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Yankees defeat Gabelsville 3-1
Matt Reppert tosses a 5-hitter as NY
evens the series at 1-1.
GABELSVILLE
-- The four hottest hitters in the Yankees
lineup all singled in the top of the first to account for two runs and Matt
Reppert made those runs stand up, tossing a five-hitter to lead the Yanks to a
3-1 victory Tuesday to even the best-of-five series at 1-1.
"I am sure Reppert looks easy to hit,
but there aren't many pitchers in the league who can throw their secondary
pitches for strikes the way he does," said Yankees manager Brian Polaha. "He
just keeps throwing changeups with a few curves mixed in and he throws them for
strikes."
Reppert walked just one batter, in fact,
and the Owls only hit three balls hard the entire game entering the seventh
inning.
Meanwhile, the Yankees hit two balls
hard in the first inning alone.
The Yankees had four players hitting
.400 or higher (entering the game) in the postseason, and they all stayed hot in
the top of the first.
Landon Parker (.464), lined a 3-2 pitch
to left to start the game with a single. Mike Fignar sacrificed him to second.
Adam Sandt (.400) blooped a single to right and then had to play dodge-ball as
right-fielder Jared Trout rifled a laser-beam home that just missed Sandt
rounding first. Polaha held Parker at third, smartly, and the Yankees had
runners on the corners and one out. Darrin Lenhart (.455) then executed a
hit-and-run play nicely as he went with an outside pitch for a ground ball for
an RBI single through the vacated spot left behind by Mitch Schueck, who was
covering second base on the steal attempt. Sandt just did make it to third ahead
of yet another rifle shot by Trout, to put runners on the corners again, but
this time with a 1-0 lead. Mike Venarchick (.444) then ripped a two-out single
to left one batter later to plate Sandt and it was 2-0 Yankees.
The two runs allowed in the first by
Owls' southpaw Zeb Engle were more runs then he had allowed the entire season in
29 previous innings. Engle had thrown two postseason shutouts and the only run
he did allow all season was against the ICC Pirates on July 25.
Gabelsville only had one runner reach
third base in the first six innings and that came briefly in the third inning.
Schueck was "briefly" at third base because after he reached on an error to
start the inning and moved up to second on a ground ball, Trout laced a single
to left with two outs. Schueck tried to score from second but was thrown out by
Steve Benavage to keep the score 2-0 Yankees after three innings.
The Yankees added an insurance run in
the fifth. Lenhart laced a ball to deep short which would have been a hit with
most runners and most shortstops. However, it went for an E-6 because Lenhart
does not run that well any more and Owls' shortstop Jon Kalejta has tremendous
range. Kalejta made a great sliding stop on his backhand side, got up, had
plenty of time, but then bobbled the ball and threw low to first. The throw was
there in time, but skipped away. Lenhart then had to trek 270 feet five pitches
later as Jeremy Faust had the hardest hit ball of the day, a long double to deep
right-center that rolled to the fence. Lenhart made it home safely and it was
3-0 Yankees.
It stayed that way until the home half
of the seventh.
Ryan Mark pinch hit to lead off the
inning and promptly slammed a 2-1 pitch off the fence in left for a double. Dan
Pierce then singled to right, scoring Mark, and it was 3-1 Yankees. But Reppert
settled down quickly as he got a fly-out and a 4-6-3 double-play to end the
game.
"I knew it wouldn't be easy," Polaha
said about getting the final three outs of the game. "They got the leadoff
double and then a single and they had some life. Getting that fly-out was
important, though."
"I didn't want to say that this game was
a must win," added Polaha. "But as I thought about it on the drive down here,
the fact is that this was a must win because it is just so hard to win three in
a row against that team. We know we are capable of winning three staright, but
we didn't want to be in a position where we had to do it. This win was huge.
It's now a best-of-three series."
Polaha will send Josh Ziegler to the
hill at Scherersville #5 at 5:45 for Game 3 on Wednesday. Game 4 will be at
Bear Stadium in Boyertown on Thursday at 7:30.
Parker and Lenhart both finished 2-for-4
for the Yankees (30-9-2), while Dan Pierce was 2-for-3 with a double for
Gabelsville (30-9).
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