JOHNSTOWN —
One look at the linescore from Wednesday’s AAABA League game at Roxbury Park would indicate that the Berkley Hills Renegades’ three-run eighth inning told the story of their 7-4 extra-inning win over Martella’s Pharmacy.
Renegades manager Larry McCabe prefers to tell the story of the confidence gained from a win over the defending league champions.
“What I want (Wednesday’s win) to do for us is build confidence in ourselves,” McCabe said. “I want us to come and play hard and not just the last two or three innings, but to be able to play hard through the game. We just have to play good baseball and I thought we did down the stretch. We were down 4-1 until the sixth inning. We just need to continue to play well. Any time that you do this early, it has to reflect later on in the season. Coming back and beating a team like Martella’s is a pretty big effort.”
Berkley Hills catcher Dan Gray, who provided the game-winning RBIs with a two-out double in the eighth, opted to deflect attention from himself and praise his batterymates – Ben Weimer, Billy Elliott and Ryan Uhl – following his club’s victory.
“The doubles aren’t the story, pitching was the story,” Gray said. “Ben Weimer is always on, Billy Elliott was huge in shutting the door and Ryan Uhl, the same thing. That’s pitching that held the game for us.”
Martella’s Pharmacy (10-7) left seven runners on base with six in scoring position. The 2-for-13 clip with runners in scoring position gave manager Chris Pfeil the inspiration for his story.
“The story was leaving runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth and seventh,” Pfeil said. “You gotta be able to hit with guys in scoring position in this league ... It’s been a struggle with approaches at the plate. You have to get counts in your favor and find pitches you can drive and we’re not doing that right now.”
The Renegades (14-5) struck first when Nate Campbell, who reached by error to open the game, scored from third when John Jones’ pop-up to the middle of the infield fell in front of Martella’s shortstop Jesse Cooper. Martella’s pitcher Nick Cubarney popped up Oliver Girman to end the inning.
Martella’s Pharmacy rallied for all four of its runs in the second off Weimer, starting the frame with Brian Weightman’s infield single to shortstop. Weightman swiped second before Jimmy Stenger’s flyout to center and took third on Luke Williams’ single to center.
Weimer plunked Pat Gully on a 1-0 pitch to load the bases two batters before Dillon Boyer’s infield single to second scored Weightman. Williams and Gully scored a batter later when Dan Abbenante flared a single to left. Boyer took third on the single and scored on a balk with Cooper at the plate.
A flyout to right by Cooper brought the curtain down on the inning.
Martella’s only collected three more hits off the triumvirate of Weimer, Elliott and Uhl while stranding five of six runners in scoring position.
Cubarney, who pitched 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and three walks, was lifted in the sixth after back-to-back walks to Girman and Matt Kastelic.
After Pfeil handed the ball to Cooper, a groundout by Brett Marabito moved the runners into scoring position for Aaron McGee’s single to right. McGee equalized on Gray’s double to deep right-center.
Cooper caught Campbell looking at a third strike to end the inning.
Uhl, the game’s winning pitcher, halted a potential Martella’s rally in the sixth when he inherited pinch-runner Rylan Schnably at second with one out. A groundout to Jones at first preceded Boyer reaching first as a hit batsman. A groundout by Abbenante wrapped up a 13-pitch at-bat that saw Abbenante foul off five two-strike pitches.
A one-out single by Matt McMillen in the seventh went for naught as Uhl struck out Weightman and Stenger to force extra innings.
Marabito started the Berkley Hills rally in the eighth by legging out an infield single to second with two gone. A walk to McGee and a balk called on Cooper with Gray at the plate put the pair in position to score on Gray’s double to center. Campbell drove in Gray with a base hit to left, making it 7-4.
Between the top and bottom half of the inning, home-plate umpire Bruce Holsopple ejected Pfeil. Uhl retired the side in order to cap the win.
Local Sports
Related Photos
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Berkley Hills first baseman Ryan Uhl takes a throw from catcher Dan Gray on a pickoff attempt on Martella’s Pat Gully during the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game. John Rucosky
Discussion
Renegades come from behind for victory
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