Mitch’s benefits from 8 walks in 12-2 victory
?REPUBLIC — The old baseball saying is that a walk is as good as a hit. Mitch’s Bail Bonds made good use of eight walks and 10 hits on Tuesday in a 12-2 win over Pasta Lorenzo in the Fayette County Baseball League.
The game was scoreless until the third inning when Pasta Lorenzo starting pitcher Devin Bowles “hit the wall” in the words of PL manager Dan Kupets. Bowles walked the first five batters of the inning. Eric Palmer came in to pitch in relief, but two errors and a bases-clearing double by Mitch’s Ethan Cieply gave the visitors a 5-0 lead.
Relief pitcher Ken Musko fared no better in the fourth inning, walking the first three batters before Pat Gannon doubled to drive in Matt Sabatini and Derek McIlvaine. After another walk to Isaiah Bell, Mick Betler’s sacrifice fly drove in Jim Chester, an outfield error allowed Gannon to score and two ore runs scored on a single by Taylor Andrisko.
Chester’s one-out home run in the fifth made it 12-0 before Pasta Lorenzo rallied to score twice in the bottom half of the inning.
Palmer walked with one out in the PL fifth, Musko beat out an infield hit, and JoJo Maldonado walked to load the bases. One out later, Casey Kupets singled to drive in Palmer and Musko to set what would be the final score of 12-2.
Pasta Lorenzo pitchers walked 11 batters in all, and manager Dan Kupets said that the walks were a key to the outcome.
Kupets said, “(Bowles) was pitching for the first time in a season and a half,” following arm surgery. “He hadn’t pitched since last May (2010) and reality set in. It’s summer time baseball, and you have to go with what you have. Sometimes it’s not your best lineup with work schedules. There’s nothing you can do.”
Mitch’s was coming off a string of tough losses and was playing the second game of five games this week. Manager Ryan Encapera said, “We took advantage of their lack of pitchers. Corry is one of the best pitchers in the league. When he’s 100 percent, he’s tough to beat.”
Sabatini and Cieply also saw pitching action for Mitch’s in the final two innings, and combined to limit the hosts to a two-out single by Palmer in the sixth.
Jo Jo Maldonado had two of Pasta Lorenzo’s five hits, while Gannon and Cieply each had two hits for Mitch’s.