Copperheads close out Mitch’s, 3-0, as Minteer fires 1-hitter
Ryan Minteer twirled a one-hitter and Joel Spishock hit a late, tie-breaking home run as Carmichaels blanked Mitch鈥檚 Bail Bonds, 3-0, in Fayette County Baseball League playoff action at War Memorial Stadium in Charleroi on Tuesday to win their best-of-three series, 2-0.
The Copperheads (15-2), the league鈥檚 regular-season champion, will now wait to see who they will host in Game 1 of the best-of-five championship series. The other semifinal series between Bill鈥檚 Bit Service and Mill Run was tied 1-1 going into Wednesday night鈥檚 Game 3 at Hutchinson Field.
Minteer and Josiah Fisher were locked in a scoreless battle until the top of the sixth when Luke Carter drew a lead-off walk and Spishock followed with a two-run homer to right-center field.
鈥淛oel just crushed it,鈥� Carmichaels manager Dickie Krause said of Spishock鈥檚 clutch blast. 鈥淚t was a bullet, I didn鈥檛 think it was high enough to get out.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a big bat for us. Joel鈥檚 a legitimate college hitter. He鈥檚 very rare. He鈥檚 a lefty bat and to hit a shot like that against a very good left-handed pitcher just shows what a great hitter he is. We鈥檙e very fortunate to have him.鈥�
The Copperheads actually didn鈥檛 have Spishock, who played under Krause for the Mikes in high school, at the beginning of the season.
鈥淗e didn鈥檛 play for us the first half of the year,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淚t was nice to get him back.鈥�
The Mikes tacked on an insurance run in the seventh when Carter hit a one-out single, took second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on Tyler Godwin鈥檚 grounder.
That was more than enough for Minteer, who walked four and struck out seven. Minteer鈥檚 bid at a no-hitter was broken up in the sixth by Troy Kifer鈥檚 single.
鈥淩yan is a veteran guy, a Peters Township kid who played college baseball in Georgia, so he鈥檚 been around the block,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淗e throws upper 80s with a good slider and curve.
鈥淗e was very dominating throughout the game, he only allowed one runner to third base and that was on an error,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 against a pretty strong lineup, especially at the top of the order.鈥�
The error was the only miscue in a well-played game.
Fisher held the Copperheads down for the most of the night, despite some control problems. The left-hander allowed the three earned runs on seven hits with eight walks and four strikeouts in tossing a complete game.
鈥淭he kid for (Mitch鈥檚) threw a great game,鈥� Krause said of Fisher. 鈥淗e did a great job of pitching out of jams, knowing who he wanted to face and who he didn鈥檛 want to face. He鈥檚 a very smart pitcher.
鈥淭hey are very good defensively, too, as good as any team in the league, and that鈥檚 a credit to (Mitch鈥檚 manager) Ryan (Encapera).鈥�
Krause commended Encapera, who guided Mitch鈥檚 to the 2015 FCBL title, not only for the way he prepares his team but for the job he鈥檚 done as league president.
鈥淩yan is a big reason why the County League still exists,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淗e works really hard at it, is very organized and puts a lot of time into it. He鈥檚 done an excellent job with his team and with the league.鈥�
Carmichaels pounded out 12 hits, including six doubles, and got a superb outing from its bullpen in a 10-3 victory in Game One on Monday night at Carmichaels High School.
The top-seeded and two-time defending league champion pushed across the first four runs of the contest and then plated the final six runs of the evening.
鈥淲e started slow on offense those first two innings,鈥� Krause said after Monday鈥檚 game. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 seen live pitching for six days and their starter did a nice job of changing speeds. We were able to square some balls up and we started to click. Getting those extra-base hits really aided us in extending those big innings.鈥�
Mitch鈥檚 dealt the Copperheads one of their two regular-season losses this summer with a 3-1 road win on June 25. Carmichaels won the other two meetings, 9-3 on June 8 and 3-0 on July 9.
Neither starting pitcher made it to the fifth inning, but both offenses struggled with runners on base in the early stages of the game. The two squads left a combined 17 runners on base.
Carmichaels鈥� Hunter Robinson was shaky on the mound and only went 3 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with three strikeouts and seven walks on 95 pitches.
Nate Torbich came on to finish the fourth with a groundout and then pitched a clean fifth to pick up the win for the home team.
鈥淣ate is going to be really big for us all playoff long,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淗e came in the fourth and settled things down for us. It was critical to get out of that inning with a lead. He is usually our first reliever out of the bullpen and threw a lot of strikes.鈥�
Lapkowicz pitched the final two innings for Carmichaels, allowing only one hit with three strikeouts.
Tyler Spohn took the loss for Mitch鈥檚, going three innings and allowing four runs on four hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Michael Klingensmith and Hudson Novak threw the remainder of the game for the visitors.
Mitch鈥檚 left seven runners on base through the first three innings.
Carmichaels finally broke through in the bottom of the third with four runs. Lapkowicz delivered an RBI single, followed by back-to-back, bases-loaded walks to Carter and Spishock, plus a sacrifice fly by Godwin.
The visitors responded with three runs in the top of the fourth, courtesy of a two-run double by Adam Jacko and a run-producing double by Novak.
The Copperheads countered with a pair of runs in the next half inning, by way of RBI doubles by Torbich and Brock Bonadio.
Carmichaels extended its lead to 10-3 in the fifth with four runs. John Przybyblinski, who had a team-high three hits, tallied an RBI single to start the scoring spree.
鈥淛P is a gritty kid,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淗e has been good for us all year. I鈥檓 really happy for him because he has smoked some balls this year that were caught for outs. He has really stuck with it and brought the right approach at the plate.鈥�
Later in the frame, Robison smashed a RBI double followed by Tyler Reyes scoring on a wild pitch and a RBI groundout by Bonadio.
Kifer and Novak totaled two hits apiece for Mitch鈥檚.