County League
Potter’s Clubhouse edges Carmichaels Potter’s Clubhouse is finally on a roll, and it couldn’t have come at a better time with the Fayette County Baseball League playoffs looming.
Potter’s scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to stun Carmichaels, 4-3, and record their third win in their last four games.
“To play like we did against a team like Carmichaels, that’s a pretty good win for us,” said Potter’s manager Dan Kupets, who got a boost from his son, Casey Kupets, who doubled and singled. “We just made the plays today and took advantage of their miscues.”
Howie King allowed all three runs in five innings to earn the win with Rick Wilson tossing two scoreless frames to earn the save.
Losing pitcher Steve Slatcoff was charged with three earned runs in going the distance.
Potter’s (5-22) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Casey Kupets’ RBI single.
Carmichaels (21-7) scored an unearned run on an outfield error in the third to tie it.
The Copperheads surged ahead with two runs in the top of the fourth. Manager Dickie Krause started the rally with a one-out single. Chris Buncic walked and Brent Walker smacked a run-scoring double. Joe Leonard singled and Charlie Humes followed with an RBI hit.
Potter’s cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Casey Kupets drilled a one-hop, book-rule double to center, took third on Ryan Guthrie’s one-out single, and scored when he delayed before dashing home on Scott Fraley’s groundout.
Potter’s took the lead for good in the fifth. Jonathon West got things going when Slatcoff hit him with an 0-2 pitch. Dave Novotny pinch ran but was erased on Jared Early’s fielder’s choice. Jeremy Thomas followed with an RBI triple to right, then scored the go-ahead run on Phil Gratchic’s sacrifice fly to right.
Humes had two hits for Carmichaels and Brent Baker contributed a double.
Potter’s win sets up a showdown at Waynesburg today. The winner earns home field advantage for Friday’s pigtail playoff game at 5:45 p.m.
The rest of the postseason is scheduled to begin on Sunday, weather permitting.
Wana B Heros 15, Redd Dawgs 5 – Wana B Heros scored in every inning but one on its way to a surprisingly lopsided victory over visiting Redd Dawgs.
Andy Mazur homered, Shane Tonkavitch went 3 for 3, Jamie Kowalczyk tripled and singled twice, and Justin Corso also had three hits, including a double, as Wana B Heros improved to 10-14-1.
Redd Dawgs fell to 18-9-1.
Winning pitcher Zack Rhoades allowed two runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts in four innings. Chuck Weaver pitched two innings in relief and Ryan Caringola finished up in the seventh.
Redd Dawgs scored twice in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead, but Heros tied it in the bottom of the inning, then went up 6-2 with a four-run fourth. The score was 7-3 when Heros exploded for eight runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach.
Ryan Russell and Shane Molyneaux each had two hits for Redd Dawgs, and Dan Thomas added a double.
Russell gave up six runs on six hits in four innings in taking the loss. He walked three and struck out two.
Wana B Heroes hosts Mill Run at 6 p.m. today.