Sometimes the baseball takes strange hops and bounces. Other times, especially in close games, one play, hit or pitch can make the difference between winning and losing. At times, it seems one team gets all the breaks, all the close calls.
On Saturday evening, ReMax Realty opened the second game of their best-of-five championship series with three runs in the top of the first inning. All three scored on one play, a two-out grounder that was muffed and then thrown away. Instead of getting out of a bases-loaded situation with no score, Martin Oil found themselves down 3-0, and ReMax pitcher Matt Gehret rode the big start to a 5-4 victory.
Martin Oil got a huge game on offense from Justin Miller, who drilled a two-run home run in the second and a two-run single in the sixth, but couldn’t get a break otherwise.
Martin Oil had all of the extra-base hits, and in general hit the ball hard, but each hard knock seemed to be hit right to a ReMax player.
Three blasts that weren’t caught including Miller’s home run, that cleared the left-center field fence, were a double by Chad Coho, two batters before Miller’s dinger, and a triple to the power alley in right center by Justin Manning. Martin Oil’s first three hits were the three for extra bases.
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the third, Manning slugged his three-bagger with one down. Twin brother Jake Manning walked, but Gehret got two easy infield flies to end the threat without a score.
In the sixth, Nate Gray walked to open the frame. With one gone, Jimmy Watters was safe on ReMax’s only error of the game to put runners at second and third. Miller ripped a solid single to score both Gray and Watters. Alex Miller followed with a single that sent Ian Pankoke, courtesy running for Miller, to third base. Then. Martin Oil botched an attended suicide squeeze play with Pankoke getting tagged out in a run down between home plate and third base, with a chance to tie the score.
Finally, in the last of the seventh, Trey Mock drew a walk and Justin Manning moved him up to second with a sacrifice bunt. Jake Manning walked to put runners at first and second, with Pankoke running for Mock, but both runners stayed right there, with Gehret getting a strikeout and bounce out to end the game.
Gray tossed the first five innings, giving up just the three unearned runs, on three hits with five walks and no strikeouts. Justin Miller finished up the final two innings giving up two runs on four hits with one strikeout and two walks. Luck played a role in the two-run sixth inning for ReMax against Miller. Pat Tomassetti and Gehret hit back-to-back singles that looked like easy outs, but suddenly took bad hops to end up base hits to left field.
“We just couldn’t get a hit when we needed it tonight,” said Martin Oil manager Ed Davis. “Both of our pitchers did a pretty good job, once again defense hurt Nate Gray on the mound, and Justin Miller had a big game at the plate with the home run and two-run single. We just couldn’t get the clutch hit from anybody else.”
Sunday’s scheduled contest was rained out by the hard showers that fell throughout the area.
Game Three will take place at Vets Field, tonight at 5:30 p.m. with Game Four to begin 30 minutes after the completion of Game Three, if needed. Should Martin Oil force the series to a Game Five, it would be played at Mansion Park at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Martin Oil, trailing two games to none in the series, faces the dainting task of winning three straight if they are to claim their second straight George B. Kelley Federation title.
ReMax Realty 5 Martin Oil 4
ReMax Realty – Hammaker, ss, 5-1-2; Williams, 3b, 4-1-2; Vaughn. 1b, 2-1-0; Diehl, pr, 0-0-0; Gearhart, c, 2-1-0; Tomassetti. lf, 4-1-2; Gehret, p, 4-0-1; Novasel, cf, 3-0-0; Johnson, rf, 3-0-0; Zelnosky, 2b, 1-0-0. TOTALS 28-5-7.
Martin Oil – Ju. Manning, ss-2b, 3-0-2; Ja. Manning, c, 2-0-0; Gray, p-ss, 3-1-0; C. Coho, 3b-1b, 4-1-1; Watters, cf, 3-1-0; J. Miller, 1b-p, 3-1-2; ; A. Miller, lf, 3-0-1; Kovac, rf, 3-0-0; Mock, 2b-3b, 2-0-0, Pankoke, cr-pr, 0-0-0.
ReMax 300 002 0 5-7-1.
Martin Oil 020 002 0 4-6-3.
E: Hammaker, Ju. Manning 2, C. Coho.
2B: C. Coho.
3B: Ju. Manning.
HR: J. Miller.
RBI: Williams, Tomassetti, J. Miller 4.
SO: Gehret 4, J. Miller, 1.
BB: Gehret 4, Gray 5, J. Miller 3.
WP: Gehret LP: Gray
