Golden Boys shine under the lights
August 11, 2011 - The biggest rivalry in Johnstown these days has been between Delweld and Martella's Pharmacy. Delweld's string of four consecutive league championships was ended this year when a young Martella's club swept them in the finals. However, both teams were given berths in the AAABA national tournament and met up on Thursday night for a second time in three years.
Homer puts Orange on top
The Point Stadium was packed with one of the largest non-opening-night crowds in recent memory. Fans came out to see the two Johnstown teams battle in the elimination game and for the concert by popular Pittsburgh band The Clarks.
Martella's starter Max Henry allowed a double to Nate Campbell and a run-scoring triple to Matt Donaldson, but struck out the other three batters to limit Delweld's lead to 1.
The Pharmacists have been used to playing from behind early in games this week, but quickly erased this small deficit. With one out, Delweld starter Ryan Loutsenhiser walked Max McDowell and Scott Dixon before Mike Cima reached on a single to left. David McKolosky brought in one run with a fielder's-choice play, but Brett Quiggle brought in three with a home run to right centerfield by the band's stage.
"It was actually a great pitch he hit. It was a down-and-away change-up and he went down and away and got it, so credit him," explained Delsignore.
Delweld quickly ties the score
After five combined runs in the first, the second belonged to the pitchers. Henry struck out another 3 and Loutsenhiser got two. By the end of the game, both teams had recorded 14 strikeouts, meaning that slightly more than half of all outs in the contest were handled by the pitchers.
In the third, Henry added two more strike outs to start, but let up a triple to Nate Campbell that was hit in the same spot as Quiggle's homer. Donaldson then walked, and Zach Vignero singled up the right gap to score a run. Josh Robinette and Eric Weyant both singled to right, scoring one run on each hit to tie the game at four. Delweld stranded two in that inning and 8 overall.
McDowell led off the third for Martella's with a double to the notch in centerfield, but Loutsenhiser recorded two more strike-outs and one ground out to keep the game tied.
"Before the game, [nerves] got to me a little bit," admitted Loutsenhiser. "I came out a little shaky, but after got used to it, I really settled down and did good after that."
Hitting rally brings in three for Welders
In the fourth, Henry struck out Logan Brown, but allowed hits to lead-off Drew McCabe and third-batter Zach Solarczyk, which prompted a pitching change. Max Stasiser came in to pitch. His first opponent was Campbell, who flew out to score a run. Donaldson then doubled off the wall in left-center to score a second. Vignero doubled up the middle for a third run, before Robinette grounded out to second. Delweld now had 10 hits and a 7-4 lead through 3-1/2 innings. Martella's could only manage a walk in the fourth.
"Hitting is contagious and we were able to get some hits to fall," said Delsignore. "I knew that things were going to start going the other way for us .Campbell set the tone early with the double, then Matty followed with the triple."
Pharmacists can't get the big hit
In the fifth, Strasiser walked two batters with two outs, but got Solarczyk to pop-out, stranding them both. In the bottom of the fifth, McDowell doubled to center with one out, but was caught in a run-down when Scott Dixon sent a liner back to the pitcher. The Pharmacists got that base runner back when Cima walked, which was followed by a single by McKolosky to load the bases. However, Quiggle grounded out to first base to leave the bases loaded.
Delweld went down in order in the sixth, with two more strike-outs from Strasiser.
"He's a young 17-year-old kid and every time we put him on the mound in a tough situation, he had all the composure in the world and he gave us a shot to win the game. I'm very proud of his effort," said Pfeil of Strasiser.
In the bottom of the sixth, Matt McMillen reached on a single despite a good stop by short-stop Weyant. After fly-outs from designated-hitter Brian Weightman and Jesse Cooper, McMillen stole second. While he took the base, it couldn't be said he stole safely, as he met shortstop Weyant face-to-knee and was down for a couple minutes. McMillen would be all right and continued the game. Dan Abbenante walked to put men on first and second, so manager Chris Delsignore brought in Nate Plummer to pitch. He hit the first batter he faced (McDowell), but Dixon chopped a pitch to first base to end the inning with three more runners stranded. The Pharmacists ended the game with 11 men left-on-base.
"We stranded some runners there in the middle innings, we left the bases loaded twice, and that was probably the difference in the game," said Pfeil. "They got the big hits when they needed to and we didn't."
"[Loutsenhiser] was awesome tonight, he gave us what we needed (starter), then Nate came in and finished the sixth and was able to preserve the lead so we could bring Andy in for the final two," said Delsignore.
Delweld again only managed a walk in the seventh as Strasiser continued to pitch well. After the stretch, Quiggle hit a triple to right-centerfield with two outs. He came home when McMillen reached first on an error: the first baseman dropped the throw. McMillen made it into scoring position on a wild pitch, but was left there as Weightman popped up to the catcher.
Another quick inning for Delweld, as Brown struck out, Campbell grounded out, and Solarczyk was robbed by an amazing full-dive catch by second baseman McMillan. While offense usually gets the attention, it should be noted that McMillan has made at least one great diving catch in each of Martella's four games.
Smithmyer strikes out six
Ace Andy Smithmyer came in to close the game for Delweld in the eighth. He struck out both Cooper and Abbenante, but the hot-hitting McDowell singled off the screen. He advanced to second on a wild pitch from Smithmyer, but Dixon struck out to end the inning.
In the ninth, the Golden Boys added a run when Weyant singled to right field, scoring Donaldson from third. Donaldson had reached on a book-rule double, walk to Vignero, and stolen base. Delweld ended their own inning early, as Alex Martin popped up in foul territory in front of his own bench, and first baseman Dixon alertly threw to first to double-up Weyant who had wandered down toward second.
The Pharmacists were down to their final three outs, but got off on the right foot as Smitmyer walked Cima to lead off. Kyle Zambanini came in to pinch-runner, but could not move for a while, as both McKolosky and Quiggle were struck out. With two outs and their season on the line, the previously-injured McMillen hit a run-scoring double to centerfield to cut the lead to two. However, Smitmyer struck out Brian Weightman swinging to end the game.
"I'm not 100%," said Smitmyer, "but the adrenaline and the fans and the whole atmosphere really got me through it."
"I told our guys before the game started that tonight that when they think about this tournament years from now, they're going to think about this night," said Delsignore.
"We have a great team. This was a special summer," said Pfeil. "I don't think anybody gave us a shot at winning this league when we came in, and we're proud of what we did. We fell short tonight, but they [Delweld] do a great job over there. They have a great program and we hope they can stick around the rest of the week."
The loss eliminates Martella's Pharmacy, as the Golden Boys from Delweld once again come out on top. Delweld will play Livonia at the Point Stadium tonight at 7:00pm, with fireworks to follow the game. New Orleans and Cleveland match-up at the Point Stadium at 1:00pm. Baltimore is off until Saturday, when they will face the winner of the Johnstown/Livonia game.
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