Here\’s what you can say about Tyrone pitcher Tyler Golden: he often struggles with his control and at times he has trouble finishing off an inning. He surrenders a high number of walks and his pitch count often grows like the national debt.
And he may be the gutsiest pitcher on the Golden Eagles\’ staff.
He proved that again yesterday in Tyrone\’s 8-3 win over Bishop Guilfoyle in the first round of the Altoona Curve Classic at Blair County Ballpark. In a complete-game six-hitter, Golden walked eight batters, threw 125 pitches, and nearly got the hook in the fourth inning when Tyrone manager Tom Coleman took a visit to the mound after he walked the first two batters.
Golden talked his coach into at least one more batter – Marauder three-hitter Anthony Williams. Golden got Williams to line out to third baseman Matt Brooks, who threw to second to double up Max Sheedy. From there, the junior right-hander induced designated hitter Nate Williams into a pop out to second, and then allowed just two more hits the rest of the way.
“That really showed his resilience,” said Coleman. “I was planning to pull him, but he asked for one more batter. He got the double play and he was able to come back strong. He gave us a good seven innings and allowed us to save our staff some work.”
Golden improved to 3-1, and rebounded from his worst start of the season Monday, when he allowed seven runs in four innings against Claysburg-Kimmel. The Eagles, meanwhile, advanced to the Classic semifinals for the second straight year, where they will play Hollidaysburg tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.
“I realized I was going to get taken out and I just wanted to finish strong,” Golden said. “I had to bite my lip and fight back and try to hit my spots.”
Regardless of Golden\’s fate on the hill, Tyrone\’s lineup – particularly the top of its order, was ready to win a shootout. The Eagles cranked out 13 hits, matching a season-high, and had their one through five hitters go 11-for-19 with seven runs.
Coleman shook up his lineup for the second straight game, and this time it yielded the results he was looking for. Shortstop Jamie Levinson moved into the three-hole and went 2-for-4 with a home run, and right fielder Brit Mingle moved down two spots to the five-hole, in hopes that he would see more fastballs. Mingle was still fed a steady diet of curve balls, but he roped two of them for a pair of doubles and finished with three RBI.
“We had some good at-bats in the middle of the order,” said Coleman. “They put the bat on the ball and delivered some big hits. Our two, three, four and five hitters hit very well.”
Tyrone went ahead 1-0 when Levinson sent a first pitch fastball into the third row of outfield bleachers with two outs in the first, but the Eagles did their most damage with a four-run third. With two outs, Golden singled to score Josh Clark for a 2-0 lead. Levinson walked, and a wild pitch moved he and Golden ahead 90 feet. Tyler Gillmen then legged out a dribbler down the third base line that scored Golden, making it 3-0.
Mingle followed by ripping his first two-bagger with a scorcher into the left-field corner that plated Levinson and Gillmen and made it 5-0.
Guilfoyle got three runs back in the bottom of the frame when Golden\’s control went south. He walked the bases loaded, and then gave up an RBI single to Andy Lytle. Jim Sommers followed, and hit weakly back to the mound between Golden and Brooks. Neither could make the play and Nate Williams scored from third. Later, Buddy Durbin came around when Steven St. John beat out a double-play attempt on a ball hit to Levinson making it 5-3.
Mingle and Gillmen hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the fifth to lift the Eagles to a 7-3 lead, and Gillmen launched a sacrifice fly to right-center in the seventh to make it 8-3.
Meanwhile, Golden found his zone after Coleman\’s fourth-inning visit, allowing only one runner to advance past first over the fifth, sixth and seventh.
GAME NOTES: Tyrone evened its season record at 5-5….Justin Schopp went 2-for-4, while Golden was 3-for-4….Mingle broke out of an 0-for-10 slump over his last three games.
TYRONE 8 BISHOP GUILFOYLE 3
TYRONE – Schopp, cf, 4-0-2; Golden, p, 4-3-3; Levinson, ss, 4-2-2; Gillmen, 2b, 3-2-2; Mingle, rf, 4-0-2; Stotler, 1b, 4-0-0; Anders, c, 0-0-0; Hunter, dh, 3-0-1; Brooks, 3b, 2-0-0; Hertzler, ph, 1-0-0; Clark, lf, 2-1-1. TOTALS: 31-8-13.
BISHOP GUILFOYLE – Seasoltz, ss, 3-0-1; Sheedy, lf-cf, 3-0-0; A. Williams, 2b, 3-1-1; Craig, c, 0-0-0; N. Williams, dh, 2-1-0; Milliron, p, 2-0-0; Nurenberg, ph, 1-0-1; Crooney, cr, 0-0-0; Durbin, rf, 3-1-0; Lytle, 3b, 3-0-1; Sommers, 1b, 3-0-0; St. John, cf, 2-0-1; Perehenic, lf, 1-0-1. TOTALS: 26-2-6.
TYRONE 104 020 1 – 8-13-1
BISHOP GUILFOYLE 003 000 0 – 3-6-0
2B: Mingle 2, Gillmen
HR: Levinson
RBI: Lytle 2, Gillmen 3, Mingle 3, Golden, Levinson
SB: Hunter, Clark, Seasoltz, Nurenberg
SAC Fly: Gillmen
WP: Golden LP: Milliron
