The Tyrone Legion never seemed to get it going in an 8-5 loss to Corporal Miller Thursday night. Corporal Miller\’s hitters got to Legion starter Tyler Golden for eight runs in the first three innings, and the Tyrone Legion bats were unable to respond.
Jeremy Vogel got things started by drawing a walk, and after a strike out, Andrew Criste singled. A fly out later, Casey Wombacher hit a ground ball that was misplayed and allowed Vogel to score.
Jamie Levinson began the Tyrone Legion half of the inning with a single, and he moved to second on a single by Golden. Tyler Gillmen hit into a fielder\’s choice that erased Levinson, but Derrick Soellner was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the bags full, Tyler Hoover worked a walk from Corporal Miller starter Alex Sisto that tied the game at one. Sisto struck out Mike Romano before Gillmen was called out stealing home despite seemingly being under the tag.
Corporal Miller used the bottom of their lineup to score three runs in the second inning. Tim Fredrick and Pat Gaeto hit back-to-back singles in front of a Max Riley walk that loaded the bases. Another walk, this time to Vogel, drove in Fredrick.
Corey Henderson hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Gaeto, but left fielder Gillmen\’s throw and Jesse Hertzler\’s tag appeared to put out Riley at third base, but neither umpire saw the play and Riley was called safe. One batter later, the no call haunted the Tyrone Legion when Criste grounded out, but Riley scored.
The Tyrone Legion loaded the bases once again in the bottom of the second inning when Matt Morrissey and Jesse Hertzler singled followed by a one out walk to Levinson. Golden brought home Morrissey with a sacrifice fly, but Gillmen was retired to end the inning.
The bottom of the lineup came through again in the third for Corporal Miller as they used two singles, a walk and a Tyrone Legion error to plate one run and leave the bases loaded for leadoff hitter Jeremy Vogel who ripped a triple past a diving Romano in center field that drove in three runs and gave Corporal Miller an 8-2 advantage.
The Tyrone Legion picked up a run in their half of the inning when Soellner singled, Hoover walked and Romano grounded into a fielder\’s choice that brought home Soellner.
Golden allowed two two-out singles in the fourth inning, but escaped the jam and proceeded to put Corporal Miller down in order the next two innings while striking out four batters.
“That was the first time Tyler has pitched in awhile, and it took him a little while to find his command. He pitched better than what the score tells you in this game, but we left too many runners on base to keep him from picking up the loss on the mound,” Tyrone Legion Manager Mike Boytim said.
Unfortunately, the Legion\’s offense wasn\’t able to break through until the bottom of the sixth inning when Gillmen blasted a two-run home run to left field to cut the deficit to three.
Romano relieved Golden and worked a scoreless seventh inning, and he singled in the bottom of the seventh, but the Tyrone Legion could get no closer, dropping the game 8-5.
“We are a young team, and that means we are going to be inconsistent. We played up to the level of a great team yesterday, but today we just didn\’t have it. A couple calls didn\’t go our way, but teams that are consistently good need to be able to overcome that,” Boytim said.
The Tyrone Legion gets a rare day off tomorrow before heading to Hollidaysburg to take on Locker Room Saturday at 5 p.m.
Legion Notes: After three games Tyler Gillmen leads the team in most offensive categories with a .667 average, two doubles, a triple, a home run and six RBIs…Tyrone drew a season high five walks in the game… Levinson became the third different player to bat leadoff for the Legion this season.
Corporal Miller 8 Tyrone Legion 5
CORPORAL MILLER – Vogel, cf, 2-1-1; Henderson, ss, 2-0-0; Britton, ph, 1-0-0; Criste, 3b, 4-0-1; Sisto, p, 4-0-0; Wombacher, c, 4-0-2; Gehl, lf, 4-1-2; Fredrick, 2b, 4-2-2; P. Gaeto, 1b, 2-2-1; Max Riley, rf, 2-2-0. TOTALS 29-8-9.
TYRONE LEGION – Levinson, ss-cf, 2-0-1; Golden, p-ss, 3-2-1; Gillmen, lf, 3-1-1; Soellner, c, 3-1-1; Hoover, 1b, 2-0-0; Romano, cf-p, 4-0-2; Morrissey, 2b, 3-1-1; Hertzler, 3b, 4-0-1; Rodgers, rf, 2-0-0; Schopp, rf, 1-0-0. TOTALS 27-5-8.
Corporal Miller 134 000 0 8-9-4
Tyrone Legion 111 002 0 5-8-2
3B: Vogel 1.
HR: Gillmen 1.
RBI: Vogel 4, Henderson 1, Criste 1, Gillmen 2, Golden 1, Hoover 1, Romano 1.
SO: Sisto 6, Golden 5.
BB: Sisto 5, Golden 4, Romano 2.
WP: Sisto LP: Golden
