The Glendale Vikings were in the wrong place at the wrong time Monday against Tyrone.
The Eagles were coming off one of their more deflating losses of the season Saturday against Altoona, when they managed only two hits and committed six errors in a 10-1 loss, and there couldn’t have been a team better suited for Tyrone than the struggling Vikings and their underpowered pitching staff and error-prone infield.
Both played a major role in Tyrone’s 16-2 10-run rule victory in five innings, but even bigger was the bat of infielder Tyler Gillmen, who continued to pile numbers onto an already heaping list of batting credentials in his junior season. Gillmen went 3-for-4 with a career-high six RBI, and came within a single of hitting for the cycle after homering in the first, tripling in the third and doubling in the fourth.
Along with equally strong performances later against Bishop Guilfoyle and Penns Valley, Gillmen now has 27 RBI and 11 hits for extra bases, good enough for an .878 slugging percentage.
“He’s one of the productive hitters we have that we know will give us production from the clean-up spot,” said Tyrone manager Tom Coleman. “He’s been seeing the ball really well this season and hitting it hard. You’ve really got to like that from the four-hole.”
The Glendale was Gillmen’s sixth multiple-hit game of the season, and the fourth time he drove in three or more runs.
Tyrone didn’t need near that production against the Vikings, mostly because they could never find a way to crack starter Randy Hoover. The sophomore went all five innings in just his second varsity start, allowing only two hits and one earned run. In four appearances, he’s now 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA.
“He’s not an overpowering pitcher, but if he hits his spots, we’ll get the outs,” Coleman said. “It was really a good outing for a young pitcher.”
Hoover made just one mistake in the second inning when Glendale second baseman Jon Brown took him deep over the centerfield fence for a home run, but from there allowed only three base runners before closing out with a 1-2-3 top of the fifth.
“I thought he pitched well with a lead,” said Coleman. “He realized we were up big and he pitched strikes. That was a big key.”
While Hoover was throwing strikes, Viking starter Brandon Baker labored to find the plate and make quality pitches. He lasted only 2 2-3 innings, and in that time he surrendered 13 runs and walked seven.
It all started with Gillmen’s one-out three-run homer in the first after Baker had walked Brit Mingle and Jamie Levinson. He delivered four more free passes in the second, and Tyler Golden came through with a two-run single to left to make it 7-1.
In the third, three Viking errors plated Buddy Stotler before Levinson singled to score Mingle and make it 9-1. Gillmen then cleared the bases and picked up two more RBI with a triple off the wall in right-center making it 13-1.
That was curtains for Baker, but reliever Chris Tassi fared little better. He gave up Gillmen’s RBI double to left-center, along with a run-scoring single to right by Doug Morrow to make it 16-2.
In the field, the Eagles rebounded from their horrendous performance against the Mountain Lions, committing just one error. Levinson and Gillmen combined for a perfectly turned 6-4-3 double-play in the third, part of seven ground ball outs induced by Hoover.
GAME NOTES: Batting from the lead-off position for the first time this season, Mingle went 1-for-2 and scored four runs.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, the Tyrone-Glendale game article did not appear until today’s Daily Herald.
TYRONE 16 Glendale 2
GLENDALE – Call, cf, 3-0-0; Strong, lf, 0-0-0; Nash, ss, 1-0-0; Wagner, 3b, 1-0-0; Baker, p-ss, 2-0-0; Tassi, 3b-p, 2-1-1; Walstrom, rf, 2-0-0; Brown, 2b, 2-1-1; Barnhart, c, 2-0-0; Jambor, dh, 2-0-0; Harpster, 1b, 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-2-2.
TYRONE – Mingle, rf, 2-4-1; Hunter, 3b, 2-1-0; Hertzler, 3b, 1-0-0; Levinson, ss, 2-3-1; Gillmen, 2b, 4-3-3; Golden, 1b, 3-0-1; Morrow, 1b-cr, 1-2-1; Schopp, cf, 4-0-0; Stotler, dh, 2-1-0; Hoover, p, 0-0-0; Anders, c, 2-0-0; Clark, lf, 1-2-0. TOTALS: 24-16-7.
GLENDALE 010 10X X – 2-2-6
TYRONE 346 3XX X – 16-7-1
2B: Gillmen
3B: Gillmen
HR: Gillmen, Brown
RBI: Gillmen 6, Golden 2, Morrow, Levinson, Hunter, Brown
E: Morrow, Barnhart 2, Nash, Baker, Tassi, Wagner
SO: Baker 3, Hoover 2, Tassi 1
BB: Baker 7, Hoover 1, Tassi 2
WP: Hoover LP: Baker
