Betz gets better toward the end, wins Game 1

By Tim Shoemaker
Special to The Morning Call

 

Woodlawn backed Gabelsville into a dark corner Tuesday night but couldn't keep the Owls contained.

The host Fleetwings took a 5-4 lead after five innings of their Tri-County League playoff game following Jeremy Arner's clutch two-out single. The opposite-field single scored Scott Matejicka with the tying run, then Justin Godusky with the go-ahead run after the right-fielder misplayed the ball.

Gabelsville pitcher Shawn Betz allowed only eight hits to Northern Yankees hitters Saturday afternoon in the first game of the Tri-County League championship series at Scherersville.

Five of those hits were strung together to start the fifth inning in a stretch which nearly cost Betz the game.

But Betz got out of the jam with a flyout and double play, then went on to finish the game, a 4-3 Owls win in the best-of-five series.

Gabelsville (33-8), the fourth seed and a four-time Tri-Co winner since 1999, will host the third-seeded Yankees (29-9-1) in Game 2 at 4:30 p.m. today.

Betz and Gabelsville led 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth, but consecutive singles from Darrin Lenhart, Jeremy Faust, Mike Venarchick, J.R. Graver and Ryan Birkenstock made the score 4-3.

Betz then got Mike Fignar on a short flyout to center and Landon Parker to ground into a double play to end the inning.

''The only ball that was hit hard was the leadoff guy. That kind of hopped over,'' Betz said. ''They were hits, but they weren't line drives. I've been in that situation before. You just have to throw a ground ball and get somebody out. They're a veteran team. They hit the ball well. They're going to find holes here and there.''

But the Yankees didn't get any hits the rest of the way. Betz retired eight of the last nine hitters he faced to put the Owls up by one game.

The Yankees, who have never won the TCL, beat Gabelsville in all four regular-season meetings this season, the first time anyone has swept a season series from the Owls.

''I think that works against us because they have motivation,'' Yankees manager Brian Polaha said. ''If anything, I think our guys know better than to think that we're just going to beat them easily. They know this is a whole different thing and that the regular season doesn't matter.''

Gabelsville seemed ready to put that history in the past quickly. The Owls had two runners on in each of the first innings, but didn't score.

In the third, A.J. Bohn led off with a single off of Kory Bates and Brian Ernst walked. Jared Trout laid down a bunt to advance the runners, but reached on an error to load the bases.

Gary Hessler grounded to third, but a throwing error by Yankees third baseman Ryan Birkenstock allowed two runs to score. Trout scored the final run of the inning on a Tom DeAngelis groundout.

The Owls added a run which proved to be important in the top of the fifth when Hessler singled, went to second on a wild pitch, to third on a Betz bunt single, and home on a DeAngelis groundout.


Gabelsville              003 010 0 -- 4 7 1

Northern Yankees  000 030 0 -- 3 8 3



Betz and Fusco. Bates, Argue (6) and Faust.



Tim Shoemaker is a freelance writer.

From The Morning Call -- August 10, 2008

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