Mill Run grabs lead over Carmichaels
CARMICHAELS – Mill Run won just the way Bugs Orndorff drew it up. Well, sort of.
Mill Run’s stellar infield play and extra-base hits felled Carmichaels Thursday, 3-2. The first-game win gives the Millers a lead for the best-of-five series in the Fayette County Baseball League semifinals.
The Mill Run manager said, “I expected a close game. You have to get one run at a time. That’s why we had to bunt; you can’t go for doubles and triples.”
Sure, Mill Run utilized a nip-and-tuck offense, but a breakthrough double and triple is exactly what gave the Millers the come-from-behind lead.
Down 2-1 in the sixth inning, Mill Run’s Kris Firestone cracked a double down the left-field line. Jeremy Miller then stepped up to poke an RBI-triple to left-center, and John Warrick continued the rally, scoring Miller from second with a single to center field.
The three-hit inning was indeed what Mill Run needed in a game where both teams’ hitting barely found the outfield grass.
“We hit well,” said Carmichaels manager Dick Krause. “We just didn’t find the holes.”
“(Early on) we couldn’t get the ball out of the infield,” Orndorff said. “But are guys were never down. We knew we could score.”
Carmichaels (22-8) showed early signs of clutch hitting. Its first two batters of the game – Lee Fritz and Scott Swinchock – scored after reaching base. Fritz’s slapped a left-field triple, and then scored on Swinchock’s single up the middle. Charlie Humes batted Swinchock home later in the inning with a base hit.
“They scored on that triple,” Orndorff said. “That was it for them.”
“We hit well in the first,” Krause said. “But after that, we didn’t deliver.”
Much to blame for Carmichaels’ inopportune hitting was Mill Run’s defensive infield. The Millers turned three double plays during the game, two of which to end innings.
Shortstop Jeremy Miller figured in on most of Mill Run’s defensive clinic. After turning a 6-4-3 double play in the fourth inning, Miller ended the inning by throwing out Ron Nopwasky while tumbling to the ground.
“That’s Mill Run defense,” Krause said. “They are not going to give much away. We, as hitters, got to find a way to get hits.”
Starting pitcher Chris Bunson also provided Mill Run with a lift. His complete game was highlighted by a bases-loaded strikeout to end Carmichaels’ third-inning rally. Bunson gave up one walk and nine hits, while striking out three.
“When you don’t score, it gives the other team a lift,” Krause said. “You have got to convert opportunities and cash in.”
Swinchock pitched six-plus innings for Carmichaels, while striking out three and walking one. He gave up five hits, but Mill Run made each one count.
Firestone plated Dennis Show for Mill Run’s first run in the fourth inning – the team’s first hit of the game.
“They just hit the ball when they needed it the most,” Krause said. “But we played hard and stuck it out.”
Humes and Scott Krajnak led Carmichaels with two-hit games, while Firestone paced Mill Run with two hits and an RBI.
The series shifts to Mill Run today at 6 p.m., before returning to Carmichaels on Sunday for a 2 p.m. first pitch.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Krause added. “We expect the whole series to be like this.”