FCBL finals series recap Games 1-3
Carmichaels’ Gavin Pratt releases a pitch against M&R Transit during Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League finals at Hutchinson Field Thursday night. Pratt pitched a four-hit shutout in the Copperheads’ 10-0, six-inning victory. (Photos by Rob Burchianti)
Carmichaels catcher Marco Gambino (right) congratulates Gavin Pratt after the righthander completed a four-hit shutout against M&R Transit in Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League finals at Hutchinson Field Thursday night.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Carmichaels’ Nick Ricco follows through on a single to left-center field in the third inning during Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League finals against M&R Transit at Hutchinson Field Thursday night. Ricco had two hits in the Copperheads’ 10-0 win.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Carmichaels manager Dickie Krause (left) has a talk with Nick Pegg with two outs in the top of the sixth inning during Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League finals against M&R Transit at Hutchinson Field Thursday night. Pegg went on to reach on an infield hit which started a five-run rally as the Copperheads won, 10-0.
Carmichaels' Noah Mildren sends a run-scoring single into right field during Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League finals against M&R Transit at Hutchinson Field Thursday night.
Carmichaels' Gavin Pratt goes into his windup during Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League finals against M&R Transit at Hutchinson Field Thursday night. Pratt pitched a four-hit shutout in the Copperheads' 10-0, six-inning victory.
Following is a recap of the first three games of the 2023 Fayette County Baseball League finals series between the Carmichaels Copperheads and M&R Transit.
Game 1, Carmichaels 10, M&R Transit 0, 6 innings
Dickie Krause has led Carmichaels into the Fayette County Baseball League finals many times over the years and won 14 titles.
Guiding his Copperheads there again this season is something he admitted he relishes after his team blanked defending champion M&R Transit, 10-0 in six innings, at Hutchinson Field on July 27, to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
“I have to admit, it is a little extra special because the last time we were here was 2019,” said Krause, whose team claimed the last of a string of four consecutive championships that year. “It will always be special to be here. So I was really looking forward to tonight.”
Gavin Pratt threw a four-hit shutout and was 3 for 3 with a walk and an RBI as Carmichaels stunned the top seed on the night M&R Transit received its trophy for winning the regular-season title.
The Copperheads took control in the top of the third inning against M&R Transit starter Jace Cappelini, parlaying just one hit — the first of two singles by Nick Ricco — with two walks, a hit batter and three errors to score four runs.
“We had some uncharacteristic errors in the field from players that don’t usually make them,” M&R Transit manager Buddy Marra said. “Their pitcher was great. He had our number tonight. Errors don’t really make a difference when you can’t score a run.”
Pratt allowed just one walk with six strikeouts.
M&R Transit mounted its only serious threat in the first inning. Santino Marra drew a lead-off walk and Nate Zimcosky hit into a force out, stole second and took third one out later when Andino Vechiolla’s grounder hit the first base bag and resulted in an infield hit. Pratt got Chad Petrush on an inning-ending fly out.
The only other hits Pratt allowed were singles by Petrush in the fourth, Cappelini in the fifth and Zimcosky in the sixth. The righthander didn’t allow a runner to reach second after the first inning.
The start of the game was delayed one hour after a short rain storm but waiting around actually had a positive effect on the Copperheads, according to Pratt.
“It gave us a chance to get here early and get everybody communicating,” Pratt said. “Everybody felt good, spirits were good. Everything just worked today. The bats seemed to come together and my pitches were working. I was hitting spots. It was a great team win for Game 1.
“My curveball felt good. I was also throwing a lot of two seams (fastballs). I was just mainly working with those two pitches, running away and running in. That seemed to work a lot with a lot of their hitters.”
The complete game was welcomed by Krause whose team was forced to go the full three games in defeating Oakland in the semifinals while M&R Transit swept Mitch’s Bail Bonds.
“Fantastic effort,” Krause said of Pratt. “We’re a little beat up from a pitching standpoint. We went the extra game and expended a lot of pitching in a couple of those games. This was kind of the formula we needed, for Gavin to be lights out and for us to hit for him.
“He was in command the whole game. He had great stuff. He’s just an athletic kid who knows how to play the game.”
Cappelini allowed five runs on three hits but only one run was earned. He walked three, hit one batter and struck out one in taking the loss.
“I felt pretty confident,” Buddy Marra said. “Cappelini pitched a good game Sunday against Mitch’s and we didn’t run his pitch count up that much so he was fresh.”
