Charleroi holds off Masontown-Point Marion
MASONTOWN – Charleroi wasn’t about to roll a seven. For some, seven might be a lucky number, but for Charleroi it would have been the extension of an already bit of bad luck. So, with Bob Ramsey doing the pitching and Dan Thomas swinging the big bat, seven never materialized.
Thomas hit a three-run homer in the third inning, which turned out to be the final edge as Charleroi nipped host Masontown-Point Marion, 5-3, in American Legion Baseball League play here yesterday. The game was halted by rain with MPM batting in the last of the seventh.
Manager Tom Hartman said of the win, “This snaps a six-game losing streak for us. We had the lead and I was afraid there in the third inning that they might be going to come back on us, but we held on to the lead.”
Charleroi (9-11) led 5-0 when MPM essayed their comeback in the third, but that would be the extent of their scoring. Ramsey worked a six-hitter, all singles, and nobody had more than one. MPM bunched five of their hits to get all their runs in the third, then Ramsey got two strikeouts to end the inning and start a string of nine outs in a row before Josh Null singled with one down in the sixth for the home team’s last hit. And during that nine-run, only one out was made in the outfield.
Hartman added, “Bob had a little bit of a rocky start, but from the third inning on he was strong. He has pitched only two games previously for us, he’s normally an outfielder. Another big factor for us today was our defense coming together. Defense hurt us in that losing span, but today it was a strong point for us.”
MPM manager Sean O’Neil noted, “We got behind and then couldn’t catch up, although we made a try there in the third. I felt then that we might have a shot at coming back. But we gave up that homer in the third, and made a couple of errors that didn’t help matters any. It’s the old story about walks and errors coming back on you.”
Charleroi’s 11 hits included Thomas’ homer, the only extra-base hit of the game, three by Frank McLaughlin, and two by Mike McCurry and Charlie Fritsch.
Charleroi led 2-0 in the second. With one out, Ramsey walked, McCurry singled, Jordan White bunted them ahead, and Fritsch singled them across.
In the third, Gene Lancas was aboard on an error, McLaughlin singled, and Thomas smacked the first pitch over the fence in left.
Hatrtman added, “Dan had the big blow for us today. He has been hitting the ball well the second half of the season.”
MPM made their drive in the home third. Craig Santella led off with a single, and Chris Buncic and Scott Piper singled to load the bases. Craig Hriblan scored Santella with a fly ball to right for the first out, then Sean McCahill and Mike Budinsky singled for two more runs. But Ramsey got two strikeouts to end the push and the home team would get only one hit the rest of the way.
In the last of the seventh, Josh Franks flied to left and Buncic was hit by a pitch, then the rain started. After a 40-minute wait, and the rain still falling, umpires Paul Lancaster and Jerry Simon called the game.
Charleroi will try for two in a row today at home against Colonial, while MPM is at Uniontown (Hutchinson Field) for a doubleheader, at 5:30 p.m.