Fleetwings take opener

Ganser's bases-loaded walk drives in the game-winning run.

	Photo by Rob Kandel, The Morning Call
	JORDAN CREEK'S JULIO LEBRON (2) tags out Fleetwings' Justin Godusky (15) at third base as he tries to stretch a double into a triple in the Tri-County League baseball playoff game on Thursday at Scherersville Park.

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call
 

It's not unusual for a Ganser to come through at playoff time in the Tri-County Baseball League.

After all, Ray Ganser is a Tri-Co icon. He's in his 30th year in the amateur league and has compiled 98 wins, 872 innings and 453 strikeouts in three decades of mound trips.

But the Ganser who came through Thursday night for the Woodlawn Fleetwings in their playoff opener against Jordan Creek was Adam Ganser, Ray's son.

Adam worked Jordan Creek ace Jose Medina for a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fifth to force home what proved to be the game-winning run as the Fleetwings edged the Gators 2-1 in Scherersville.

The best-of-three series resumes in Scherersville -- the home of both teams -- at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday.

Scott Bolasky and Jed Hopewell combined on a four-hitter as the third-seeded Fleetwings (25-6-1) took the first step in their quest to win their first league title.

Woodlawn squandered numerous scoring opportunities, stranding 11 runners, but took advantage of Medina's wildness with the score knotted at one in the fateful fifth.

With two out and no one on, Matt Godusky was hit by a pitch. Scott Matejicka singled and Jeremy Arner walked to load the bases.

Ganser, a Morning Call high school all-area player who graduated from Central Catholic last month, spent a good chunk of the summer playing for West End Youth Center's senior legion team. He hadn't walked in 29 previous Tri-Co at-bats, but wanted to make Medina throw strikes.

''He just walked [Arner] on four pitches, so I was just looking for a strike or something good to hit,'' Ganser said. ''It went to 3-0 and I was going to take a couple of strikes. It got back to 3-2 and I thought he'd come after me, but it was low and inside.

''In that situation, I was just trying to help out the team in any way I could. It didn't matter to me how I got on base. I just wanted to get on.''

The Fleetwings had plenty on all night. They collected nine hits and had five others reach on either walks or from being plunked by pitches.

But Medina dodged most of the jams.

He never had a 1-2-3 inning, but was aided by having two runners tagged out at third.

''We knew Medina would make it tough on us,'' said Arner, Woodlawn's player-manager. ''We had a lot of opportunities, but Medina pitched great and they made all of the plays behind him.''

Bolasky and the Fleetwings' defense were just as stingy.

Bolasky struck out seven and worked around four hits and three walks before turning it over to Hopewell, a former Penn State player, who struck out the side after issuing a walk to start the seventh.

''We had early chances to score and didn't do it enough,'' said Gators manager Fabian Acevedo. ''We got the first two guys on in the first inning and didn't score. Even in the inning we did score [the fourth], we had second and third with none out and only scored one. In the playoffs, you're only going to get so many chances. They made the most of theirs and we didn't.''

Juan Lopez had two doubles for the Gators (11-20-1), while Matejicka and Charlie Torres had two hits each for the Fleetwings.


Jordan Creek               000 100 0 -- 1 4 0

Woodlawn Fleetwings  010 010 x -- 2 9 0


Medina and Marrero; Bolasky, Hopewell (7) and Arner.



keith.groller@mcall.com

610-820-6740

From The Morning Call -- July 27, 2007

Copyright © 2007, The Morning Call