Altoona used a pitching-by-committee approach to precision on Monday in AAABA opening-round action against Lansing at Lilly-Washington Memorial Field.
Johnston Realty used four pitchers, including winner Mike Pierce, in a 12-0 shutout over Carl’s Supermarket in 61⁄2 innings.
“My plan all along was hopefully to get a draw that was favorable and to use the pitchers the way I wanted,” said Altoona manager Kurt Farabaugh, whose team will face Zanesville, a 3-2 winner over Cleveland, today. “I knew nothing about Lansing. I thought if we got a lead, we’d use them one or two innings. A few mishaps on their end allowed us to use our pitching the way we wanted. Every team would love to have a 10-run rule so they could save their arms, but we were lucky enough to have that happen for us.”
Altoona’s A.J. Czap was on base five times, going 3-for-3 with a triple, and four RBIs.
“I was just trying to get on base for the big guys behind me,” Czap said. “I was trying to set the table. It was good to get a couple runs early so we could save our pitching.”
Johnston Realty got on the board in the second. With one out, Kevin Cressman doubled to right of losing pitcher Matt Loomis and scored on a Matt Curtis single. Back-to-back singles by Czap and John Martinez scored Curtis for a 2-0 advantage.
Altoona added two more runs in the third and broke the game open in the fourth with five more runs for a 9-0 lead. Johns-ton Realty, which had 12 hits, put three runs on the board to set the final.
“I was pleased the way that some of these guys picked up other people when they weren’t hitting,” Farabaugh said. “They’ve been doing that this year. This game they were really fired up. (Catcher) Matt Adams came back and I think it ignites the bats. A lot of these guys have been here before, some of them have been here three years. Most of them are 19-year-olds with four (in their) 20s.
“We just tried to set up with runners on base and let your hitters come through and they finally did. They had a couple errors.”
Pierce allowed no runs on four hits and no strikeouts. Martinez was 3-for-5 and Curtis finished 2-for-3. Zane Johnston and Mike Baldino each were 2-for-3 for Lansing.
“We had four errors and nine walks, so I think that sums it up right there,” Lansing manager Andy Joseph said. “Along with no timely hits, you’re not going to win many ballgames.”
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