Slusser picks up seventh win of season
ROWE’S RUN – Jared Slusser didn’t find a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, but he did find his seventh pitching win of the season. Slusser ceded 12 hits, but only two of them after the fourth inning, as he pitched Colonial to a 10-7 win over Connellsville in Fayette American Legion Baseball play Monday.
Early in the game after a brief shower, a big, beautiful rainbow arched over the area to the north of the playing field, at about which time Colonial scored four runs to go ahead for good and defeat Connellsville for the second time this season.
Manager Ralph Rice said, “We are 8-1 for the year and Jared is 7-0 with seven complete games. He’s a good pitcher, he locates his pitches well, and he was strong today after the fourth inning.”
That he was. Of the 12 Connellsville hits, 10 came in the first four innings. Brad Livingston singled to lead off the fifth, and from that point, Slusser had a run of 12 outs, until Andy Beucher singled to open the ninth. In that run of 12, Chris Marsinko walked in the sixth, but was cut down stealing, so Slusser faced the minimum of 12 batters.
The most troublesome batters for him were Tony Marciante, who finished with three doubles, Livingston, who had three singles, and Beucher, who chipped in two safeties.
Colonial led 9-7 after four innings, but that still left Rice with some anxious moments, as he noted, “I was getting a little worried in the sixth and seventh when we got runners on and then couldn’t get them around. We left the bases loaded in the seventh.
“But we also had some good defensive plays at shortstop (Rice) and third base (Matt Greene and Brandon Mallick). We had some trouble at first, but after we settled down on the flyballs we began to play like we know how.”
Connellsville manager Kevin Henry said, “They had our number today. Every time we made an error they jumped on it, plus they got hits with runners on base and we didn’t. Their pitcher was really tough after the fifth, and Travis (Henry) gave us a good relief effort after he came in in the fourth.”
Colonial had 12 hits, led by Rice with a double and triple. Ross Martini added a double and single, and Jason Rechichar, Matt Rechichar and Bill Gabonay had two singles each.
Connellsville led 1-0 in the first on Marcinate’s double and Brandon Bryner’s single, and it was 3-0 in the second on Matt Rupp, Livingston and Beucher singles, sandwiched with two errors.
Colonial tied in its end of the second on a walk, two errors and Martini’s double. Connellsville got the lead back again, 6-3, in the third on Marcinate and Livingston doubles, Stutzman’s triple and an error.
Colonial cut that to 6-5 in its third with singles by the Rechichar Duo, around Rice’s double. Connellsville made it 7-5 in the fourth with Chris Marsinko’s single and Marciante’s double, then Slusser shut the door the rest of the way.
Colonial went ahead for good, 9-7, in the home fourth on two fielders choices coupled with singles by Brandon Mallick, the two Rechichars and Brandon Williams. Scoring ended in the eighth when Nate Lewis was aboard on an error and came around on a wild pitch and Gabonay’s single.
Connellsville will try to get back on the winning track again Wednesday, hosting Waynesburg, while Colonial goes to Masontown.