White earns victory as Connellsville defeats Carmichaels
Connellsville's Zachary Cree (4) tags first base before Carmichaels' C..J. Lytle (36) can tag him out.
Connellsville's Anthony Speeney misses the ball thrown to him by the pitcher as Carmichaels' Tyler Shoaf (4) tags safe at first after an attempt to steal second.
Carmichaels' Tyler Shoaf (4) makes it safe to second before Connellsville's Ricky Noel (1) can tag him out.
Cam Bernhardt pitched 4 innings for Connellsville in an American Legion game against Carmichaels.
Carmichaels' Tyler Bowman pitched a tough game against Connellsville in an American Legion game held in Carmichaels on Monday.
CARMICHAELS 鈥� Matt White had perhaps the biggest smile on the field when Connellsville manager John Przybylinski brought him to the pitcher鈥檚 mound in the third inning of Monday鈥檚 game against Carmichaels at Wana B Park.
Though White hadn鈥檛 pitched since 2008, he earned the win as Connellsville prevailed against Carmichaels, 16-8.
The victory improves Connellsville鈥檚 record to 6-6.
White relieved starter Cameron Bernhardt, who pitched three hitless innings and allowed one unearned run with five walks and three strikeouts.
In four innings of work, White allowed five hits for two runs (one earned), walked a batter and recorded a strikeout.
鈥淚 just wanted to strike the batters out,鈥� said White. 鈥淚 was nervous initially, but got comfortable. I was surprised by how well I did. Maybe I just pitched slow enough to get them out.鈥�
Przybylinski said that his decision to send White to the mound reflected the need to keep his pitching options open for the future.
鈥淲e need to find out who are pitchers are,鈥� said Przybylinski. 鈥淲e got to figure out who can pitch as we head toward the end of the season. White did well for us tonight.鈥�
Connellsville scored two runs in the first and one in the third on Ricky Noel鈥檚 RBI single for a 3-0 lead. Connellsville tacked on two runs in the fourth for a 5-0 lead after Carmichaels鈥� second baseman made an error.
However, Carmichaels (4-7) chipped away in the fourth as starting pitcher Brandon Kozich scored on a Connellsville error and Zach Penich hit a two-run single.
Those scores trimmed Connellsville鈥檚 lead to 5-3.
Yet, Connellsville responded with a run in the fifth, and tacked on three more in an error-ridden sixth inning to take a 9-3 lead.
Carmichaels committed six errors in that inning, and had nine for the game, a stat manager Rick Grim pointed to as the deciding factor.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a frustrating season and the same mistakes keep occurring,鈥� said Grim. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure if it is mental errors or something else. I urge the guys to talk to each other and stay focus. We need to improve on that.鈥�
Grim also felt the errors took away from the performance of Kozich, who fell to 1-2 as he allowed seven hits for nine runs (three earned) with four walks and eight strikeouts.
鈥淜ozich was solid for us,鈥� said Grim. 鈥淗e鈥檚 done well all season. Today, he just didn鈥檛 have the defense to back him up.鈥�
Kozich and Tyler Bowman helped Carmichaels with two hits, while Chris Popernack and Zach Penich aided with two RBIs each.