So close
Carmichaels hangs on to beat Hopwood for 15th FCBL title
CARMICHAELS 无毛视频� Santino Marra dashed around second and third base and raced frantically to home plate as Carmichaels catcher Robbie Wilson-Jones awaited the throw.
Hopwood Village Plaza无毛视频檚 Chad Petrush had laced a double into center field to bring in Andino Vecchiolla, cutting Carmichaels无毛视频� two-run lead to one, and Marra neared home plate hoping to score the tying run with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.
Dom Colarusso无毛视频檚 strong throw came slightly to Wilson-Jones无毛视频� right. He grabbed it and lunged to tag Marra who went into a head-first slide.
The play was extremely close 无毛视频� and the call was 无毛视频渙ut.无毛视频�
The Copperheads had hung on to claim a 4-3 victory and a three-game sweep of Hopwood in the Fayette County Baseball League finals.
The series was much closer than the 3-0 final count.
Each of the three games 无毛视频� Carmichaels won Game 1, 2-0, and rallied to win Game 2, 8-5 无毛视频� was a tight, tense battle.
无毛视频淲e were in every single game,无毛视频� Hopwood manager Buddy Marra said. 无毛视频淲e were a couple plays away. I know it was 3-0 but it was a great series.无毛视频�
Carmichaels manager Dickie Krause, whose team claimed its league-record 15th championship and second in a row, agreed.
无毛视频淭he whole series was so tight. You couldn无毛视频檛 take an inning off,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淚t was just two very good baseball teams going really hard at each other, and that无毛视频檚 what this league is supposed to be about. Credit to them. They were missing some guys in Game 1 and then the squads went at each other so tough in Game 2 and again in Game 3.无毛视频�
The outcome came down to the final play.
The Copperheads entered the seventh inning with a 4-2 lead. Gianni Cantini, who relieved starter Ethan Erhard in the fourth inning, got two quick outs, the first on a tough grounder to shortstop Colarusso. Vecchiolla kept Hopwood无毛视频檚 hopes alive with a double, bringing up Marra and prompting a mound visit by Krause, who opted for an intentional walk.
无毛视频淪antino Marra has been a league MVP numerous times, he was on our team last year, he无毛视频檚 a phenomenal baseball player, he holds the PSAC record for hits, he无毛视频檚 got great power, we无毛视频檙e in a park that无毛视频檚 not that big,无毛视频� Krause said in explaining his decision. 无毛视频淪o, yeah, I realize I无毛视频檓 putting the tying run on base but if I let him hit a home run to tie the game, I无毛视频檓 not doing my job.
无毛视频淣o disrespect whatsoever to Chad, who无毛视频檚 a great catcher and a good hitter. I didn无毛视频檛 like seeing him up there either. But it really didn无毛视频檛 matter who was on deck, I have a base open so it was a no-brainer to me to bypass Santino.无毛视频�
The move to walk his son didn无毛视频檛 surprise Buddy Marra.
无毛视频淚 knew they were going to do that but Chad made them pay for it 无毛视频� or he almost did if we would无毛视频檝e got that call at the plate,无毛视频� he said.
Petrush drilled a 3-1 pitch for a hit towards center fielder Brodee Latocha with Vecchiolla scoring easily and Santino Marra following behind.
无毛视频淭he ball took a skip in the grass and I got a little worried,无毛视频� Latocha said. 无毛视频淏ut I rushed to it, got it, saw Dom and threw it to him and just hoped.无毛视频�
无毛视频淗e hits the cut-off man and that was key,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淗ow many times in high school do you see they don无毛视频檛 hit the cut-off man? And Dom made a hell of a throw.无毛视频�
Colarusso quickly snagged the throw from Latocha, whirled around and fired to home plate.
无毛视频淚 didn无毛视频檛 know where Santino was, coming around third, but I knew it was going to be close,无毛视频� Colarusso said. 无毛视频淚 couldn无毛视频檛 tell from where I was what the call would be.无毛视频�
Wilson-Jones didn无毛视频檛 know either.
