Mar 29, 2007 By Jim Downey 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – The pitching combination of J.C. Myers and Ethan Mildren didn’t give Connellsville many chances to put the ball into play Wednesday, and good intentions turned bad in the seventh inning for Connellsville as Laurel Highlands escaped with a 6-4 non-section road victory. Both pitching staffs calmed down in the fifth inning after the game seesawed into a 4-4 tie, setting the lineup six-up, six-down in the fifth and sixth innings.

The Mustangs’ Mike Pegg started the game-winning rally when his bouncer ricocheted off Connellsville pitcher Joe Leonard’s leg and shortstop Colton Wilhelm’s throw was late for an infield single. Nick Erminio deftly sacrificed Pegg to second and Pegg moved to third on a passed ball.

Zack Dascenzo hit a comebacker, but the throw to get Pegg failed to allow the Mustangs’ left fielder to score the go-ahead run. Dascenzo moved to second, and scored an insurance run when left-handed Kevin Gmitter dropped a line drive behind third base for a run-scoring double.

Mildren, a freshman, made the lead stand with a ground out and two strikeouts.

“Mildren did a good job throughout,” said Laurel Highlands coach Tom Landman. “J.C. did a good job. He had good location on his pitches.

“We put the ball in play. The ball bounced our way (in the seventh) inning. We had a couple big hits in key spots.”

Connellsville didn’t have many scoring opportunities, and Connellsville coach Brian Shipley pointed out the telling stat explaining why.

“You can’t strike out 12 (actually 14) times and expect to have success. We need to put the ball in play and put pressure on the defense,” said Shipley.

Myers struck out eight and walked four in his four innings of work. Mildren tossed zeroes at the Falcons in the final three innings, retiring all nine batters he faced on six strikeouts and three infield outs.

The teams exchanged runs through the first four innings with Connellsville playing catch-up most of the time.

Myers drove home Pegg for the opening run in the first, only to have the Falcons respond in the bottom of the inning. Brian Sherwood started it off with a double, stole third and scored on Andrew Kaper’s single.

Pegg’s infield grounder scored the second run in the second, but Connellsville came right back to tie the game with an unearned run.

Laurel Highlands repeated the cycle in the third when Dascenzo doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Myers’ ground out, and again in the fourth when Pegg drove in his second run with an infield single.

The Mustangs had the bases loaded in the fourth with just one out, but ran themselves out of the inning with a double play on a fly out to right field.

Connellsville broke the trend with two runs, one earned, in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kaper’s sacrifice fly scored Sherwood and Leonard’s dying fly ball to right field “plugged” in the soft ground for a run-scoring double.

Landman was generally pleased with his squad’s performance, giving Connellsville a good word in the process.

“Both teams played pretty well (for the first time outside),” said Landman. “We made some mental mistakes, but I was pleased all the way around.”

The opening loss put things in early perspective for Shipley.

“It’s hard playing from behind. There’s only so much you can do. When you’re down two, three runs, it’s hard to play catch-up all the time,” said Shipley.

“We wanted to get our pitchers some innings. The control wasn’t there. They’re not where we need them to be.”