Blue Mountain clinches top spot in County League
Dunbar catcher Tyler McWilliams covers home as Blue Mountain's Chuck Gasti (1) and J.W. Kayla (21) score on base hit by teammate Josh George during Wednesday's Fayette County Baseball League game in Connellsville Twp.
Dunbar second baseman Kyle Martin (right) tosses the ball to shortstop Alex Fogle to get the force out on Blue Mountain's Seth Krall during Wednesday's Fayette County Baseball League game in Connellsville Twp.
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. — Blue Mountain clinched the top seed for the Fayette County Baseball League playoffs with a 6-0 win over Dunbar Wednesday evening at Soberdash Field in Connellsville Twp.
The Copperheads (17-6) received a strong pitching performance from Addison Scherich, who held Dunbar to four hits while striking out nine. Josh George helped spark the offense with two hits and two RBI.
“This was Addison’s first start of the year,” Copperheads manager Dickie Krause said. “He hasn’t been able to pitch for us because of his work schedule. He’s a veteran college pitcher. The last two games we’ve started two pitchers with a combined three starts and they threw back-to-back shutouts. That’s a big plus for us in a lot of ways.”
Blue Mountain took the early lead in the first. Seth Krall started off the game with a single. Rick Smykla sacrificed him to second. J.W.Kayla’s ground ball to second moved the runner to third. Chuck Gasti was safe on an error at short which allowed Krall to score.
The Copperheads added another run in the second when Josh George got the first of his two hits. George Taylor tripled to center scoring George making the score 2-0.
Dunbar’s Mike Zukowski was tough on the mound despite the loss and kept the game close for Dunbar, retiring eight of the next 10 hitters he faced.
“This has been the story of our season. When we get a good pitching performance we don’t hit for him,” said Dunbar’s Jeff McWilliams, whose team slipped to 2-20. “I’m still seeing some improvement. We’re a young team and we’re getting better. We’ll be ready to battle next year.”
Blue Mountain broke through against Zukowski in the fifth inning, scoring four runs. Krall singled for his second hit of the game to start the inning. He was forced at second on a ground ball by Smykla, who was safe on the fielder’s choice. Kayla walked and Gasti singled to load the bases. Ron Nopwasky’s groundout to short scored Smykla, leaving runners at second and third.
George got his second hit of the day, driving in Gasti and Kayla to give the Copperheads a 5-0 lead. Taylor followed with his second hit of the game, moving George to third. George scored when a pickoff throw went into left field.
“I’m real pleased right now. That’s a goal to go into the playoffs as the No. 1 seed,” Krause said. “We’ve overcome a lot this year. We have five or six guys out with some injuries. A couple could be gone for the year and they are all frontline players. Our depth has been tested. We’ve always been one of the deepest teams in the league and tonight you saw that.”