Tight tussle
Pitching, defense shine as Copperheads top Hopwood in Game 1
Pitching and defense took center stage during Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League finals on Sunday.
Carmichaels鈥� Matt Bamford out-dueled Hopwood Village Plaza鈥檚 Matthew Firestone as the Copperheads squeezed out just enough offense to come away with a 2-0 victory at Carmichaels Area High School.
Carmichaels鈥� Ben Shields had the only RBI of the game, which included two outstanding defensive plays, one by Copperheads left fielder Aaron Previsky and one by Hopwood center fielder Justin Brestensky, that helped keep the score close.
鈥淏oth teams played well,鈥� Hopwood manager Buddy Marra said. 鈥淐armichaels has a nice team. I definitely respect those guys. I was proud of how our kids fought.鈥�
鈥淔rom a pitching and defensive standpoint it was a game very worth of the finals,鈥� Copperheads manager Dickie Krause said. 鈥淭he two pitchers just shut everything down.鈥�
Bamford fired a three-hit shutout with two walks and 11 strikeouts while throwing 109 pitches. Firestone limited Carmichaels to four hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
鈥淔irestone and Bamford both pitched really well,鈥� Marra said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a shame we couldn鈥檛 put any runs up for Matthew. He pitched better than I鈥檝e ever seen him pitch, and was very efficient.鈥�
Firestone threw just 73 pitches in his six innings of work.
Krause lauded Bamford.
鈥淗e鈥檚 pitched really well all season for us,鈥� Krasue said. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 disappoint. He threw a great game.鈥�
Hopwood鈥檚 best chance at scoring came in the top of the first inning. Chase Sankovich walked and Santino Marra smashed a deep fly ball to left field that sent Previsky back to the fence.
鈥淎aron had a bead on it the whole way.鈥� Krause said. 鈥淵ou could see him positioning himself and he reached out. The ball was over the fence and he caught it and brought it back in.
鈥淛ust amazing.鈥�
Marra was impressed as well.
鈥淏asically, Santino hit a ball out of the park and their left fielder scaled the fence and brought it back in,鈥� Marra said. 鈥淚 saw him go back and I said that鈥檚 gone. It would鈥檝e been a two-run home run. I have to tip my hat to him.鈥�
Krause cited the catch as the key play in the game.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know that in the first inning but the way the game went, those two runs would鈥檝e changed things a lot,鈥� Krause said.
Hopwood would turn the tables on Carmichaels in the third inning on a play that, ironically, involved Previsky, who hit a lead-off double. Robbie Wilson-Jones followed with what looked like a sure hit into right-center field.
Brestensky made a diving catch that not only robbed Wilson-Jones of a hit but also resulted in a double play with his throw doubling Previsky off second base.
鈥淛ustin laid out and made an unbelievable catch,鈥� Marra said. 鈥淚t was like he was running down the boat dock and diving into the water. Their runner was already crossing home plate so we got a big double play on that one. He made similar catch the other day against Charleroi.鈥�
Krause, who coaches third base, blamed himself for the double play.
鈥淲e had a guy at second and nobody out and we dumped a ball in the outfield and I didn鈥檛 see it well,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淚 thought it hit the ground but he caught it and doubled us off at second. Tremendous catch.鈥�
The lone runs of the game came in the fourth inning when Carmichaels recorded three of their four hits.
Brodee Latoucha led off with a single to center and took second base on a wild pitch. Dom Colarusso followed with a perfectly place bunt single and Latoucha came around to score what proved to be the deciding run when Firestone threw high to first base. Colarusso took second on Noah Mildren鈥檚 ground out and scored on Shields鈥� single to left.
Bamford didn鈥檛 allow a runner to reach third base in closing out the game from there for the Copperheads.
Chad Petrush had two of Hopwood鈥檚 three hits and a stolen base with Anthony Piasecki accounting for the other hit, all singles.
While he was satisfied with his team鈥檚 pitching and defense, Krause voiced concern about its hitting.
鈥淥ffensively, we have got to start hitting,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淲e need to compete more at the plate and just get better at-bats.鈥�
Buddy Marra, who only had nine available players, was upbeat despite the loss.
鈥淲e had five starters out,鈥� Marra said. 鈥淲e have Wyatt Nehls, Tate Musko and Jarod Hough on vacation, and Erik Streussnig and Ryan Covelens, neither of them could make it. So we struggled to get nine on the field.
鈥淚 expect a couple guys to be back for Game 2 so I think we鈥檒l be in a little better shape. I think if we can pull a win out in Game 2 we can make this a very close series.鈥�
The tentative starting pitching matchup for Monday鈥檚 game was Brestensky for Hopwood and Gianni Cantini for Carmichaels.
