending champs."

But Brosious conceded it wasn't easy.

Some might have thought the Owls would have folded after ICC stunned them with six runs in bottom of the first.

ICC tormented Gabelsville by bunting early and often.

"Nobody bunts better than them, but we wanted to beat them at their own game," Brosious said. "They had to be surprised when our 3- 4-5 hitters were up there bunting."

The result was six runs on six hits with one costly error thrown into the mix. Leadoff man Chad Stecker had two of the hits, scoring a run and driving in another.

"We gave them six runs, and you can't do that against a team like that and a pitcher like Scott Stewart," said Gabelsville manager Mike "Doc" Moyer. "We didn't have our heads into the game."

Stewart, the winner in relief in Sunday's pivotal, 7-6, eight- inning Game 3 win, was thrilled to go to the mound in the top of the second up 6-0.

"I would have been happy if we scored six runs in the whole game," he said.

Stewart, however, was happy to leave the mound at the end of the second with the lead as Gabelsville clubbed six hits and used a two- run single by A.J. Bohn to get within 6-4.

But with runners at second and third and one out, Stewart got No. 3 hitter Greg Gilbert on a called third strike and cleanup slugger Jeff Evans on a tapper to third.

Having escaped, Stewart found his groove. Using an effective change, he allowed just two hits over the last five innings and walked none

"A lot of crazy things happened early," said Stewart, a Nazareth High and York College grad. "After I got through the second inning, I settled down. I just tried to stay away and throw strikes."

ICC (28-15) celebrated after Todd Brosious corralled the final out in left, but it didn't get out of hand.

"We've got one more step to go," Mike Brosious said.


Gabelsville   040 000 0 -- 4 9 1

ICC             600 010 x -- 7 8 1


Melcher, Fidler (1) and Hoffman; Stewart and K. Ruff.

Notes: K. Ruff 2B and two RBIs. Owls finish 28-12.



keith.groller@mcall.com

610-820-6740

From The Morning Call -- August 7, 2002

Copyright © 2002, The Morning Call