Limeport wins thriller, 11-10

Bulls blow 7-1, 9-4 and 10-7 leads, but still beat Coplay in 8 innings to win Game 1.

By Steve Smull

    LIMEPORT -- Brendan McGaheran worked an 8-pitch walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth to lift the Bulls to a thrilling 11-10 victory in a wild and wacky, two-hour and fifty minute (not counting the 20-minute umpire delay) Game 1 of the Trico Semifinals Friday evening.

    Game 1 was a rematch of their season finale on July 29, also at Limeport, also decided in extra innings, also decided by one run and also having the same exact pitchers of record as tonight's contest. But this game was a bit more entertaining, if not downright zany.

    It has been said that pitching and defense wins championships in baseball.

    So with that said, Coplay needs to sure up one half of that equation in an awful hurry or they will find themselves on the sidelines looking for their golf clubs by the end of the weekend.

    The pitching part of the equation was just fine for the Reds, as Kutztown sophomore Derick Reis did his absolute best to scatter nine hits in six innings of work, considering he had to work around four errors. Somebody looking at the linescore for this game may think Reis had a rough outing, but if you look at the boxscore more closely, you will see that Reis allowed just one earned run among the 10 that he got charged with.

    Chad Arnold, now a grizzled veteran of the league, who still wins as he finished the 2006 season with a 3-1 record and had an ERA under 1.00, took the mound for Limeport. He had a relatively easy opening inning, allowing a two-out single to Brandon Leslie and nothing else. Reis countered with an easy inning of his own, setting the Bulls down in order in the home half of the first.

    Arnold would allow another two-out hit in the second inning, but this one was a home run to left by J.R. Graver, giving Coplay a 1-0 lead.

    That lead would not last long.

    Pat Hollander led off the Limeport second with a ground-ball to first that hit the lip and bounced over Kirk Mueller's head for a bad-hop single.

    But that might be considered good news for the Reds compared to what was going to follow.

    Joe Pochron laced a hard grounder to short, which certainly was a tough chance considering the in-between hop, but it went as an error since it was right at the shortstop and had the potential to be a double-play. Things would not get any better for Reis and the Reds as Shawn Brown laid down a nice sacrifice bunt to first which ended up being mishandled for another error to load the bases with nobody out. After a fly-out to center was not deep enough to advance any runners, Kevin Kershner blooped a single to center to tie the game at 1-1. Reis got a big strikeout for the second out of the inning and it looked like Coplay might squirm out of this huge jam by only allowing one run.

    The Reds could only wish they would be that lucky.

    Leadoff man Luke Pile smashed a double deep into the right-center field gap that would clear the bases and make the score 4-1 Limeport. Pat Lane hit a grounder to third that was thrown away at first, scoring Pile to make the score 5-1. A wild pitch moved Lane to third before Matt Geiger walked on four pitches. Up stepped Hollander to the plate. Before he worked an 8-pitch walk, another wild pitch scored Lane to make it 6-1 Bulls and Geiger smartly took two bases on the play, going from first to third. Pochron then singled to left-center, scoring Geiger to make it 7-1 Limeport. Reis then got a strikeout to end the nightmare inning, where all seven runs scored by Limeport were unearned.

    Instead of hanging their heads, the Reds got a few runs right back in the third.

    Kyle Rhoades laid down a bunt single with one out and Mueller reached safely on a fielder's choice error at second base. Leslie whacked a slicing double down the right-field line, scoring Rhoades to make the score 7-2. Kevin Thompson, who saw five pitches (all curveballs) in his first at-bat, saw seven more curveballs in his second AB, and the twelfth one must have been the charm, as Thompson ripped the 3-2 pitch into the right-centerfield gap for a two-run double to cut the deficit to 7-4. Arnold then retired the next two batters to prevent any further damage.

    Limeport would come right back and tally two more unearned runs in their half of the third.

    Jeremy Bartha singled off the third-base bag, and then advanced to second on the play as the throw to first went out of play. After Kershner did his job, grounding to first to advance Bartha to third, some bad decision-making cost Coplay an out and a run. A grounder to first was fielded cleanly, but as the first-baseman checked Bartha, he let him stray too far towards home, so when he did make a move to get the out at first, Bartha took off and scored and the Reds did not even get an out on the fielder's choice RBI ground-out, as Dave Shoemaker was safe at first on the play. After a Pile walk and a fly-out, Geiger singled up the middle to increase the Limeport lead to 9-4, with all nine tallies going into the unearned runs' column.

