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Sullivan's late double
leads Owls to victory
Gabelsville's offense makes
late-inning adjustments to score 4 in the 6th to win Game 1.
GABELSVILLE
-- It is often said that pitching and defense
win championships.
However, if pitching and defense are not
the deciding factors in a given game, then the difference between winning and
losing will often come down to adjustments and execution.
The Gabelsville Owls' franchise has 14
league titles since their entry into the league in 1981. And their formula for
success over their dominant run in the league is based on a simple checklist:
Solid pitching. Check.
Solid defense: Check.
In-game execution: Check.
In-game adjustments: Check.
The Owls had their list and they were
checking it twice, and they decided to add another item to their list on
Tuesday.
Clutch hitting.
Veteran Shawn Betz had a big two-out
single in the third to tie the game, but it was rookie Brandon Sullivan who
delivered the deciding blow with a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth to
turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead and eventual 6-3 victory as the Owls drew
first blood in Game 1 of the best-of-5 championship series.
Both teams would love to win a
championship in their respective anniversary seasons.
The Owls are currently playing in their
30th Trico season and the Bulls are in their 40th Trico season.
These two teams have combined to win 20
out of the last 34 league championships and it will be 21 of 35 after this
series concludes.
The two teams have met four times in the
championship round and the Owls hold a 3-1 series edge there. The Owls swept the
best-of-3 series in 1984. Limeport won in four games in 1997. The Owls won 3-0
in 1999 and 3-2 in 2000.
Lots of history between these two
franchises. So it was no surprise that there was a well-played, exciting game in
the 2010 Finals opener.
Limeport southpaw Matt Wiltrout retired
the Owls 1-2-3 in the first, but he had a wild spell to start the home half of
the second. He plunked Shawn Betz to start the inning, walked Gary Hessler on
five pitches and then hit Mike Schwager two pitches later and Schwager was
trying to sacrifice.
The Owls had the bases loaded with no
outs. And no hits.
To his credit, Wiltrout wriggled out of
the self-inflicted jam by only allowing a single run on a sacrifice fly to left
by Brett Umstead. It was 1-0 Owls.
Limeport answered immediately in the top
of the third. Matt Nuhfer drew a one-out walk and scurried to third on
base-knock to right by Scott Garger. Dan Hemberger grounded to second to plate
Nuhfer and Garger took second. After a wild pitch moved Garger to third, Ben
Swatsky got one off the end of the bat for a hump-back, broken-bat liner between
first and second for a RBI single to right and it was now 2-1 Bulls.
Another hit-batsman got Limeport in
trouble in the home half of the third. Ryan Zakszeski was plunked on a 1-1 pitch
with one out. A grounder to first moved him 90 feet to second base where
courtesy runner Dan Pierce replaced him. Betz stepped up and ripped a hot-shot
inside the bag at third for a RBI single and the game was tied at 2-2.
Owls' starter Tim Mayza struggled a bit
with his command and was lifted after four innings and replaced by Hessler to
start the fifth.
Hessler immediately walked Garger on
five pitches and he was promptly sacrificed to second by Hemberger. Swatsky
bounced a single to left, but Garger had to wait for the ball to get through the
left side before moving to third and he had to hold there with one out. Swatsky
then took off for second and was thrown out on a perfect throw by Zakszeski, but
Garger smartly scampered home with the go-ahead run and it was 3-2 Bulls.
It stayed that way until the bottom of
the sixth. Schwager led off the inning with a single to left. A hit-and-run
attempt turned into a fly-out, but Pierce, who entered the game at first base
when Hessler took the mound in the fifth came up and blooped a single to center
to put runners on first and second with one out. That is when Sullivan delivered
his long drive to deep center that went for a two-run double and a 4-3 Owls
lead. Three pitches later, Josh Martin singled to center through the drawn-in
infield to make it 5-3 Gabelsville. The Owls would score an unearned tally to
make it 6-3 and Todd Stapleton came in to close out the Bulls in order in the
seventh and Gabelsville had the Game One victory.
"It was big to get the first win as it
puts us in the driver's seat," said Sullivan, the Ursinus junior-to-be and Owls'
rookie. "We had to adjust to his offspeed pitches that kept us off balance. I
made adjustments at the plate with every at-bat."
"We have the same approach every game
and that is to make [the opposing pitcher] throw strikes," said Gabelsville
manager Matt Danner. "We had opportunities throughout the game and we were
fortunate enough to take advantage of [the sixth inning opportunity]."
The Owls took advantage of most of their
opportunities and waited out Wiltrout, making adjustments at the plate the third
time through the order to eventually mount the game-winning rally.
However, the Bulls were unable to cash
in on a few early chances.
"We looked pretty solid defensively and
[Wiltrout] did a great job pitching for five innings," said Limeport manager Pat
Lane. "But they gave us so many opportunities in the first four or five innings
to score and we didn't capitalize. Having a two or three-run lead instead of a
one-run lead is a big difference in a game like this."
The Bulls will get their chance to even
the series on Wednesday as the series moves to Limeport Stadium with the Game 2
start time slated for 7:30. Lane is sending Ryan Palos to the mound for Limeport
while Danner sends Shawn Betz to the hill for Gabelsville.
Ben Swatsky was 2-for-3 with a RBI and
Brian Ernst was 2-for-3 for Limeport (23-13). Shawn Betz was 2-for-3 with a RBI
for Gabelsville (28-7).
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