无毛视频淚t was too close to call,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淭hose guys did a great job. Dom made a really good throw. It was drifting a little to my right but it got there in just enough time where I could grab it and get the tag down. I didn无毛视频檛 even think I had the ball in my glove but the umpire called him out and I looked in and saw I still had it.无毛视频�
Krause watched and awaited the call.
无毛视频淚 couldn无毛视频檛 see from as far away as I was,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淚 just knew it was very, very close. I无毛视频檓 just thankful we got the call.无毛视频�
Colarusso pumped his fist in celebration.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 awesome, a great feeling,无毛视频� he said of taking part in the game-ending play.
Carmichaels (17-3-1) took control early, scoring three runs in the first inning off Vecchiolla.
Colarusso drew a lead-off walk, took third when Alex Vansickle dropped a double down the left-field line and scored on Noah Mildren无毛视频檚 ground out. After Ben Shields walked, Luke Camden drilled a two-run double to center.
无毛视频淟uke crushed it,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淭hat was the hit of the game.无毛视频�
The Copperheads pushed across what proved to be the winning run in the third inning.
Vansickle, Mildred and Camden each drew walks to load the bases with one out. Buddy Marra then opted to bring in Erik Streussnig for Vecchiolla.
无毛视频淩ik hurt his foot in yesterday无毛视频檚 game and was at the doctors today getting x-rays and they were negative,无毛视频� Marra said. 无毛视频淲e were planning on starting him. He throws the ball hard. When we got in some trouble there he said he was ready to go, so I went with him.无毛视频�
Streussnig got a strikeout but then hit Wilson-Jones with a pitch that brought in Vansickle to make it 4-0.
Hopwood (12-9) got to Erhard for two runs in the fourth inning to slice the lead in half.
Matthew Firestone made it 4-1 when he smashed a home run to left. Erhard recorded a pair of strikeouts before giving up a single to Streussnig and a walk to Anthony Piasecki. Chase Sankovich then singled on a sharp grounder up the middle to bring in courtesy runner Robbie Andrews.
Krause called on Cantini to relieve Erhard and he got an inning-ending strikeout.
Krause commended Erhard无毛视频檚 effort.
无毛视频淲e put him in a spot where he had only started one other game this year because of schedules basically,无毛视频� Krause explained. 无毛视频淲e were hoping to get maybe four from him and we got three and two-thirds, which I was pleased with.
无毛视频淗e comes in, he无毛视频檚 committed to this, he works hard at it. He was a good player at Waynesburg University and was a student of mine there. He无毛视频檚 a really polite, good kid and I无毛视频檓 happy he played a key role in us winning today.无毛视频�
The Copperheads threatened to extend their lead in the fifth when Shields hit a one-out double to center but Streussnig got a ground out and a strikeout to keep the score at 4-2.
Hopwood had a chance to cut into the lead in the sixth inning. Justin Brestensky led off with a single, stole second and then attempted to steal third with two outs and Piasecki batting but was gunned down by Wilson-Jones无毛视频� perfect throw to third baseman Mildren.
Erhard gave up two runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Cantini tossed the final 3.1 innings, coughing up one run on three hits with a walk and four strikeouts in earning the win.
无毛视频淕ianni did the job, although I would无毛视频檝e liked the ending to be a lot less exciting than that,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淏ut we无毛视频檒l take the end result.无毛视频�
Wilson-Jones accounted for two of Carmichaels无毛视频� six hits. Vecchiolla and Firestone had two hits apiece for Hopwood which wound up with eight hits.
Vecchiolla surrendered four runs on four hits and five walks with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings in taking the loss. Streussnig pitched 3.2 scoreless frames, allowing two hits, one walk and the hit batter with five strikeouts.
Both managers lauded their opponent.
无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e a class act, from their coach to their players and, of course, they have two (Marra and Vecchiolla) that played for us last year,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淭he whole series was all about baseball. I have tremendous respect for them.无毛视频�
Buddy Marra returned the compliment.
无毛视频淢y hat无毛视频檚 off to Carmichaels,无毛视频� Marra said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e a good team, a good defensive team, a good pitching team. They earned it. From the coaches to the players, they无毛视频檙e respectful people.
无毛视频淢y guys have big hearts. They gave it their all.无毛视频