Well-traveled Uhazie helps Masontown even series
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Masontown’s Zach Uhazie pitches against Mitch’s Bail Bonds during Game 2 of the Fayette County Baseball League championship series at Charleroi’s Veterans Memorial Field on Friday. Uhazie threw a complete game and hit a three-run homer in Masontown’s 8-3 win.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Mitch’s Bail Bonds’ Isaac Echard slides safely home as Masontown catcher Chad Petrush handles the late throw during Game 2 of the Fayette County Baseball League championship series at Charleroi’s Veterans Memorial Field on Friday.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Masontown’s Nate Zimcosky swings the bat against Mitch’s Bail Bonds during Game 2 of the Fayette County Baseball League championship series at Charleroi’s Veterans Memorial Field on Friday. Zimcosky, who was 3-for-3, connected for a run-scoring double.
Mitch's Bail Bonds manager Ryan Encapera has a talk with his team during Game 2 of the Fayette County Baseball League championship series at Charleroi's Veterans Memorial Field on Friday.
Masontown's Santino Marra dives back into first base as Mitch's Bail Bonds' Noah Hansen digs out a low pick-off throw during Game 2 of the Fayette County Baseball League championship series at Charleroi's Veterans Memorial Field on Friday.
CHARLEROI — Masontown’s Zach Uhazie had a legitimate reason for missing Game 1 of the Fayette County Baseball League finals.
“Thursday my brother graduated from basic training for the Army,” Uhazie explained. “So we drove down to Fort Jackson in South Carolina, 8 1/2 hours.”
Mitch’s Bail Bonds won the opener of the best-of-five series, 9-6, but Uhazie made sure he was back for Game 2 at Charleroi’s Veterans Memorial Field.
The right-hander threw his second complete game of the postseason and broke open a close battle with a three-run homer as Masontown evened the series at 1-1 with an 8-3 victory Friday.
“Last night I drove 8 1/2 hours back, went to work and then came here,” Uhazie said. “I got 2 1/2 hours of sleep.
“I need to do that more often I guess,” Uhazie added with a smile.
Game 3 of the finals will shift back to Masontown on Sunday with a 5 p.m. start.
Uhazie threw a five-hitter with five walks and 12 strikeouts, Masontown played error-free in the field and Nate Zimcosky was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles for the defending league champions.
Game 2 was a complete turnaround from the opener, according to Masontown manager John Palmer.
“I didn’t know that team,” Palmer said of his squad’s performance on Thursday. “We had errors, hit batters, walks … yesterday was just a nightmare. But our captain came back today. That was a very big game for Zach. He was on 2 1/2-hour sleep. I appreciate him coming back home to help us in this championship series.
“We needed this to get our confidence back. I told them put that first game behind you. Today’s a new day. We’ve just got to get back to Masontown baseball, hitting the ball, great defense and great pitching. They came to play today.”
Masontown took a 1-0 lead in he second inning off Mitch’s starting pitcher Jorge Palmas. Zimcosky and Kaine Frye each drew a walk and Zimcosky scored from second on Mike Coll’s single to left.
Masontown manufactured a run in the third. Austin Bergman drew a lead-off walk, alertly advanced to second on Santino Marra’s fly out to deep center, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Chad Petrush’s grounder which was misplayed for an error.
Mitch’s fought back to tie it at 2-2 in the bottom of the third. Chad Workman worked a walk and Isaac Echard singled to right one out later. Drew Ripepi then smacked a two-run double to left-center with Echard sliding home ahead of the throw.
Mitch’s manager Ryan Encapera called on left-hander Tyler Chris to relieve Palmas in the fourth and he escaped a jam after allowing a double to Coll and a walk to Reed Long.
Masontown surged back in front with two runs in the fifth. Marra laced a lead-off single to left and Petrush walked. Willie Palmer hit into a force out and Zimcosky followed with a run-scoring double to right to break the tie.
“Nate’s been solid all year,” Palmer said. “He’s been pounding the ball all season long. He’s phenomenal. He’s a clutch player.”
Uhazie and Frye both worked walks to force in Willie Palmer for a 4-2 lead.
Mitch’s pulled within 4-3 in the bottom of the inning when Ripepi walked and scored on Brody Bonadio’s double to right.
Masontown put the lead back at two runs in the sixth without the aid of a hit. Ripepi relieved Chrise and walked Long, who took second on a passed ball and advanced to third on Marra’s ground out. Ripepi was called for a balk, allowing Long to trot in to make it 5-3.
Ripepi was forced to leave the mound due to an arm injury after throwing three pitches to Palmer in the seventh.
“He had a tightness in his arm and we’re just trying to be careful with him,” said Encapera, who called on Austin Clark as his fourth pitcher of the game.
“We kind of planned on trying to bullpen the game a little bit and use a couple different guys so we’d have some guys for later in the series,” Encapera said. “It turned out, the way they were pitching, it kind of steered itself the way it went. Jorge was competitive for us. Tyler was OK. They threw a lot of pitches and, in order to try to bring them back, that was kind of enough, so that was why we made some of those moves.”
After the pitching change, Palmer walked, Zimcosky doubled to center and Uhazie clouted a home run over the right field fence to give his team a five-run cushion.
“I was just looking to drive the ball, hopefully in a gap, but when I hit it I knew it was either going to hit the fence or go over,” Uhazie said. “That definitely was a relief, gave me a nicer lead.”
That was the back-breaker, according to Encapera.
“We were back and forth for most of the game and then the three-run homer kind of put it away,” he said. “Before that we were still right there.”
Masontown ended the game with two superb defensive plays in the seventh. Second baseman Palmer made a diving stop to throw out Ripepi and Long made a sliding catch in right field on Noah Hansen’s fly ball for the final out.
Coll had two hits and Palmer scored twice for Masontown.
Kaleb Scott was 2-for-3 with a pair of stolen bases for Mitch’s. Chrise was charged with the loss.
Uhazie’s complete game was the third for Masontown in four playoff games.
“That’s one thing about the arms that we have, Willie, Zach and Nate (Groover) do have strong arms and go the distance a lot,” manager Palmer said. “Mitch’s played three games in the first round and I’m sure they burned up some pitchers. We were fortunate that we only played two and both of our pitchers went the whole way.”
Encapera tipped his cap to Masontown.
“Today they made the plays, they got runners on base and they got their guys in,” he said. “We get a day off now and we’ll come back and give it our best shot on Sunday.”
Masontown is two wins away from being a repeat champion but Palmer wasn’t looking that far ahead yet.
“We just want to ride this momentum and get the next game, but it’s not going to be easy against a team like that,” Palmer said. “It’s going to be a dogfight.”