Colonial 3 Legion wins on the road, 13-4
JEFFERSON — Colonial 3 belted 15 hits for a 13-4 road victory Monday night at Jefferson-Morgan in Fayette American Legion Baseball League action.
Colonial 3 (8-5) now owns the inside track to earn homefield advantage in the first round of the Legion playoffs behind Uniontown and Connellsville.
The eight-team, double-elimination playoffs are tentatively slated to start on Sunday.
“Our offense has been clicking for us these last couple of games” Colonial 3 manager Don Bell said. “We just make hard contact with the ball and put it in play. We cut down on our strikeouts and we are really aggressive on the base paths. We are hoping to carry this momentum into the playoffs.”
After the game was delayed 20 minutes due to lighting in the area, the visitors quickly took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning after a RBI double by winning pitcher Nik Gibson and a run-producing single by Steve Edenfield.
Jefferson-Morgan (4-9) trimmed the deficit down to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning when Gage Clark scored on an RBI ground out by Tyler Zelenick.
Colonial 3 increased its lead to 7-1 over the next two innings.
Alec McLay drew a walk to start the second frame and later scored on a wild pitch, while Gibson thumped his second RBI double of the night in the third to increase the lead.
Gibson later crossed home plate on a wild pitch, followed by an infield error that scored Edenfield and then an RBI infield single by Preston Frost.
After a scoreless fourth, Colonial pushed its lead to 9-1 on an RBI ground out by McLay and a RBI single by Silvio Urani.
J-M responded in the bottom of the fifth inning with three runs, courtesy of an RBI double by Brayden Mooney, Clark scoring on a wild pitch and a RBI hit by Zelenick.
“We are young in spots, but we do have a couple of veteran guys that have played in this league the last couple of years,” Jefferson-Morgan coach Dylan Davis said. “Those guys are our leaders. We got behind early tonight and couldn’t hang with their offense.”
The visitors sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the sixth inning and plated four runs on just two hits. Frost and Rick Maruicci had RBI in the inning.
After the home team went down in order in the bottom of the sixth inning, the game was called to due darkness.
Addis finished with a team-high three hits in the win, while Gibson, Edenfield, Brandon Bell and Marucci had multi-hit games. McLay scored a team-high three runs.
Gibson picked up the win, going five innings and allowing four runs on six hits with three strikeouts and four walks.
“Nik is fresh off of vacation and just battled tonight for us,” Bell said. “He has good command and always keeps the ball low. He always gives us a chance to win. He does a good job of changing his speeds and he pitches to contact. It was a solid outing tonight.”
Noah Mankin came on in relief in the sixth and pitched a scoreless frame.
Jefferson-Morgan used five pitchers with Dalton Riggenbach taking the loss.
“We are lining up our pitching for the playoffs and tonight was a tough draw for us,” Davis said. “We wanted a couple of guys to get some innings tonight. We have to cut down on the errors and make sure we have everybody here committed to the team.”
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Farmington 8, Carmichaels 5 – Farmington rallied from a 5-2 deficit Monday night for an 8-5 road victory at Carmichaels in Fayette American Legion Baseball League action.
Farmington improves to 6-5 and remains in contention for an opening-round home playoff game when the tournament begins Sunday.
Carmichaels slips to 1-12.
Farmington scored two runs in the top of the first inning, but the home team rallied for five runs in the bottom of the third inning. Logan Mayhle, Zach Hillsman, Damyn Crick, Noah Streit and Matt Barrish had an RBI in the inning.
The visitors scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to regain the lead and added a couple of insurance runs in the top of the seventh.
Jeremy Saliba pitched the final 4.2 innings to earn the win. He allowed one run (unearned) on one hit with nine strikeouts and two walks.
Kaine Frye, Nolan Sennett and John Harim all doubled for Farmington. Trent Uphold led with three singles. Frye, Sennett, and Alan VanSickle all finished with two hits.
Frye and Harim both knocked in two runs.
Hillsman went 2-for-3 for Carmichaels.
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Uniontown 14, Waynesburg 2 – Uniontown Legion exploded for 10 runs in the first inning and never looked back in a 14-2 victory at Waynesburg on Monday evening.
Uniontown (14-1) added one run in the third and three in the fifth for the five-inning mercy rule victory. Waynesburg (2-13) scored one run in the third and one in the fifth.
Uniontown’s Josh Burns doubled and tripled, and had four RBIs and two runs scored. Teammates Nate Zimcosky, Chad Petrush and Richie Mehall each had two hits. Mehall had two RBIs, and Petrush and Zimcosky had one apiece.
Uniontown’s Ian Edenfield and Travis Sankovich each had RBI doubles. Tanny Erminio, Mehall, Petrush and Zimcosky each scored two runs.
Waynesburg’s Kyle Blasco had two hits, including a double, and teammate Tyler Rush had two base hits and an RBI.
Garrett Myers picked up the win after yielding one earned run on two hits in four innings. He had five strikeouts and walked six in throwing 78 pitches (40 strikes). Mehall pitched the final inning, and allowed one earned run on two hits. He had two strikeouts and walked one in throwing 19 pitches (13 strikes).
Evan Zimmer took the loss after surrendering 11 runs, but only two were earned, in three innings. He allowed nine hits and walked one in throwing 78 pitches (44 strikes). Luke Robinson pitched the last two innings, and gave up three earned runs on two hits. He had four strikeouts and four walks in throwing 60 pitches (30 strikes).
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Carmichaels 4, Jefferson-Morgan 3 – Carmichaels scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to rally for a 4-3 victory over Jefferson-Morgan on Tuesday evening in American Legion Baseball action at Wana B Park.
Carmichaels (2-12) trailed 3-2, but Jacob Hair started the rally by drawing a walk and steal second. He moved to third on a sacrifice, and with two outs, scored on Zach Hillsman’s triple. Hillsman scored on a wild pitch for the winning run.
Winning pitcher Logan Mayhle, who entered the game in the fifth, shut down Jefferson-Morgan (4-10) in the seventh. Mayhle had four strikeouts and walked two.
Carmichaels scored the game’s first run in the second, Jefferson-Morgan tied the game in the third before the home team took a one-run lead after three. J-M scored two in the fifth.
Gage Clark, Zack Gamble and Hunter Bowen each had one double for Jefferson-Morgan. Gamble had two hits. Teammate Isaac Dean had three singles.
Clark took the loss. He had eight strikeouts and walked five.
Carmichaels hosts Uniontown on Friday at Wana B Park. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.