County League finals
Baker’s bomb gives Copperheads win in Game 1 REPUBLIC – There were several key plays and hits in Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League championship series, but in the end, it was a big blast off the bat of Carmichaels’ Brad Baker that wound up being the deciding blow.
Baker’s three-run homer in the top of the fifth turned a 1-0 Mario’s lead into a 3-1 Copperheads advantage, and the visitors rode that momentum to a 5-3 victory at Doug Dascenzo Field on Tuesday.
Baker also made the last play of the game on Jim Cales’ bases-loaded grounder, locking up a save for Joe Leonard – who he replaced a shortstop – and the win for Steve Slatcoff.
Manager Dickie Krause’s squad takes a 1-0 lead into Game 2 of the best-of-seven series today at 5:45 p.m. at Carmichaels.
“That was a huge hit for us,” Krause said of Baker’s homer. “We were struggling on offense, even though I thought we were having good at bats up until that point. But Brad has done that all year for us, and he’s had success against (Todd) Dunham.
“We’re resilient. We’ve been that way all season long.”
Dunham and Copperheads starter Steve Slatcoff were locked in a scoreless duel until the bottom of the fourth when Mario’s pushed across the game’s first run.
Cales singled with two outs and Matt Chalfant walked. Shayne Busti followed with a double to left that scored Cales, but Chalfant was out at the plate on a relay throw from shortstop Leonard to catcher Jeff Thompson.
“We had to take that chance there,” Mario’s manager Lou Pasquale said. “They had to make two perfect throws to get him, and they did, so you tip your hat to them.”
The Copperheads came right back in the top of the fifth to seize the lead.
Brent Baker drew a lead-off walk and took third on Chris Buncic’s double. Brad Baker then fell behind 0-2 before smacking a home run over the center field fence to put Carmichaels in front to stay, 3-1.
Zach Sully kept the inning going when he reached second after a swinging strikeout, taking advantage of a wild pitch and a throwing error on the play. Leonard followed with an RBI double to make it 4-1, forcing Pasqaule to relieve Dunham in favor of Jim Kubina.
“We didn’t make the key plays,” Pasquale said. “They hit a home run on an 0-2 pitch. They scored a run after a guy struck out. Any run you score in any way, with the type of pitching you’re going to see in this series, is big.”
“But the bottom line is we have to hit better than we did today.”
Mario’s got two runs back in the sixth.
Chris McManus singled, Jared Lapkowicz walked and Cales bunted the runners up. One out later, Busti hit a check-swing, two-run double down the right-field line to cut the gap to one.
Carmichaels answered in the seventh when Leonard singled, went to second on a wild pitch, took third on Thompson’s groundout, and scored when Gene Franks’ hot shot ate up the third baseman.
Mario’s didn’t go down easy in its final at bat.
Slatcoff hit Scott Van Sickle with a 1-2 pitch, Jason Greene forced him at second and Jeff Lapkowicz singled, prompting Krause to call on the Leonard to relieve Slatcoff. Chris McManus to load the bases, but Jared Lapkowicz popped out. Cales then hit a slow grounder up the middle that Baker fielded and gunned to first for the final out.
“Their pitcher sawed him off and they made the play,” Pasquale said. “It would’ve been nice to win Game 1 at home, but we just have to go out and play baseball the way we have all year at Carmichaels and get Game 2.”
“I expect the whole series to be like this, going down to the last at bat,” Krause said.
Franks and Smykla had doubles for the Copperheads, who out-hit Mario’s 8-6.
Mario’s is seeking its first County League crown, while Carmichaels has won five of the last 10.
“I’m proud that our team has been here on a consistent basis,” Krause said. “Both of these teams have worked hard all year to get to this point.”