    Coplay was all but given up for dead at this point, but they would rally again in the fifth and make this a ball game.

    Arnold, for the fourth time in five innings, retired the first two batters in the fifth. Then Leslie singled, Thompson walked on some close pitches, and Caleb Calarco lined a single to left, scoring Leslie to make the score 9-5. On the play, Thompson moved to third and Calarco smartly took second on the throw to third. Limeport Player-Manager Chris Parsell went to the mound to take Arnold out of the game, and the veteran southpaw stared at the home plate umpire during his entire trek to the Limeport dugout.

    Exit Arnold. Enter Jeff Krauss.

    Mike Bortz was first to face Krauss, and he was quickly down in the count 1-2. But Bortz fouled off three tough pitches before blooping a single to left-center, scoring Thompson and Calarco to cut the deficit to 9-7.

    Things would stay that way until the bottom of the sixth.

    Hollander walked to start the frame and was lifted for pinch-runner Sean Donchez. Pochron sacrificed Donchez to second, and after a strikeout, McGaheran worked the count full before blooping a double down the left-field line, scoring Donchez with a big insurance run to make it 10-7 Limeport.

    And that run would be huge because Coplay would mount yet another rally in the seventh.

    Leslie started the inning by taking two straight fastballs for strikes, but he battled hard, fouling off the next pitch before getting just enough of the fourth pitch to place it right over the bag at second for a seeing-eye single. Thompson then laced a single up the middle to put runners on first and second. After a fly-out, Bortz singled to left to load the bases. But a grounder to short was going to apparently be a game-ending double-play, but the throw to first went out of play to score two runs to make it 10-9, Bulls. On the play, Graver took second and he was credited with one RBI because the rulebook states that you cannot assume a double-play on any ground-ball.

    So with two outs and the tying run in scoring position at second, it was up to Jose Medina to keep the game alive.

    And this was practically déjà vu all over again, because this situation invoked memories from the Trico playoffs from six seasons ago.

    It was almost six years ago to the day when Medina, wearing a Lehigh Township Brewers' uniform, stepped to the plate with one out in the top of the seventh, with the #5 seed Brewers trailing 2-1 in Game 3 of the Semifinals right here at Limeport (the #1 seed) on August 7, 2000, and he delivered a game-tying solo home run. Rather than take a home run trot, Medina practically danced around the bases.

    Could Medina deliver yet another clutch performance on the Limeport stage?

    The answer would come on the first pitch, a fastball that Medina slammed into the alley in right-center for a game-tying triple, knocking in Graver to make the score 10-10. Krauss would induce a fly-out four pitches later to keep the game tied.

    Exit Reis. Enter Leslie.

    The Coplay ace would find danger in the home half of the seventh in the name of Luke Pile, who smacked his second double of the game to right-center with one out. He would then advance to third on Leslie's next delivery, a wild pitch. But Leslie would bare down to get a big strikeout and a fly-out to send the game into extra innings.

    Coplay went relatively quietly in the eighth, as Krauss worked around a two-out single by Leslie, his fifth hit of the game.

    But Limeport would not go quietly in the bottom of the eighth.

    Pinch-hitter Jeff Cavanaugh hit an 0-2 mistake for a single down the left-field line to start the inning. He was lifted for pinch-runner (and scheduled Game 2 starter) Ryan Walter. Pochron laid down a nice sacrifice bunt, which ended up going as an error as the third-baseman took his eye off the ball and everybody was safe. A wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet and Leslie was left with no choice but to intentionally walk Glenn Kushma to load the bases with nobody out.

    This set the stage for McGaheran, the 17-year old Nazareth High product/stud, who fell behind quickly 0-2, but battled back and worked an 8-pitch walk to score Walter with the game-winner and lift Limeport to victory in this roller-coaster game.

    Leslie finished the game going 5-for-5, while Thompson was 2-for-4, Bortz was 2-for-4 and Graver had a home run for Coplay. For Limeport, 11 different players scored their runs and Pile was 3-for-4 with two doubles and 3 RBI and Pochron was 2-for-4.

    Game 2 goes at 5:00 p.m. at Scherersville #5 on Saturday. Limeport will send Ryan Walter to the mound while Coplay counters with Jose Medina.