Copperheads take 2-0 lead in FCBL playoff series with Mill Run
MILL RUN – The Blue Mountain Copperheads took a 2-0 lead in their series with Mill Run, beating the home team 8-3 in the semifinal round of Fayette County Baseball League playoffs Tuesday. Blue Mountain saw a three-run lead shrink to one run and then scored five runs in the top of the seventh and stopped another potential Mill Run rally in the bottom half of the inning, to seal the win. “This is a tough place to play. We lost one and tied one here earlier in the season,” Blue Mountain Manager Dickie Krause said. “We’re going home 2-0, so we’re right where we want to be.”
Blue Mountain (17-9-1) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second. Dan Novak and Chuck Gasti started the inning with consecutive singles, and Aaron Thompson stroked a one-out double to bring them home. Thompson moved to third on a single by J.W. Kayla, and scored on a ground ball to second by Rick Smykla.
Winning pitcher Addison Scherich got some help from his defense as it turned double plays in the fourth and fifth to snuff out a couple of scoring opportunities by Mill Run. In the fourth Bobby Fulton lead off with a double for Mill Run. Dennis Show drew a walk, and then Jim Warrick hit into a 6-4-3 double play before Scherich got John Warrick to fly out to center, stranding Fulton at third.
In the fifth Blue Mountain turned two once again. Rob Egan singled with one out, and Travis Henry followed with a grounder to short that started another 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
“We’re hitting the ball and playing good baseball, but we just couldn’t get anything to fall in for us,” Mill Run manager Ray Orndorff said. “Give Blue Mountain credit, they’re a good ball team. They got a couple of hits in a row that resulted in some runs. We didn’t quite get there.”
Mill Run (15-13-1) broke through against Scherich in the sixth. David Sumner cracked a one-out solo homer to center. Show was hit by a pitch with two-out and came around to score on a double by Jim Warrick, making the score 3-2.
In the top of the seventh Blue Mountain jumped on a tiring Jason Halfhill for five runs. With one-out Blue Mountain got base hits from George Taylor and Dan Novak. Gasti followed with another single to score Taylor, and Ryan Group doubled, driving in Novak with Gasti stopping at third. Adam Lewton’s fly ball to right scored Gasti.
Kayla got another single, driving in Group. Kayla moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single from Smykla, making the score 8-2. Orndoff said that he thought about taking Halfhill out, but just didn’t have enough bodies to make that move.
Josh Coffman lead off Mill Run’s seventh with a walk, but was forced at second on Ken Wiltrout’s ground ball. Wiltrout beat the throw to avoid the double play. Scherich then struck out the next batter, and then issued a walk to Nick Lattanzo. Sumner singled, driving in Wiltrout.
Scherich fell behind Fulton, 2-0, and was replaced by Gasti. Fulton drew a walk to load the bases before Gasti got Show to ground out to third to end the game.
Game 3 of the best-of-five series will be played tonight in Carmichaels. Carmichaels? J.W. Kayla (right) runs to second during Tuesday night?s Fayette County semifinal round playoff game at Mill Run. The series switches to Carmichaels today for a 5:45 p.m. contest. Christine Pocratsky/Herald-Standard