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ICC throttles Lehigh Township
Tony D'Amico and A.J. Peracchia had 4
hits each as ICC wins 15-6 to take a 2-0 series lead.
BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP --
The ICC Pirates moved closer to capturing their first ever Tri-County League
Championship with a 15-6 drubbing of the Lehigh Township Brewers and now have a 2-0
stranglehold in their best-of-five series. The Brewers will try to stay alive Tuesday evening
at Bryfogle Park in Berlinsville in Game Three.
Once again,
the Pirates jumped ahead early and never looked back. Josh Mohlmann led off
hitting a ground ball down the left field line for a double. A.J. Peracchia
followed with a line drive to center for a base knock. Center fielder Omar Torres could not gather
in the bad hop, allowing Mohlmann to score and sending Peracchia to third. Chad
Waelchli singled into right to bring in Peracchia, and was wiped out on a
bizarre play after Erik Ruff struck out. Dave Stauffer hit a ball into right
field, and Bill Fatzinger trapped it, but Stauffer was called safe after
Waelchli returned to first, thinking it was an out. Fatzinger was able to
easily throw Waelchli out at second for a tough fielder’s choice for Stauffer.
Corey Schneck added a single, then Kyle Ruff brought Stauffer home with another
single. Yet another RBI single by Tony D'Amico made it 4-0 Pirates after one
full inning.
ICC added two
more runs in the second. Peracchia hit a one-out single to left, followed by
another single by Waelchli. Waelchli moved to second on a wild pitch by Brandon
Leslie and then Erik Ruff walked to
load the bases. Peracchia and Waelchli scored on an error, then Schneck hit
into a double play to end the inning.
Lehigh Township
struck back, reaching Scott Stewart for four runs in the third inning. Bill
Fatzinger became the Brewers' first baserunner when he hit a one-out single
into right field. Charlie Torres followed with a single, sending Fatzinger to
third, and took second on the throw to third base. Bryn Lindenmuth walked to
load the bases and Steve Smull was hit by a pitch to bring in a run. Eric
Schmitt hit a double play ball to shortstop, erasing Smull, but Todd Brosious's throw
to first went wild and two runs came across and Schmitt went to second. Steve
Unger singled and courtesy runner Joe Bubba scored, and the Brewers were back in the game at 6-4.
They didn't stay in
the game long as ICC struck for five more runs in their half of the inning.
Kyle Ruff, D'Amico, and Brosious hit back-to-back-to-back singles to knock
Leslie out of the game. His replacement, Mike Petrucci, fared little better.
The first batter he faced, Mohlmann, bunted but was safe at first on an error.
Peracchia continued to be a mystery as he tripled in two runs for his third hit
in as many trips to the plate. He scored on Waelchli's sac fly and it was 11-4
Pirates.
Lehigh Township took
back a run in the fourth on two hits. Nick Bowen doubled and moved to third on
a Fatzinger ground out. Charlie Torres singled him home on the first pitch
he saw from Stewart. But Lindenmuth hit a fly to right to end the mini-rally.
After Petrucci threw a scoreless inning, Unger hit a prolific two-out homer to
center to cut the
Pirates lead to 11-6.
Whatever
Petrucci had going in the fourth, he lost in the fifth. Mohlmann was hit by a
pitch to start the frame, then moved to second on Peracchia's single. A bunt by
Waelchli moved them over and then Erik Ruff was intentionally walked to load
the bases for Stauffer. Stauffer made them pay by clearing the bases with a
double down the right field line for a 14-6 lead. Schneck walked and D'Amico
drove in a run with a double, his fourth hit of the day. Brosious struck out to
end the inning, the scoring, and Petrucci's
pitching line.
Unger and
Charlie Torres led Lehigh Township with two hits each, and Unger drove in two
runs. For ICC, D'Amico was 4-for-4 with two RBI, Peracchia was 4-for-5 with
four runs and two RBI, Waelchli was 2-for-2 with two RBI and Kyle Ruff was
2-for-4. Scott Stewart got the win to improve his post-season record to 4-1 and
he struck out five Brewers. Game 3 moves to Lehigh Township at 5:45 on Tuesday.
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