|
Stewart, Pirates eliminate Owls
Scott Stewart wins his 3rd game of the
series to lift ICC into the Finals with a 7-4 victory.
BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP --
The ICC Pirates rode a six-run first inning past the Gabelsville Owls into the
Tri-County League Championship Finals. Series MVP Scott Stewart overcame a
rocky second inning to win his third game of the series. He struck out six and
scattered nine hits over seven innings.
The Pirates began the
game with their first five batters reaching Matt Melcher for singles. Chad
Stecker and Josh Mohlmann dropped bunts for the first two, then the two runners
advanced on a wild pitch. A.J. Peracchia hit a ground ball that went through
the legs of shortstop Al Fitch, scoring two runs. Peracchia went to third as
the throw from left field went to the plate. Erik Ruff singled into center
field for another run, then took second on another wild pitch. He scored on
Dave Stauffer's RBI single to right field. Stauffer was thrown out at second on
Chad Waelchli's sacrifice attempt. Waelchli scored from first on Kyle Ruff's
wind-blown double into right field. Ruff moved to third on another wild pitch,
then Tony D'Amico was hit by a pitch. Stecker's second hit of the inning
brought home Ruff, then D'Amico and Stecker advanced on Melcher's fourth wild
pitch of the inning. Melcher was ejected after hitting Mohlmann. Matt Fidler
came on in relief and retired Peracchia to end the inning.
Gabelsville
got right back into the game in the second inning. Drew Hoffman and Ed Reilly
singled to start the inning, then Hoffman scored on Dave Pence's double. After
striking out Todd Stapleton, Stewart surrendered an RBI single to Rodney Miller
and a two-run single to A.J. Bohn, his first hit of the series. Fitch followed
with a single, but Greg Gilbert struck out and Jeff Evans grounded out to end
the inning.
After Fitch's
single, Stewart settled down to retire 17 out of the last 20 batters he faced,
allowing two more hits to Fitch, while Pence reached first on an error. His
counterpart Fidler was equally impressive, retiring 16 of the 19 batters he
faced, including ten in a row.
Fidler allowed
one run in the fifth inning when he walked Cory Schneck and served up a double
by Waelchli. Kyle Ruff then hit a fly ball into right that was deep enough for
Schneck to score. Fidler got D'Amico to line out to third base to end the
inning and the scoring for the day.
Three
batters had multiple hits: Fitch of Gabelsville with three, while Stecker and
Erik Ruff of ICC had two apiece. Stecker finished the series with six hits.
Stewart was named MVP after going 3-0 with two starts and a relief win. He
struck out 14 in 15 2/3 innings of work with an ERA of 2.23.
The ICC Pirates will
face the Lehigh Township Brewers in a meeting of two teams seeking their first
championship. Game One is Saturday evening at 5:00 at Bryfogle Park in
Berlinsville. Expect Ryan Lindley to be pitching for the Pirates against Geoff
Kelowitz for the Brewers.
|
