Martella’s Pharmacy right-hander Mike Pelekanos and Berkley Hills Renegades lefty Drew Shaulis each threw well enough to win Thursday night’s AAABA League early game at Point Stadium.
How much of a pitchers’ duel was this one?
Shaulis took a no-hitter in the seventh inning and his team still trailed by a run.
Conversely, Pelekanos scattered eight hits, one in each inning with the exception of two in the bottom of the seventh. The Duquesne University hurler seemed to record the big strikeout when it mattered most in Martella’s 2-0 victory.
“I can’t say enough about what Mikey did,” Martella’s manager Chris Pfeil said.
“Whenever we needed a tough out or a big pitch, he got it for us. Defensively, we made some nice plays behind him. Alex Naggy played a great game at third base.
“Offensively, we’re in a slump and we ran into a good pitcher. That usually doesn’t equate into many runs. Fortunately we were able to do some little things.”
Martella’s (23-6) remained percentage points in front of second-place Delweld (24-7). The Renegades slipped a game under .500 (14-15) and hold third place.
“We stranded a ton of guys and we couldn’t put hits together,” Renegades manager Roland Black said. “Eight hits to one, you should win that game. You’ve got to give credit to Pelekanos. He’s tough. He’s just a great pitcher. He bore down when it counted.”
Pelekanos recorded half of his eight strikeouts in the final two innings, as he seemed to gain momentum despite a nagging foot injury that required post-game attention in the dugout. He walked only one batter.
Shaulis struck out 11 and walked five.
The Renegades also made three errors.
“Give Drew Shaulis a lot of credit,” Pfeil said. “He kept us off-balance.”
“Shaulis pitched real well and his curve ball threw our hitters off balance. But we hung in there and battled for some runs,” Pelekanos added.
Martella’s shortstop Sam Watkins led off the game with a walk and moved up on an errant pick-off attempt. He stole third and scored on a wild pitch.
The Renegades advanced a runner to third in the first, fourth and fifth innings and had men in scoring position in six innings. Pelekanos recorded a strikeout three times after the Renegades had a man at third with one out.
“When we signed Mikey to come up here and pitch we knew he was going to be that type of pitcher,” Pfeil said.
Martella’s Steve Bills broke up the no-hitter with a single down the third-base line to open the seventh. Naggy bunted him to second. Bills stole third and scored on a wild pitch.
“Getting the bunt down in the seventh to get the insurance run was a big deal,” Pfeil said.
Pelekanos struck out two batters and induced a groundout to strand runners at first and third in the bottom of the seventh.
“I felt strong,” Pelekanos said.
“It was my first complete game of the summer. I just hung in there. The guys were playing great behind me. I felt confident in them so I threw it down the middle and let them make the plays.”
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