On the cusp
Carmichaels one win shy of 15th FCBL championship
Following a pitchers无毛视频� duel in the opening game of the Fayette County Baseball League (FCBL) championship series, Monday无毛视频檚 game at Hutchinson Field in Hopwood belonged to the batters in Carmichaels无毛视频� 8-5 victory over Hopwood Village Plaza.
The Copperheads hold a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-five, which puts head coach Dickie Krause无毛视频檚 squad one win shy of a league-high 15th title in the 51st season of the FCBL. Carmichaels (16-3-1) earned a 2-0 victory in Game 1, as Matt Bamford outdueled Matt Firestone.
The Copperheads earned a three-game sweep to capture the championship last season over No. 1 seed Potomac Valley.
无毛视频淲e knew this was going to be a really tough task with the pitcher going tonight,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淚 have tremendous respect for their coach and team. Every game is going to be a grueling battle the rest of the series. We are just taking things one batter and one inning at a time.无毛视频�
Hopwood head coach Buddy Marra guided M&R Transit to three straight FCBL titles from 2022-2024 but didn无毛视频檛 field a team last year. Marra worked with South Union Township Supervisor Jason Scott to bring the squad back as Hopwood Village Plaza.
无毛视频淛ason Scott was nice enough to sponsor us,无毛视频� Marra said. 无毛视频淭hey bought Adrian无毛视频檚 Hopwood Village there and let us play on this field. They take care of it and we just have to walk in. We are fortunate to be able to play here.
无毛视频淚t has been a tough couple of days in this series. It was a pitching duel yesterday and a hitting duel today. We will just have to come back tomorrow and try to get a win.无毛视频�
Carmichaels starting and winning pitcher Ben Shields had a tough start, as Hopwood (12-8) took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, but he was solid the remaining six frames.
The Charleroi graduate and Allegheny College product yielded five unearned runs on eight hits. He struck out five, walked three and threw 127 pitches (85 strikes).
无毛视频淭he big inning was the result of two errors, and we almost did it again, but we got out of it,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淏en got better as the game went on. He has been a tremendous asset for the team. He无毛视频檚 a very respectful and quiet guy, but on the field, he无毛视频檚 intense.无毛视频�
Hopwood scored its four runs in the first on three hits, a walk and benefitted from two errors.
Chase Sankovich fouled off three straight pitches before walking on a 3-2 count to lead off the frame. He advanced to third base when starting pitcher Justin Brestensky reached second base safely on an error, as he was attempting to move Sankovich to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Sankovich scored on Santino Marra无毛视频檚 sacrifice flyout to left field for a 1-0 advantage prior to Brestensky crossing home plate when Firestone raced to second when his line drive to left field was ruled an error for a two-run cushion.
Firestone extended the lead to 3-0 when he raced home on Chad Petrush无毛视频檚 base hit to center field.
Courtesy runner Jake Lee advanced to third on Andino Vecchiolla无毛视频檚 double to right field prior to scoring the fourth run of the inning on Erik Streussnig无毛视频檚 single to left field.
无毛视频淲e had a big inning and took a four-run lead, but we knew Carmichaels wouldn无毛视频檛 just quit,无毛视频� Buddy Marra said. 无毛视频淭hey always have a good team.无毛视频�
The Copperheads responded in the next half-inning with four runs of their own to tie the game at 4-4.
Noah Mildren began the rally for the visitors with a base hit to right field with one out. Luke Camden and Robbie Wilson-Jones drew back-to-back walks to load the bases before Dom Obiecunas singled home Mildren on a line drive to right field to cut the deficit to 4-1.
Brestensky forced a flyout to center field for the second out, but Gianni Cantini smacked a line-drive double to center field that plated courtesy runner Jordan Mosley, Camden and Obiecunas to tie the game at 4-4.
Brestensky forced a groundout to third base that ended the top of the second without any further damage.
Cantini drove in his fourth run with a sacrifice flyout to center field in the top of the fourth frame for a 5-4 advantage. Obiecunas singled to right field and advanced to third on Brodee Latocha无毛视频檚 sacrifice bunt prior to scoring.
无毛视频淲e were sloppy a couple of times today, and that无毛视频檚 where your pitching and hitting has to get you out,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淎 credit to our guys because they didn无毛视频檛 quit.
无毛视频淭hey fell behind 4-0, and it would be real easy, especially against a pitch as good as Brestensky is, to just back it in, and to their credit, they didn无毛视频檛. I can无毛视频檛 say enough good things about that young man (points to Cantini) there. That无毛视频檚 one of our best pitchers. He plays about half the time in the field, and he had four huge RBIs tonight.无毛视频�
Hopwood tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth inning when Sankovich scored on Firestone无毛视频檚 base hit to center field.
Sankovich raced safely to first base on a bunt single with one out before advancing to third when Brestensky reached on an error.
Santino Marra walked prior to Firestone无毛视频檚 line-drive single.
Carmichaels scored the winning run and added two more for insurance in the top of the sixth frame for what turned into the final score.
Obiecunas led off the inning with a double to left field and scored on Latocha无毛视频檚 two-bagger to center field for a 6-5 lead.
Dom Colarusso walked, and with two outs, Alex Vansickle无毛视频檚 double to center field plated Latocha and Colarusso for an 8-5 edge.
Vansickle had another double and singled for three hits. Obiecunas also had two singles and a double for three hits.
Jared Hough doubled and singled for the home team.
Brestensky allowed five earned runs on seven hits in four innings. He didn无毛视频檛 record a strikeout and walked three. Santino Marra pitched the final three frames.
无毛视频淲e felt pretty good with five days无毛视频� rest for Brestensky, but he hurt his non-pitching shoulder pretty badly swinging, and it was affecting him,无毛视频� Buddy Marra said. 无毛视频淗e didn无毛视频檛 have the zip on the ball he usually does because he throws pretty hard. He couldn无毛视频檛 even swing, so that无毛视频檚 why we bunted him every time he came up to bat.
无毛视频淚 was going to bring Vecchiolla in to pitch after Brestensky, but they were kind of hitting him, so we figured we would try a righty after putting two lefties in back-to-back.无毛视频