Panthers blank Falcons
CONNELLSVILLE – The Connellsville Falcons missed out on a big opportunity to even their record at .500 in Section 2-AAAA Monday afternoon, losing to Franklin Regional 7-0. For the Panthers (6-1, 10-1) it was just a matter of being patient and putting the ball in play as they banged out 12 hits on the day. Steve Ferimer and Andy Parnell had three hits each for the Panthers. Both had a pair of doubles and a base-hit. Ferimer drove in a run while Parnell scored three times.
The Falcons (2-4, 3-7), still looking for their first run in two games against the Panthers, could not generate any offense against winning pitcher Mike Pelekanos, who held the Falcons to one hit on the day while striking out eight.
“It’s hard to win any ball games when you can’t hit, and we’re struggling at the plate right now,” assistant coach Brian Guynn said. “It’s frustrating, because we’re not getting the job done at the plate and it’s costing us games.”
The Falcons had a chance to manufacture a run in the bottom of the first when Greg Welsh drew a walk and moved to second on a ground ball to third by Josh Keslar. Pelekanos gave up another walk to Alex Fogle but came back to retire the next two batters to get out of a potential jam.
Franklin Regional picked up a run in the second when Ferimer singled and was replaced by courtesy runner James Verona. He proceeded to steal second and scored on an error in right field.
The Panthers added another run in the third when Parnell doubled and scored on a double from Seve Franceschelli. Connellsville catcher Seth Campebll stopped a potentially big inning for the Panthers when he teamed with Fogle to pick off Fraceschelli at second, and then gunned down Pelekanos when he tried to steal second after a base-hit.
The Panthers pushed the lead to 3-0 with another run in the fourth when Joe Fornataro doubled and scored on a double from Ferimer.
“Connellsville is a good ball club. We just kept battling and waiting for our hits to come through and just kept pecking away at them and took what they gave us,” Franklin Regional head coach Larry Wayman said. “We got a good performance on the mound today from Pelekanos. It’s his fourth year with us He’s a Duquense recruit and one of the better performers in the WPIAL. He gives us a quality effort every time we play.”
The Panthers plated two more runs in the fifth. Parnell led off the inning with a double. Alex Buccilli and Pelekanos drew walks with one out to load the bases. Mark Casella flied to right, driving in Parnell.Fornataro followed with a base-hit driving in Buccilli making the score 5-0.
Franklin Regional picked up their final two runs in the sixth. Joel Ackerman led off with a single.
Parnell picked up a one-out single putting runners at first and third. Ackerman scored on a hit by Francescelli. Parnell scored the game’s final run on a sacrifice fly to center by Pelekanos.