Pitching and defense took center stage during Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League finals on Sunday.
Carmichaels鈥� Matt Bamford out-dueled Hopwood Village Plaza鈥檚 Matthew Firestone as the Copperheads squeezed out just enough offense to come away with a 2-0 victory at Carmichaels Area High School.
Carmichaels鈥� Ben Shields had the only RBI of the game, which included two outstanding defensive plays, one by Copperheads left fielder Aaron Previsky and one by Hopwood center fielder Justin Brestensky, that helped keep the score close.
鈥淏oth teams played well,鈥� Hopwood manager Buddy Marra said. 鈥淐armichaels has a nice team. I definitely respect those guys. I was proud of how our kids fought.鈥�
鈥淔rom a pitching and defensive standpoint it was a game very worth of the finals,鈥� Copperheads manager Dickie Krause said. 鈥淭he two pitchers just shut everything down.鈥�
Bamford fired a three-hit shutout with two walks and 11 strikeouts while throwing 109 pitches. Firestone limited Carmichaels to four hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
鈥淔irestone and Bamford both pitched really well,鈥� Marra said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a shame we couldn鈥檛 put any runs up for Matthew. He pitched better than I鈥檝e ever seen him pitch, and was very efficient.鈥�
Firestone threw just 73 pitches in his six innings of work.
Krause lauded Bamford.
鈥淗e鈥檚 pitched really well all season for us,鈥� Krasue said. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 disappoint. He threw a great game.鈥�
Hopwood鈥檚 best chance at scoring came in the top of the first inning. Chase Sankovich walked and Santino Marra smashed a deep fly ball to left field that sent Previsky back to the fence.
鈥淎aron had a bead on it the whole way.鈥� Krause said. 鈥淵ou could see him positioning himself and he reached out. The ball was over the fence and he caught it and brought it back in.
鈥淛ust amazing.鈥�
Marra was impressed as well.
鈥淏asically, Santino hit a ball out of the park and their left fielder scaled the fence and brought it back in,鈥� Marra said. 鈥淚 saw him go back and I said that鈥檚 gone. It would鈥檝e been a two-run home run. I have to tip my hat to him.鈥�
Krause cited the catch as the key play in the game.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know that in the first inning but the way the game went, those two runs would鈥檝e changed things a lot,鈥� Krause said.
Hopwood would turn the tables on Carmichaels in the third inning on a play that, ironically, involved Previsky, who hit a lead-off double. Robbie Wilson-Jones followed with what looked like a sure hit into right-center field.
Brestensky made a diving catch that not only robbed Wilson-Jones of a hit but also resulted in a double play with his throw doubling Previsky off second base.
鈥淛ustin laid out and made an unbelievable catch,鈥� Marra said. 鈥淚t was like he was running down the boat dock and diving into the water. Their runner was already crossing home plate so we got a big double play on that one. He made similar catch the other day against Charleroi.鈥�
Krause, who coaches third base, blamed himself for the double play.
鈥淲e had a guy at second and nobody out and we dumped a ball in the outfield and I didn鈥檛 see it well,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淚 thought it hit the ground but he caught it and doubled us off at second. Tremendous catch.鈥�
The lone runs of the game came in the fourth inning when Carmichaels recorded three of its four hits.
Brodee Latoucha led off with a single to center and took second base on a wild pitch. Dom Colarusso followed with a perfectly place bunt single and Latoucha came around to score what proved to be the deciding run when Firestone threw high to first base. Colarusso took second on Noah Mildren鈥檚 ground out and scored on Shields鈥� single to left.
Bamford didn鈥檛 allow a runner to reach third base in closing out the game from there for the Copperheads.
Chad Petrush had two of Hopwood鈥檚 three hits and a stolen base with Anthony Piasecki accounting for the other hit, all singles.
While he was satisfied with his team鈥檚 pitching and defense, Krause voiced concern about its hitting.
鈥淥ffensively, we have got to start hitting,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淲e need to compete more at the plate and just get better at-bats.鈥�
Buddy Marra, who only had nine available players, was upbeat despite the loss.
鈥淲e had five starters out,鈥� Marra said. 鈥淲e have Wyatt Nehls, Tate Musko and Jarod Hough on vacation, and Erik Streussnig and Ryan Covelens, neither of them could make it. So we struggled to get nine on the field.
鈥淚 expect a couple guys to be back for Game 2 so I think we鈥檒l be in a little better shape. I think if we can pull a win out in Game 2 we can make this a very close series.鈥�
The tentative starting pitching matchup for Monday鈥檚 game was Brestensky for Hopwood and Gianni Cantini for Carmichaels.