Geibel shuts out Albert Gallatin
CONNELLSVILLE – In the end, Geibel Catholic had just merely strung together all the basic principles needed to win baseball games. Nothing fancy. Just good pitching, solid defense, a couple of big hits at the right time, and heads-up base running, all of which added up to a 7-0 win over visiting Albert Gallatin (1-1) Tuesday at the Geibel field, the second consecutive win for the Gators and their second successive shutout.
Phil Gratchic pitched until two out in the sixth for the Gators, and then Rob Ramsey came on and threw zeroes in the mop-up.
Coach John Leonard said, “Our pitching is ahead of schedule at the moment, and that was a key factor today. Phil was making his first start and he gave us five scoreless innings. Phil and several others on this team are good athletes, not just in baseball but in other sports, and that is going to be a big help to us this year.”
Gratchic allowed four singles, walked three, and struck out seven. Only three Colonial runners got as far as second base against him, and just one of those reached third. In the first, Craig Hriblan walked with two out, stole second and went to third on Sean McCahill’s single into the hole at short.
In the second, Jerome Manchas and Ken Cerny were hit by pitches to put runners on first and second, and in the sixth, Hriblan walked and went to second on Josh Null’s single.
Leonard said, “Defense was also a big factor for us all around. The error we made in the seventh was our first of the season. Offensively, we hit the ball well, and we ran the bases aggressively.”
The Gator coach added, “I think our players might have been intimidated just a little bit by Albert Gallatin’s pre-game drills, but once the game started they forgot about that and did what they had to do to win.”
Geibel had eight hits off three Colonial pitchers, three by Gratchic, plus Dan Chorba’s triple and single, Dean Levendosky’s triple, Andy Stroh’s double and three RBIs, and Zack Leonard’s double.
Geibel got all the edge it would need in the first inning, taking a 4-0 lead. Ramsey and Levendosky got aboard on errors. Grachic singled for one run, and with one out, Stroh doubled in two, took third on the throw in, and scored as Jordan White grounded out.
Colonial coach Dan Palm said, “We made a couple of early mistakes and gave them the lead, and then we didn’t make any comeback of our own. Our pitchers did well, but we didn’t help them with any runs.
“On the other hand, their pitchers did well and their team backed them with hits and runs. Smodic (Alan) pitched well for us and he hit the ball hard.”
Geibel added a run in the second when Levendosky tripled to center and continued in to score when the relay back was mishandled.
Two runs in the fourth closed Gator scoring. Ramsey walked to lead off, and with one out, Gratchic singled him to second. Leonard doubled for one, moving Gratchic to third, from where he scored as Stroh grounded out.
Geibel is on the road today, playing at Jeannette, and then returns home Thursday to play Waynesburg.