Jun 25, 2002 By Justin Zackal For The 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Ron Popovich has to wonder where his players are vacationing, because they sure did bring home some aluminum. After seven starters on the Uniontown American Legion baseball team missed last Friday’s game, the team regrouped and exploded for a 17-7 win over Waynesburg at Madison Field Monday.

“This was the first game back for a lot of these guys, and we brought the bats,” Popovich said. “Our kids had their heads in the game offensively, and they came to play ball.”

Uniontown (10-4, 11-5) lost to Connellsville, 8-3, on Friday, but it took just one inning for the team to rebound with a seven extra-base hit outing against Waynesburg.

Ryan Gondek led off the second inning with a stand-up triple, before scoring on a Paul Bricizinsky sacrifice fly to give Uniontown an early lead.

Waynesburg (3-9) tied the game at two in the bottom of the inning when Adam Palmer sliced a double down the right-field line to score Eric Churney and Tom Golacinski.

The Uniontown bats were relentless for the remainder of the game, as the team 11 runs over the third, fourth and fifth innings.

“We gave up an awful lot of runs,” said Waynesburg manager Sam McLaughlin, Sr. “(Uniontown) is a mature ball club. They would come up with the big hits.”

The big hit that brought the Uniontown onslaught came off the bat of Aaron Lowden in the third inning. His two-run home run scoring Santino Sloboda gave Uniontown a 6-2 lead. The hit was the first of four multiple-RBI hits for Uniontown.

“The home run hurt us,” McLaughlin said. “That opened up the ball game.”

Bricizinsky’s inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning scored Dan Fuller and Ryan Gondek to give Uniontown a 9-5 lead. Bricizinsky hit a Nick Ross 3-1 pitch into centerfield for a triple, and then scored when Waynesburg fumbled the relay.

“We were giving up a lot of bases,” McLaughlin said. “We just didn’t cut the ball off; that just killed us with runners on.”

After Eric Darr led off the Uniontown fifth inning with a double, and D.J. Yanash reached base on a walk, David Landman jacked a three-run homer to left field, as Uniontown extended its lead to 13-5.

“I definitely believe that when you get hits, that confidence just rolls over to the next game,” Popovich said. “I hope we can take this momentum through the rest of the season.”

Brennan Dayton added Uniontown’s final blow with his two-run double in the seventh inning to score Josh Guittap and Bricizinsky.

Darr led Uniontown, going 3-for-4 with a double, while Landman went 2-for-4 with a home run and double to finish with four RBIs. Bricizinsky also had four RBIs.

Golacinski led Waynesburg, going 4-for-4, including a double, an RBI and a run scored, while Aaron Carpenter chipped in a pair of doubles.

Brad Yohman pitched a complete game for Uniontown, striking out seven, while surrendering one walk and 14 hits.

Nick Ross took the loss for Waynesburg in relief of Churney, walking six and striking out one.

“We had 11 walks, that was the difference,” McLaughlin said. “And all but three scored. It’s very frustrating, but as long as we hang in there we will be alright.”