Belmont Inn rattles Bud’s, 4-1
Belmont Inn's Evan Arison (1) is congratulated by his teammates after hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning Friday night.
Belmont Inn pitcher Bob Madison (34) fires a pitch against Bud Murphy's in the County League championship opener Friday.
Home plate umpire Joe Volpe signals for Belmont Inn's Nick Erminio to take second after on an error by Bud Murphy's catcher allowed Belmont's Eric Fadula (19) to score the tying run in Friday's Fayette County Baseball League championship series opener.
BULLSKIN TWP. — Belmont Inn may be the new kids on the block in the Fayette County Baseball League playoffs, but they’re learning quickly.
On Friday, Evan Arison’s two-run home run in the eight inning led Belmont to a 4-1 win over Bud Murphy’s in the first game of the league’s best-of-seven championship series. Two days earlier, BI completed an upset of top-seeded Blue Mountain in the semifinals.
The second game of the championship series will be played on Sunday at 5:45 p.m. at the Hutchinson Sportsmen’s field in Hopwood.
Bud Murphy’s (19-9) had taken a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Jason Greene scored, as Brian Sankovich grounded into a force out at third base with the bases loaded. The play loomed large as the game progressed, as Arison’s diving stop kept the ball from going into the outfield and driving in another run or two.
Belmont Inn (18-12) tied the score on an unearned run in the sixth when Eric Fudala was safe on an error, advanced on a wild pitch and then a ground out. He scored on a fielding error at home plate.
Bud’s thought it had scored the lead run in the bottom of the sixth on a 3-2 pitch to Andy Schleihauf with the bases loaded. Schleihauf and the Cokers claimed the ball hit his hand, but the home plate umpire ruled a foul tip that was caught by Belmont catcher Blake Robinson for the third out.
The ensuing argument resulted in the ejection of BM manager Lou Pasquale. One inning later, a Bud’s batter was ejected after arguing a called third with two runners on base.
Belmont Inn scored the winning runs when Fudala walked to start the eighth inning, and Arison homed over the left field fence for only the second BI hit off Bud’s pitcher Todd Dunham. The visitors added another run when Nick Erminio was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on an error on a ball hit by Mike Pegg.
Belmont pitcher Bob Madison dodged threats in every inning but the eighth, when he set the Cokers down in order to seal the win.
Afterwards, Pasquale referred to his ejection by the same home plate umpire in the seventh game of last year’s championship series against Blue Mountain.
“Once again, he missed (the play),” Pasquale said of the strikeout ruling against Schleihauf. “The ball hit his hand. When umpires make themselves bigger than the game, they need to get out. Todd (Dunham) pitched a great game and it was a shame he had to throw extra pitches.
Pasquale credited Belmont Inn for battling and getting key hits in the eighth inning and added, “They need to win three more (to win the series), and all we’ve got to do is win one game to make it a best-of-five series.”
While Belmont Inn’s only hits were Arison’s home run and a second inning double by Sam Beucher, manager Steve Kezmarsky said, “I’d rather get two hits and win rather than get 15 hits and lose. We were up 2-0 (against Blue Mountain in the semifinals) and it was quickly 2-2. I expect a long series; (Bud’s) is not going to go away easily.”
He added, “We played great defense. Evan’s play at third base kept the ball from going down the line and scoring two or three runs. This is our second year in the league and maybe it’s a little soon for us. But we show up ready to play.”