The first win in the AAABA Tournament is always a big one.
New Orleans put Chicago Metro squarely behind the eight-ball Friday night with a 6-1 victory in their best-of-3 AAABA regional game at Point Stadium.
The winner of the regional will earn the final spot in the 64th annual AAABA Tournament field, with games set to begin Monday.
“I think we had a little bit of nerves coming out here on our first night at the Point, in the first game of the tournament,” New Orleans manager Brady Benoit said. “Overall I was very pleased with our team.”
The two teams will meet again at 11 a.m. today at the Point, with the third game to follow if needed.
“We’re in some trouble,” Chicago manager Andy Sherwood said. “It’s pretty much do or die. We didn’t drive the whole way out here to go home on Sunday, at least we don’t want to. We have to come out and play up to our ability.”
The Louisiana squad got a strong pitching performance Friday from Andrew Velez, who threw a complete game scattering five hits with four strikeouts, two hit batsmen and no walks.
“Everything was working for me,” Velez said. “It’s a good night when everything is working for you. That doesn’t happen too much. I felt good and relaxed on the mound and was ready to go.
“I love being out here. It’s a great ballfield and a great atmosphere.”
New Orleans got on the scoreboard in the first as Chicago starter Mike Kloss walked Cass Hargis and Michael Liberto, the first two batters he faced.
A double steal moved both runners up. Hargis scored on a Max Lidet single and Liberto came home on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Poirrier for a 2-0 lead.
“We know that Andrew is going to throw strikes, if we can get him runs early, it just puts a lot more pressure on the other team,” Benoit said. “Andrew sets the tone on the mound. And with our defense, we want the other team swinging.”
New Orleans added to its lead in the third as Hargis led off with a single and moved to second when Chicago right fielder Jeff Grodecki lost the ball in the lights, allowing Liberto to reach base.
Chandler Laurent’s sacrifice bunt moved Hargis and Liberto into scoring position and Lidet’s single scored both runners.
The Glen Ellyn Jam scored their run on a single by Spenser Augustine, a ground-out and a single by Steve Hlavac.
New Orleans added a pair of runs in the eighth on an error, a Kirk Cunningham single and a double to the left screen by Brett Palermo.
“I think we need to do a better job with runners on base,” Benoit said. “We left too many men on base (seven) and I thought we could have put them away earlier.”
According to Bob Wolfe, the AAABA secretary/executive director, Johnstown last hosted a regional in the mid-1960’s.
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