Uniontown Legion hands Belle Vernon first loss
?HOPWOOD 鈥� Belle Vernon came to the Hutchinson 缅北禁地men鈥檚 Complex on Monday with a perfect 11-0 record. Seven innings later, the visitors left with their first loss to Uniontown, an 11-1 conquest courtesy of the four-hit pitching of Mason Fordyce, and a 17-hit Uniontown output at the plate.
鈥淭he key was that we got a couple of runs, then (Belle Vernon) made a couple of mistakes that helped out and we really took advantage of today,鈥� said first year Uniontown coach Scott DeBerry.
鈥淲e鈥檙e finally starting to realize that we can鈥檛 just show up and go through the motions. You鈥檝e got to work for it.鈥�
Fordyce showed up with what DeBerry said was 鈥渁 chip on his shoulder,鈥� retiring the first nine Belle Vernon batters, and ending the abbreviated seven-inning game with 10 strikeouts. Uniontown (7-4) took a 1-0 lead n the first inning when Jake Riddell singled with one out, stole second, and scored on Ed Dutkewycz鈥檚 two-out single.
Belle Vernon (11-1) tied the score by stealing a run in the fourth when Dean Manown scored while Jesse Tatsch was being thrown out at second base. Manown had two of BV鈥檚 four hits off Fordyce.
Uniontown exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning, scoring the first two runs without the ball leaving the infield. Tyler Dubovich and Bobby King had infield hits, Mike Patricelli was safe on an error as Dubovich scored, and King scored on Adam Crayton鈥檚 bunt single for a 3-1 lead.
Tim Mayers and Fordyce followed with doubles, Riddell singled one out later, and Dubovich singled for the second time in the inning for an 8-1 lead.
With one out in the seventh, Patricelli doubled and scored on Crayton鈥檚 double, and Mayers second double of the night drove in Crayton for a 10-1 lead. After Fordyce singled, Max Beatty was intentionally walked, but Riddell鈥檚 sacrifice fly to short right field brought in Mayers to end the game on the 10-run mercy rule when the outfield throw was wide.
Mayers had three hits while Beatty, Riddell, Dubovich, King, Crayton, and Fordyce had two hits each.
Belle Vernon coach Bill Frankel said Fordyce 鈥渉ad our number today. (Uniontown) has a good team.鈥�
Frankel said his team came out flat, partially from players being tired from a combination of consecutive Legion games and traveling league games. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a long season. We鈥檒l be back after them on Wednesday at our place. We have to get everybody rested and healthy.鈥�
DeBerry said he knows Belle Vernon will use Monday鈥檚 game as motivation for Wednesday night鈥檚 rematch and said, 鈥淚t should be a very competitive game.鈥