May 8, 2008 By Dave Stofcheck 4 min read

FREDERICKTOWN – With the way Brownsville’s Brian Ohler was throwing, no clich? in the world could save Beth-Center Wednesday night. Facing a must-win, do-or-die, backs-against-the-wall situation, the Bulldogs came out on the short end of a 7-0 decision in the Section 2-AA finale for both teams.

With the victory, the Falcons (12-4, 9-3) clinch a share of the Section 2-AA title, along with Washington and Charleroi. The section championship is Brownsville’s fourth in eight years, and first during an even-numbered year since 1970.

“This was a really big win for us,” said Falcons coach Skooter Roebuck. “We already had a playoff berth locked up, but we wanted to tie for the section title instead of tying for third place.

“We didn’t want to have to play a preliminary-round game just to get into the first round of the playoffs. If you have to play a preliminary-round game, you have to use your No. 1 pitcher, and if you win, you have to go up against the No. 1 team next.”

A victory by Beth-Center (8-8. 7-5) would have created a third-place tie with Brownsville, and both teams would have received postseason bids.

The Bulldogs had won four of five games coming into Wednesday night, including three straight Section 2-A contests. But with four freshmen in the lineup, including starting pitcher Jeff Tarley, Beth-Center couldn’t come up with one more section victory needed to advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

“We fought hard down the stretch, but our youth showed today,” said long-time B-C coach Frank Pryor. “Each section game we have won down the stretch, we knew we had to win. But we were beat by a better team today.

“It’s a disappointing way to end section play, but our kids didn’t shy away from anything.”

Ohler (6-3) started strong, and finished what he started, tossing a complete game five-hitter. He retired eight of the first nine hitters he faced, and closed out the game by striking out the bottom third of Beth-Center’s batting order in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Ohler finished with 12 strikeouts, and walked just two batters.

“He deserved this today,” Roebuck said. “He’s our ace and he’s throwing really well right now. In the games he’s lost, we made a bunch of errors, and he didn’t deserve to lose.

“He probably should be 7-1 or 8-1 right now. He has two curveballs, a slow curve and a hard curve, and today he was throwing both of them for strikes. He kept them off-balance.”

Ohler got some help along the way, both offensively and defensively, from right-fielder Mike Michalsky. Michalsky’s two-run home run to center field gave Brownsville a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning, and he came up with two defensive gems, one with his glove, the other with his arm, to help keep the Bulldogs at bay.

With one out in the bottom of the first inning, Michalsky robbed Beth-Center’s Drew Markovitch of extra bases when he sprinted towards the foul line and gloved Markovitch’s fly ball while tumbling to the ground.

Then, in the bottom of the fourth inning, a hard-charging Michalsky scooped up K.J. McCarty’s single and gunned down Matt Stotka at third base. Stotka had singled to lead off the inning and was trying to move up an extra base on the soft base hit, which had just about died in the grass when Michalsky retrieved it.

The play proved pivotal after Beth-Center’s Matt Sabatini followed with a single to right field.

“He got an earful for missing the cut-off man, but he threw a rocket,” Roebuck said. “It was a beautiful throw. He probably has the strongest arm we’ve had in the outfield in several years.”

Brownsville added to its lead with three runs in the top of the fifth inning, the big hit of the frame being a two-run double off the bat of Randy Smithburger.

The Falcons had taken a 2-0 second-inning lead with the help of three walks, an error and a balk.

Tarley (2-1) worked five innings and allowed seven runs, five of which were earned. He struck out eight, but struggled with his control and walked six.

“Our baseball team has been revamped from last year,” Pryor said. “We started four freshmen today, but right now after 16 games, they’re not really freshmen.

“We just couldn’t generate anything today when we had some chances. I gave one signal all game.”