Livonia blasts to 16-0 win on fireworks Friday
August 12, 2011 - A night after defeating arch rival Martella's Pharmacy, Johnstown's Delweld club looked emotionally and physically exhausted again a surging Livonian team. The Michigan Cobras brought their own bombs to fireworks night, exploding for 16 runs on 17 hits, including two, three-run home runs from Ryan Lech.
Cobras strike quickly
Delweld went down in four batters in the top of the first. Nate Campbell walked, Matt Donaldson struck out, and both Zack Solarczyk and Zach Vignero grounded out. In the bottom of the first, Livonia put 3 runs on the board. After lead-off batter Brad Lineberry grounded out, Bradley Guenther tripled off the top of the brick wall in left-centerfield. Steve Pelletier doubled to bring him home. Ryan Lech then singled and stole second, followed by a walk to Victor Barron. Ricky Samuel then tripled to right field, scoring Lech and Barron. Christopher Gebara grounded out, stranding one.
In the second, another 4-batter inning for Delweld. Livonia starter Brock Bates retained his no-hitter, as Drew McCabe reached on an error.
New pitcher, same results
Delweld manager Chris Delsignore pulled starter Zach Solarczyk after the first and replaced him with Pitt-Johnstown freshman Logan Brown, but the results were the same. Eric Glanz led off with a single. Marc Zughaib walked, Brad Lineberry singled, and Guenther walked to bring in a run. Brown struck out both Pelletier and Lech, giving Johnstown hope of escaping the inning with minimal damager, but he then walked Barron and gave up a single to Samuel, increasing the lead to 6-0. Brad Ditzler was brought in to pitch and got Gebara to fly out to right field to end the inning with the bases loaded.
"They were ready to go today. The kids came out swinging," said Livonia manager Todd Miller. "Ryan Lech had a huge day for us, and he's had a huge tournament. He's been a great player for us all year."
Lech homers as bats stay hot
Bates sent Johnstown down in order in the third, with a strike-out and two ground-outs. His team gave him even more run support in the bottom of the inning. After two quick outs against Glanz and Zughaib, Lineberry singled to center and stole second. He scored on Guenther's single. Pelletier reached on an error. Then, Madonna University athlete Ryan Lech launched a 3-run home run over the Screen Monster and the rout was on. Livonia led 10-0 after 3 innings.
"Going up there, I didnt expect to [hit a home run], but when I get that pitch that I like, I just take the biggest swing I can," said Lech. "Watching it go over, I was cheering it on because it's hard to tell whether it clear the screen or not."
Bates' no-hitter continued into the fourth. Donaldson and Eric Weyant grounded out, while Vignero flew out to right. Josh Robinette reached safely when shortstop Barron tripped while trying to make a throw to first. He was given an error.
In the bottom of the fourth, Delsignore tried his luck with pitcher Justin Gdula. He walked Gebara and gave up a double to Glanz. Gebara scored on a wild pitch, and Glanz scored from third on Zughaib's ground out to second base. Gdula struck out Lineberry, but Guenther singled (4 hits and 1 walk in 5 at-bats) and then a run-scoring double to Pelletier that hit off the brick wall in center. Pelletier was thrown out a third trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
Johnstown gets first hit but Lech homers again
"Brock threw a great game," said Miller of starter Brock Bates. "Becauses he's so tall, he throws down hill, so guys hit the top of the ball a lot and beat it into the ground. Our defense made some nice plays today." Delweld hit into 12 ground outs in the game while striking out three times.
Johnstown finally erased the no-hitter when pinch-hitter Joel Polites singled to right field. He was stranded as Delweld went down in 4 batters. On the plus side, Gdula was able to retire the Michigan Cobras without a hit or run in the bottom of the fourth, including a strike-out of Barron.
Zach Vignero doubled off the screen with two outs in the top of the sixth, which was Johnstown's second and last hit of the night. Polites was now called on to pitch for Delweld. Lead-off batter Zughaib grounded out, but both Lineberry and Guenther singled. Polites struck out Pelletier, but then Ryan Lech hit his second 3-run home run over the Screen Monster is left. He finished the night with 3 hits, 2 home-runs, 6 RBIs, a walk and a strike-out. He also assisted on 6 outs playing at second base, including the final out of the game.
"We started off the week with a loss, so we knew the rest of the week we had to come out and play hard," said Lech. "We went into that [first] game expecting to win, and I think that was wrong to do, but afterwards, I think we built on it. We knew we had to come out and play better."
Final game ends early for Delweld
With the score now 16-0, it was all but over for Delweld. In the top of the seventh, Weyant led offf with a walk, but McCabe, Polites, and Ryan Sylvia all grounded out to end the inning and the game, as Livonia's Michigan Cobras won 16-0 in a 6-1/2 inning mercy-rule victory.
"We threw everything we had available at them and they hit everybody we ran out there," said Delsignore. "there's really not much you can say when you play a game like that. That's a very good hitting team over there."
The loss eliminates Flood City from the tournament in 5th place with a 3-2 record. Livonia advances to play Baltimore tomorrow at noon at Point Stadium. If they win, they will then play the winner of the afternoon's Baltimore / New Orleans game for the championship.
"We've heard a lot about Baltimore," said Lech, "but this [win against Johnstown] was a great momentum builder."
"We're excited," said Miller. "Our number one [Aaron Saarela] is back on four days rest and he's ready to go."
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