Colonial 3 rallies to 10-6 win at Carmichaels
CARMICHAELS – Colonial 3 rallied with three runs in the top of the eighth inning, and added two more in the ninth, in a 10-6 victory over Carmichaels Wednesday in Fayette American Legion Baseball League action. Winning pitcher Nick Molchan (1-3) scattered eight hits and allowed three earned runs over eight innings, and Dave Novotney retired three of the four batters he faced in the ninth.
“We kept battling, and Nick kept battling, and we came up with some clutch hits today,” said Colonial 3 manager Doug Molchan. “That’s something we’ve been lacking all season.”
Travis VanOlst, Joe Kulikoski and Dan Harvey drove in two runs each for the winners, and Craig Novak and Tyler Charles added three hits apiece.
Novak, Tony Battaglini and Tyler Erdely each scored two runs.
For Carmichaels, Joby Lapkowicz went 4-for-4, drove in two runs, scored a pair and also swiped two bases.
Lapkowicz started the game on the hill, and retired five of the seven batters he faced on strikeouts before a sore arm forced him off the mound.
Colonial 3 banged out 16 hits off four Carmichaels pitchers, with the hosts finishing with 10 hits of their own.
The teams also combined to leave 21 runners on base, with Carmichaels stranding 10.
“We were in control of this game, and we had chances to get out hits, but we didn’t,” said Carmichaels manager Chuck Gasti.
Trailing 6-5, Colonial 3 took its first lead since the top of the third inning with three runs in the eighth.
With one out, Novak singled and went to second when losing pitcher Marcus Robinson (1-1) hit Battaglini. After Molchan hit into a fielder’s choice to leave runners at the corners with two outs, Kulikoski tied the game with a ground-rule double to right-centerfield.
VanOlst, 0-for-3 at this point, followed with another ground-rule double to give Colonial 3 an 8-6 lead.
Three hits, an error and a wild pitch accounted for two more Colonial runs an inning later.
Carmichaels held leads of 4-1 and 6-4, but couldn’t put the game away. Ashly Menear relieved Lapkowicz and worked three innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits.
Robinson came in and worked three innings, and wound up allowing five hits and four runs before Chuck Gasti pitched the ninth.
Colonial 3 took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the top of the third inning, but Carmichaels tied the game on Aaron Thompson’s sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the third.
The hosts took a 4-1 lead an inning later when Lapkowicz tripled in a pair and later scored on a wild pitch.
Colonial 3 (3-10) answered with three runs in the top of the fifth inning after sending eight batters to the plate. Novak led off the inning with a single and eventually scored when Menear walked Kulikoski with the bases loaded.
VanOlst then flew out to Lapkowicz in left field, and the sore-armed lefty fired a one-hop strike to Thompson at home plate to nail Battaglini, who was trying to tag up and score on the fly ball.
But just when it appeared Carmichaels would escape further damage, Harvey lined a two-run double into right-centerfield to tie the game.
Carmichaels (5-6) re-took the lead with a pair of runs in its half of the fifth inning. With one out, Thompson singled and scored on Robinson’s two-out double. Robinson advanced to third base on the throw home, and later scored on Don Hilenbrant’s single.
“This was a see-saw game,” Doug Molchan said. “But I don’t know how well we would have hit if Joby would have stayed in the game.
“I was going to take Nick out in the fifth or sixth inning, but we kept staying around and it seemed like he was in more control after he allowed the three runs in the fourth.”