Brewers eliminate Fleetwings

7-run 6th-inning propels Lehigh Township into the Finals with an 11-5 win.

By Mark Bentz

    SCHERERSVILLE -- As the cold air blew in from the trees and the sun began to set, the Lehigh Township Brewers and Tri-City Fleetwings were tied at four runs apiece entering the top of the sixth inning. Both pitchers were throwing well and it looked like the final result would come down to the wire.

    But, just as has happened throughout the entire regular season and continued in the playoffs, the Brewers had one big inning to completely turn the game around.

    Lehigh Township scored seven runs in the top of the sixth inning and rode six-hit pitching from Jeff Erschen to defeat Tri-City 11-5 to win the semifinal series. The Brewers now advance to their first championship series, where they will take on the ICC Pirates, who, coincidentally, will be playing in their first championship series. The Pirates knocked out the three-time defending champion Gabelsville Owls three games to one with a 7-4 victory Tuesday.

    “I came over from the Blue Mountain League mid-season to help out the pitching staff. We came to play tonight. It was a great effort from everyone,” said Erschen.

    The Brewers picked up one run in the top of the first against starter Ryan Palos. Bryn Lindenmuth led off with a single. Bill Fatzinger followed with a sacrifice bunt, and an alert Lindenmuth advanced all the way to third when no one was covering the base. Eric Schmitt brought him home with an RBI fielder’s choice ground ball and the Brewers had the early advantage.

    There was no scoring again until the bottom of the third when Tri-City struck for three. Teague Fatzinger led off with a single, but was erased on Jeremy Arner’s fielder’s choice. Paul Santay followed with a hard chopper to third and reached when the ball was dropped at first. Arner and Santay each moved up a base, so the Fleetwings had runners at second and third with one out. Matt Marcks followed with a grounder to short that was booted, allowing Arner to score to tie the game and Santay to move to third. After Marcks moved into scoring position by stealing second, Justin Godusky ripped a two-run single to put Tri-City ahead 3-1.

    The Brewers came roaring back with three runs of their own in the top of the fourth. Steve Unger singled to start the frame and Jeremy Bartha reached on an infield error. With runners at first and second Omar Torres attempted to move the runners over with a sacrifice, but his bunt was perfect and, not only did the runners advance, but Torres was safe at first with a bunt single. Palos struck out Nick Bowen, but Brandon Leslie laced a single that tied the game at three apiece. After Charlie Torres singled, moving his brother to third, Lindenmuth brought Omar Torres in with a fielder’s choice. Through three-and-a-half innings, Lehigh Township led 4-3.

    In their half of the fourth Tri-City was able to even the count. Dave Toth flew out to start the inning, but Matt Hlay walked. Fatzinger was up next and he grounded out to first, but catcher’s interference was called on catcher Schmitt, so Hlay moved to second and Fatzinger was now on first. Arner took a called third strike, but Santay ripped an RBI single to right-center to tie the game at four.

    The fifth inning was scoreless. Then it was time for one of Lehigh Township’s patented big innings.

    Bowen led off with a single and Leslie moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt. That’s when Fleetwing manager Bob Fatzinger made the move to bring in third baseman Dillon to replace Palos. Scott Garger, who hit for Toth in the fifth when Toth left for his Blue Mountain game with Bethleon, entered the game at third.

    The game resumed and Dillon walked Charlie Torres on five pitches. After a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, Lindenmuth came up big with a two-run single on a 2-2 pitch to put the Brewers ahead to stay at 6-4. That’s when the floodgates opened. Fatzinger drew a walk, but was erased on Schmitt’s ground ball. The return throw to first was wild, which allowed Lindenmuth to score and Schmitt to move up to second. Unger hit a high chopper in the middle of the infield into no-man’s land, and he was safe with an infield single. Schmitt moved to third on the play. Bartha was up next and he grounded to second, but the ball got through and Schmitt scored. The next batter, Omar Torres, drew a walk to load up the bases for Bowen. Bowen came through, ripping an 0-1 pitch from Dillon into the gap, clearing the bases and breaking the game wide open. Leslie grounded out to first to end the inning, but the damage was done. Lehigh Township led 11-4.

    All Lehigh Township had to do was to get three outs, since the umpiring crew announced that the game would end after the bottom of the sixth due to impending dark skies. It was up to Erschen to get those outs. But, after Hlay reached on an error and Fatzinger singled, it looked like Tri-City might be coming back. However, Erschen was up to the task. Arner struck out looking, while Santay walked to load the bases. Marcks flew out to left, which did allow Hlay to score to cut the deficit to 11-5, but there were now two outs. Erschen enticed a ground ball to second from Godusky and that was that. The Brewers are moving on.

    “This whole series has been back and forth. Obviously the last game didn’t go the way we wanted it to. Tonight was an exciting game. We fought hard and kept our heads up. [The finals are] where we wanted to be right from the start of the season. We started out early and worked harder than anyone else and here we are,” said Brewer manager Shawn Andrews.

    The key on Tuesday was the starting pitching of Erschen. He threw all six innings and scattered six hits over that time. None of the five runs scored off of him were earned. He struck out nine and walked two.

    “I tried to keep them off balance tonight. I don’t throw real hard, so I have to rely on good control and good breaking stuff to be effective,” said Erschen.

    The Lehigh Township bats came through again in clutch situations. Bowen was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Leslie was 2-3 with a key two-run single and Lindenmuth was 2-for-4 with a two-run single of his own.

    “It was a very exciting game. We started off kind of shaky, but we woke up our bats tonight. Even though our defense was off, we came back and pulled through. Erschen pitched great for us. It feels great to go the championship,” said Leslie.

    “Tri-City is a really tough team. We came out in Game Three hoping to sweep them, but they played well and took us to another game. It was a good series,” said Lindenmuth.

    The victory was bittersweet, however, for Brewer veteran designated hitter Bill Fatzinger. Fatzinger is related to Tri-City manager Bob and second baseman Teague.

    “We weren’t real happy with what happened last game, so we had to come to play tonight. It was a little sloppy on both sides, but we got the job done. It was bittersweet for me though, because my uncle and cousin are over in the other dugout. If it hadn’t been us, I’d be rooting for them to win it. They are disappointed now, but I think they’re happy for me,” said Fatzinger.

    The best-of-five championship series will open Saturday evening at 5:00 p.m. Lehigh Township will host the Pirates at Bryfogle Park in Berlinsville. It should be a classic championship series.