Kaleb Scott came on to pitch in the fifth and was rocked for five runs on seven hits in 1 2/3 innings.
“Kaleb has been out about a month with an injury and we put him in just to see where he was at,” Marra said. “He had one good inning but then after that they bumped their lead up and then at that point we didn’t want to use another pitcher.”
Santino Marra relieved with two outs in the top of the sixth and threw one pitch to end the frame.
Nick Pegg, after a quick conference with Krause, started the rally with a two-out infield hit. Jim Sadler walked and then Pratt, Noah Mildren and Joe Chambers followed with RBI singles. After Drake Long walked, Marco Gambino hit a two-run double to cap the scoring.
Mildren had two hits and Hunter Hamilton and Sadler each scored twice.
Krause made sure his team knew after the game that the series was far from over.
“What we’ve learned over the years is this is just one game out of five,” Krause said. “They’re going to come ready and prepared tomorrow because that’s what good teams do, they bounce back. We’ve got to match their intensity.”
Marra expected a tough series.
“I knew we weren’t going to sweep Carmichaels,” Marra said. “They’re a good team. Our kids know how bad this feels so now move on and play hard because you don’t want to feel that way again.”
Game 2, M&R Transit 7, Carmichaels 0
Justin Brestensky was ready for the task at hand last Friday evening.
M&R Transit had fallen in Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League best-of-five finals at home to Carmichaels and manager Buddy Marra called on the lefthander to make sure the regular-season champions didn’t fall into a 2-0 deficit.
“I knew my team needed me today and I had to bring it because if we lost this one it wouldn’t be looking good for us,” Brestensky said. “The whole way here I was laser-focused. I didn’t say a word in the car. I was ready to come in and throw strikes.”
Brestensky delivered and so did M&R Transit’s offense early on in a 7-0 win at Carmichaels to even the series at 1-1.
After being blanked by Gavin Pratt in a 10-0, six-inning, series-opening loss, Santino Marra gave M&R Transit a quick 1-0 lead in Game 2 by drilling a solo home run to spark a five-run first inning.
“It felt good after being shut out to get a run on the board right off the bat and then we got four more,” Buddy Marra said. “Knowing that we had Brestensky today I knew we were going to be good.”
Brestensky welcomed the early cushion.
“That just takes a lot of stress off your back,” said Brestensky, who combined with Santino Marra on a two-hitter. “Now you know if you give up a run or two it’s not the end of the world, you’re still good.
“Just being able to go out there and pitch and know my guys have got my back makes it easier to get into your groove and cruise.”
Brestensky was in command in all six innings he pitched, allowing just four baserunners with three walks and a third-inning single by Reed Long while striking out seven.
“Justin was approaching 100 pitches which is why we took him out,” Buddy Marra said. “If he had a no-hitter we might have let him go that last inning.
“He’s a bull. He doesn’t tire out too easily and with his mental state he’s the guy you want out there. He’s confident and sure of himself. When he gets fired up while he pitches it fires the rest of the team up.”
The only other hit the Copperheads managed was a single by Noah Mildren off Santino Marra who tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
Marra’s one-out homer off Carmichaels starting and losing pitcher Garrett Woodburn seemed to jumpstart M&R Transit’s hitting attack.
Andino Vecchiolla followed with a walk, went to third when Nate Zimcosky smashed a double off the left field fence and scored on a wild pitch. After Chad Petrush walked, Jace Cappelini hit a run-scoring single to center and both runners moved up on the throw to third base.
Wyatt Lefley’s RBI ground out and Sevi Vecchiolla’s run-scoring single to left made it 5-0 and prompted Carmichaels manager Dickie Krause to pull Woodburn for Anthony Romero who got out of the inning without any further damage.
Krause wasn’t shocked by the sudden turn of events from Game 1.
“That’s baseball,” Krause said. “One day you win 10-0 and the next day you lose 7-0.
“There’s not a whole lot that’s surprised me so far to be honest. Nobody was sweeping anybody in this series. Last night we played a really great game and shut them down. Today pitching got away from us early, we didn’t hit the ball well. They got a great effort from their pitcher and won the baseball game.”
Krause did see some positives in the loss.
“Even though it was a bad night for us there are still a few things I’m going to take out of this that were pretty healthy,” Krause said. “The back end of our bullpen, which hasn’t had a lot of chances, held them to two runs over six innings and if we don’t have a wicked hop over our second baseman’s head it was one.”
