May 3, 2008 By Alan Smodic For The 3 min read

FREDERICKTOWN – Three batters into Albert Gallatin’s game at Beth-Center Friday night, you could tell that things were going the Colonials’ way. With runners on first and second – after consecutive singles – a wild pitch found its way deep behind home plate and out of the catcher’s vision.

Noticing the play, Albert Gallatin’s A.J. Barnas, who had taken third on the initial miscue, raced his way to home to score the game’s first run. Mike Kubitza also moved up two bases on the wild pitch and scored a batter later on the error.

The two runs were all the Colonials (4-11, 0-9) needed as starting pitcher Eric Palmer limited the Bulldogs (7-7, 6-4) to one run on four hits in a complete game, 7-1 victory.

“Eric pitched a great ball game,” Colonials coach Shawn Chory said. “He’s had a bit of bad luck so far this season. He’s 1-3, but has an ERA under three.

“He either loses 1-0, or we make some errors behind him. So he deserved a win like this.”

Palmer struck out six and didn’t walk a batter to pick up his first win of the season.

Matt Sabatini started and took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out two and walking four.

The Albert Gallatin offense put runners on base in each inning, scoring two in the first, three in the fourth and two more in the sixth.

Kubitza led the offense, finishing 4-for-4 with four singles, two RBIs and one run scored. Catcher Blake Robinson followed behind him, adding a 2-for-2 performance with two doubles and two walks.

“We hit the ball well and we have been,” Chory said. “We are showing improvement in every aspect. We are an improved team and it’s great to see that all coming together now.”

With two outs in the fourth inning, Albert Gallatin’s Wayne Morgan, Colin Packaroni and A.J. Barnas drew consecutive walks to load the bases. Kubitza and Tanner Jesso followed with back-to-back singles to bring in all three.

In the sixth inning, Morgan, Barnas and Kubitza all singled again to load the bases. This time it was a single off the bat of Troy Volansky to right field that scored the final two runs for the Colonials.

Beth-Center’s lone run came in bottom of the first inning when E.J. McCarty reached on an error and scored one batter later on a single through the middle.

The Bulldogs put at least one runner on base in each of the next five innings, but failed to push a run across.

Runners were left in scoring position in both the third and fourth innings, while a 4-6-3 double play wiped away a two on, nobody out threat in the bottom of the sixth.

“We made the plays we needed to and were behind our pitcher,” Chory said. “Beth-Center is a good team that is fighting for a playoff spot, so it was a good game for us.

“Our JV team got a win before this game, too. It was a sweep for us today.”

Albert Gallatin will returns to action at 4 p.m. Monday when it hosts a section matchup with Franklin Regional, Beth-Center travels to Charleroi for a 4 p.m. contest.