Fry toughs it out, leads ICC to Game 2 win

The injured pitcher gets the win in a 5-3 victory. ICC leads 2-0.


By Steve Moore
Of The Morning Call

 

For ICC Pirates pitcher Nolan Fry, Sunday night was very nearly a swan song that never happened.

Fry, now 28, came to Northampton High School ready to make the final start of his Tri-County career. He would be trying to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five championship series against Lehigh Township, but after popping his already-injured shoulder out of the socket while warming up, Fry's job got a little tougher.

But it turned out not to be tough enough, as Fry pitched a complete game in the Pirates' 5-3 win that put the Brewers on the verge of elimination. An ICC win in tonight's third game at Bethlehem Township Municipal Park would give the Pirates their second title in three years.

Fry, who said he usually needs at least 10 days to recover between starts, last pitched in the one-game playoff against Lehigh Township three weeks ago. The lefty suffered a partially torn labrum while pitching for the Allentown Ambassadors last season, and the former fireballing closer has changed into a finesse pitcher.

''I was in a lot of pain when I first took the mound,'' Fry said. ''And it took me four innings to find an arm slot where it didn't hurt, and then I was able to throw a lot harder later in the game.''

It looked early on like the Brewers might get the hang of Fry's looping curves and well-placed fastballs, as Lehigh Township banged out six hits and three runs in the first three innings. But once Fry found that arm slot, he seemed to settle in well, allowing just one hit in the final three innings and retiring 14 of the last 15 batters he faced.

But the turning points in this one came with Fry sitting in the dugout instead of standing on the mound. Hanging on to a 3-2 lead, Lehigh Township pitcher Brian Boylan seemed to be cruising on his way to a win. But then the sixth inning reared its ugly head.

After hitting Dave Stauffer with a pitch and walking Eric Ruff, Boylan had two men on with two outs. He then walked Kyle Ruff — Boylan's fifth walk of the day — before reluctantly leaving the game. Reliever Sean Heimple, who pitched six innings on Saturday night, took the hill with the bases loaded and promptly walked pinch-hitter Josh Mohlmann on five pitches to tie the game at 3-3.

With the bases still loaded, Brewers manager Shawn Andrews quickly yanked Heimple out of the game and sent out Jeff Erschen to try to stop the bleeding. But the gash just opened up even wider when Erschen walked Chad Stecker and Luke Pile to bring in two more runs.

After finally getting a groundball to end the inning, Lehigh Township had watched the Pirates bat around in the inning without recording a single hit.

''Walks kill,'' Andrews said. ''You can't walk that many guys and expect to win a game. Heimple said he felt pretty good, and we wanted to use him in a situation where we needed an out. He was throwing real hard warming up, and he just didn't throw strikes. It's frustrating to sit there and watch, and I know they're frustrated as well. It's a really tough way to lose a game.''


ICC Pirates   200 003 0 — 5  2  0

Lehigh Twp.  012 000 0 — 3  7  3


ICC: Nolan Fry and Kyle Ruff. LT: Brian Boylan, Sean Heimple (6), Jeff Erschen (6) and Eric Schmitt. WP: Frye. LP: Boylan.



steve.moore@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- August 16, 2004

Copyright © 2004, The Morning Call