Romero gave up one run in 2 1/3 innings, Nick Pegg tossed a scoreless frame and Ryan Opfer allowed one run in three innings for the Copperheads.
M&R Transit tacked on insurance runs on RBI singles by Zimcosky in the fourth and Brestensky in the seventh. Brestensky helped his own cause by going 2 for 2 with a pair of walks. Santino Marra and Zimcosky also had two hits apiece.
Krause also lauded catcher Marco Gambino who threw out one runner trying to advance to second and picked off runners at third and first.
“Marco plays for West Liberty and does a great job on the running game,” Krause said. “He’s real aggressive defensively.”
Marra stressed the importance of evening the series.
“We didn’t want to go into Sunday down 2-0,” Buddy Marra said. “Then you’re not playing your game because you’re nervous knowing if you lose you go home. So now it’s a best-of-three from here and we feel really good. We don’t know how much pitching they have left.”
Game 3, M&R Transit 7, Carmichaels 5
The first two games of the Fayette County Baseball League championship series had the visiting team cruising to a big shutout victory.
The trend was snapped in Sunday’s Game 3 with M&R Transit holding on for a 7-5 victory against visiting Carmichaels.
“Personally, when you play a game like this, or coach a game like this, or watch a game like this, they’re great games,” said M&R Transit manager Buddy Marra, adding, “And, it’s a lot funner if you win.
“They’re never an easy team to play.”
“They’re the champs, they’re the top seeds, all the accolades,” said Carmichaels manager Krause.
After an inning-ending double play in the top of the first inning, M&R Transit jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the inning.
Ty Sankovich opened with a single and Santino Marra walked. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
Sankovich scored on Andino Vecchiolla’s ground out. Marra moved to third on a throwing error after third baseman Noah Mildren made a great stop on a sharp grounder hit by Nate Zimcosky.
Zimcosky stole second and Chad Petrush walked to load the bases. Jace Cappellini dumped a single into short right field to score Marra and Wyatt Lepley hit a sacrifice fly for the third run.
The home team’s lead grew to 4-0 in the second inning after Brestensky started with a single and Sankovich walked. Sankovich was forced at second on Marra’s grounder.
Andino Vecchiolla walked to load the bases.
Nate Pegg came on to face Zimcosky, but had a rough start when his pitch nicked Zimcosky for an RBI.
Back-to-back infield fly outs stranded the bases loaded.
The Copperheads started to claw their way back into the game by taking advantage of a throwing error on Pegg’s swinging bunt with one out in the third inning. Jim Sadler came through with a two-out, run-scoring single.
However, M&R Transit was able to get the run back in the bottom of the inning.
Wyatt Lepley legged out an infield single to start the inning. Sevi Vecchiolla bunted and was able to run through the tag, jarring the ball loose for runners at first and third.
Brestensky’s fly ball to right field wasn’t deep enough to score Lepley, but Sankovich’s ground out to short stop was able to plate the run.
M&R Transit’s lead grew to 6-1 in the fourth inning when Zimcosky launched a long home run over the left field fence.
Pegg settled in after the Zimcosky home run by retiring the next seven batters in a row.
Andino Vecchiolla and Zimcosky singled with two outs, and Vecchiolla scored when the throw to first in a pickoff attempt on Zimcosky skipped into right field.
Vecchiolla gave way to Caleb Scott in the top of the fourth inning and Scott managed to strand Joe Chambers at second after he doubled to left field with one out.
The fifth inning didn’t go as smooth for Scott.
JW Kayla, batting for an injured Luke Camden, and Liam Lohr walked to start the inning. Pegg’s single loaded the bases.
Anthony Romero drove in a pair of runs with a single off Jace Cappellini, who came on in relief after Pegg’s single, and Pegg scored when the throw skipped into the dugout.
Cappellini managed to retire the next two batters, but Carmichaels kept the inning alive when Mildren walked. Chambers came through with a run-scoring single to cut the deficit to 6-5.
Santino Marra came on in relief in the top of the sixth inning. He allowed Liam Lohr’s two-out single in the sixth inning and Romero’s inning-opening single in the seventh inning, but both runners were stranded to pick up the save.
Pegg pitched the final 4.2 innings in relief of Drake Long.
“Look what my backside pitching has done for us the last couple games. The starting pitching hasn’t really gotten us out of the second or third inning,” said Krause. “The guys coming out of the pen have been great. They’ve kept us in it.”