Martin Oil got one the easy way and then went out and combined a gritty pitching effort with timely hitting to post their second win of the day late Friday.
Martin Oil and Park Furniture were to complete a game that had been stopped due to darkness on June 21 with Martin Oil up 16-10 after six innings. Martin Oil manager Ed Davis found out earlier in the day that the Park Furniture game would be a win by forfeit.
In the regularly scheduled game against ReMax, at Vets Field, Chris Alley tossed a five-hit, seven strikeout, three walk, 4-2 victory to set up a down-to-the-wire makeup ballgame with serious playoff implications against Barkman Oil/Altoona First today at Bellwood at 6 p.m.
The Martin Oil-ReMax contest was a tightly fought match all the way.
Martin Oil broke out on top with an unearned run in the top of the second. Troy Brunner was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and went to second on a passed ball. ReMax starting pitcher Brent Milliron then struck out Blaze Winterstein, but the third strike was in the dirt and when ReMax catcher Mike Montgomery threw to first to get Winterstein, the ball sailed over the head of first baseman Nate Williams and out into right field. Brunner came all the way home from second to score on the play.
ReMax put solo scores on the board in the third and fourth to take a 2-1 lead. In the third, designated hitter Darryl Morris reached on a fielder’s choice and eventually scored the tying run while Adam Kaack who had singled, got caught in a rundown between first and second. In the fourth a single by Montgomery, one of four Martin Oil errors and a sacrifice fly enabled courtesy runner Chris Jubeck to score the go-ahead run.
Despite having his defense commit errors on the next two plays, Alley regrouped to get a strikeout looking, for the third out of the inning to keep the game close.
Although getting clutch hits has been a weakness at times for the young Martin Oil team, which starts four 16-year olds and just two 18-year olds, they were able to turn the corner for the victory with several well-placed shots in the fifth and sixth.
First, after Brian Hostler lined a single to right with two outs in the fifth, Dustin Harris ripped a double to deep center to score Hostler with the tying run.
Then in the top of the fifth, Earnie Kelley opened the inning with a triple to the left field wall. With one out, Brunner doubled to get Kelley home to put Martin Oil in the lead 3-2. With two gone, Alley gave himself an insurance run when he banged a triple to straight-away center to score Brunner for a 4-2 advantage.
“We told the kids before we left Bellwood tonight that we believed in them, but they needed to start believing in themselves, that they were better than what they had been playing, and that they could win these tough games, against the better teams,” explained Davis. “I think they started to believe in themselves tonight. They pulled this one together and pulled this one out. The coaching staff is really proud of them.”
Alley, who allowed just one earned run, pitched out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth, getting a strikeout and bouncer to second to thwart ReMax’s attempt for the tying runs, then caught two pop flies himself, and got a fly out to center to end the game, pitching around Martin Oil’s fourth miscue of the game with one out.
“Chris pitched a heck of a nice ballgame,” said Davis. “We had some big hits by Brunner and Kelley and Alley and Hostler and Harris. We had a total team effort as far as the hitting was concerned.
“We still need to improve the defense, so I’m not letting the guys off the hook completely, but we are real pleased with the results obviously.”
Should Martin Oil (16-7) defeat Barkman/Altoona First by more than three runs, they would clinch second place in the George B. Kelley Federation regular season with ReMax third, and Barkman would get the fourth playoff seed. Barkman (16-7) downed Martin Oil 5-2 in their first meeting. If Barkman wins, they would be the second seed because they have a 2-0 season series lock over ReMax (17-7), who would be third, and Martin Oil fourth. If Martin Oil wins by less than three runs, Barkman/Altoona first would get the second seed, Martin Oil third, and ReMax fourth, because Martin Oil took the season series 2-1 over ReMax. Locker Room (18-6) has already claimed first place in the Kelley Federation and the top seed for the playoffs, which includes a first round bye.
In a related game, Tyrone Legion will battle Hoss’s at Tyrone at 6 p.m. today, with the winner claiming the seventh and final playoff spot and the loser eliminated from the playoff picture. On Friday, Hoss’s had grabbed a 13-4 lead in the top of the fifth when rains suspended the game. The contest will be played from the start, since it did not go the required five full innings to be a complete game.
Martin Oil 4 ReMax 2
Martin Oil – Beech, 2b, 4-0-0; Kelley, cf, 4-1-1; Tomchick, rf, 3-0-1; Brunner, 1b, 2-2-2; Winterstein, c, 3-0-0; Alley, p, 3-0-1; McDaniel, cr, 0-0-0; Coho, 3b, 3-0-0; Hostler 3-1-1; Harris, lf, 3-0-2. TOTALS 28-4-8.
ReMax – Kaack, cf, 4-0-1; Palazzi, 2b, 3-0-1; Webster, ss, 4-0-0; Montgomery, c, 2-0-1; Jubeck, cr, 0-1-0; Veckov, rf, 2-0-0; Perehinec, lf, 3-0-0; A. Williams, 3b, 3-0-1; N. Williams, 1b, 3-0-1; Milliron, p, 0-0-0; Vaughn, p, 0-0-0; Morris, dh, 3-1-0. TOTALS 27-2-5.
Martin Oil 010 012 0 4-8-4.
ReMax 001 100 0 2-5-3.
2B: Brunner, Harris.
3B: Kelley, Alley.
RBI: Brunner, Alley, Harris, Veckov.
SO: Alley 7, Milliron 5, Vaughn 1.
BB: Alley 3.
WP: Alley LP: Milliron
