Copperheads in Fayette County Baseball League finals
CARMICHAELS – Any doubt that Blue Mountain wouldn’t be returning to the Fayette County Baseball Championship series ended in the bottom of the first inning of Wednesday’s Game 3 semifinal against Mill Run. Down 1-0, the Copperheads put five runs on the board in route to a 12-5 victory. Leadoff batter J.W. Kayla singled to start the game for the Copperheads, advanced to third base on a pair of Rob Egan wild pitches and scored on a George Taylor groundout to tie the game at 1-1.
Gene Franks and Zack Solly got on base with a single and walk, respectively, with Chuck Gasti driving in them in with a single. Catcher Aaron Thompson continued the barrage for the Copperheads (18-9-2) with a single that scored Dan Novak and Gasti and made the score 5-1.
“We were hoping to hoping to jump on them,” said Copperheads’ manager Richard Krause. “We talked before the game about how we wanted to get that fast start. We kind of faded in the middle of the game, but we had some real solid pitching to set us up for an appearance in the finals.”
Still Krause lamented on the fact that Mill Run was without some of its players, which forced Mill Run (15-13-1) to play only nine men.
“They had a couple of guys who weren’t here for the series who had been great players for them all season. It’s kind of misleading with how this series turned out in that they do have a great team. Mill Run plays the way the game should be played.”
The Copperheads added to their lead in the bottom of the second as Franks walked and Solly smacked a pitch for a single.
Gasti was hit by a pitch that sent Franks home after bases were loaded on a Novak single, while Solly scored after Cy Mozingo was walked to make the score 7-1.
Bobby Fulton, who had scored on a John Warrick single in the first inning for Mill Run, sent a Perry Cunningham pitch over the fence for a home run to make the score 7-2 in the top of the third.
However, the Copperheads were able to dish out more than they received with Novak scoring Franks on a double after Franks singled to bring in Kayla and give the Copperheads a 9-2 lead going into the bottom of the fourth, where Ryan Group added a run after scoring on a George Taylor double.
Mill Run closed the gap in the top of the sixth after Cunningham was taken out and replaced with Gasti.
Gasti loaded the bases after hitting two pitchers, allowing a walk after which Krause sent in Mozingo for the remainder of the game.
Fulton grounded out to send Travis Henry home, while Dennis Show singled to score John Coffman and Nick Lattanzo who had relieved Egan on the mound in the second inning.
Mill Run cut the lead to 10-5, but the Copperheads added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Mitch Monas tripled and scored on a single by Taylor, while Taylor raced home on a Solly double.
Cunningham picked up the win, allowing five hits, five strikeouts and four walks, while Egan took the loss as he gave up seven hits and four walks.
“It got away from us early,” Mill Run manager Ray Orndorff said. “I was hoping to get two innings from Egan, but, really, I left him in too long. This loss was on me.”
The Copperheads now await the winner of the Mario’s-Mitch’s Bail Bonds series, which resumes at 5:45 p.m. today at Redstone Park with Mario’s holding a 2-0 lead in the series.