Bud Murphy’s clinches County League regular-season title
BREAKNECK – Bud Murphy’s has gone the Steelers one better – they have now moved past the thumb and started on the second hand. While the Steelers are still looking for “one for the thumb,” Bud Murphy’s collared Mario’s, 7-0, yesterday here at the Breakneck Field to clinch their sixth consecutive regular-season Fayette County Baseball League championship.
Bob Sadler pitched a five-hitter, all singles, and got the backing of a 12-hit offense, including home runs by Mark Edenfield and Brian Sankovich, to wrap up the title. And it was a real down-to-the-wire finish, with Bud’s starting the game in a “must win” situation if they expected to repeat.
On Sunday, Bud’s lost a 4-3 decision to Rostraver, which at that moment put Rostraver in first place on the basis of points (43-42), Rostraver owning a 21-6-1 record with their season completed, and Bud’s at 21-6 with one game still to play. By winning, Bud’s collected two points and wrapped up the title by a game in the win column over Rostraver, and in points, 44-43.
Manager Tom Sankovich said, “Yesterday’s loss was a bad one for us, a game that we shouldn’t have lost, but we came back today with some good hitting and defense to back up Sadler’s pitching. Bob pitched a real strong game, and this might be the first game all season in which he didn’t nick at least one batter. Hit batters and walks have been two nightmares for us all season.”
Mario’s posed a threat in the first inning when Scott Van Sickle led off the game with a walk and Jason Greene singled him to second, both runners advancing as Brad Baker grounded out. But starting with that out, Sadler set down 10 batters in a row before Baker singled in the fourth. But Baker was picked off, and Sadler got two more outs before Jim Cole singled. So, actually, with the help of the pickoff play, Sadler faced the minimum of 13 batters between hits from the first to the fifth.
Greene had two of the five hits for Mario’s (19-9). Bud’s collected 12 hits, Ryan Miscik having a double, two singles, and two runs batted in, Brian Shipley a double and two singles, and Edenfield and Sankovich a home run and single each.
Mario’s manager Lou Pasquale noted, “We gave it a good shot, but Bob pitched a great game against us. This is only the second time all season that we have been shutout. I thought we had something going in the first, and again in the sixth when we loaded the bases, but he pitched out both times.”
Bud’s led 1-0 in the second when Edenfield hit one high into the Breakneck Rod and Gun Club parking lot. Then he noted, “That one was for my youngest son, Nathan, who is in the hospital having his tonsils removed.”
The edge was 3-0 in the third on Miscik’s single and Sankovich’s high blast into the left field trees, his 13th of the season. Three more in the fourth wrapped it up. Edenfield singled, Jeff Lander walked, Rich Means bunted them ahead, and with two out Miscik doubled them in.
Manager Sankovich said, “We had homers and other hits, but that hit by Miscik was the big clutch one for us, for that put us up 6-0.”
Singles by Joe Bonadio, Miscik, and Shipley loaded the bases in the sixth, and Bonadio scored on Greg Beucher’s groundout.
Now both teams advance to the first round of the playoffs, the starting day to be announced by league officials. Based on the order of finish in the league standings, first place Bud’s will meet Redstone, while third finishing Mario’s draws either Perryopolis or Connellsville. League officials are still working on pairings for the best-of-three opening series, which will involve all eight teams. The second round will be best-of-five, and the championship best-of-seven.
As he left the field, Sankovich observed, “We came back after yesterday’s loss, just like we came back from the start of the season. We lost our first two games of the season, something we had never done before, and came back to win the title. I just hope we can carry this momentum over into the playoffs.”
That shouldn’t be too much of a task for a “comeback” team.