Bellwood-Antis fell behind Bishop Guilfoyle 6-0 in MAC Division 4 action at Bellwood on Wednesday afternoon, then fought furiously to catch up before falling just short in a 6-5 loss to the Marauders.
Three of the first four BG batters scored to get a quick jump-start on the Blue Devils. Relief pitcher Chris Alley shut down the Bishop Guilfoyle hitters over the final five inning, limiting the visitors to three runs, two earned, scattering nine hits, striking out five and not walking a batter.
The Blue Devils stranded runners at first and second with one out in the fourth inning, after Fred Dorman was hit by a pitch and Alley singled to right.
In the fifth, Bellwood-Antis strung together three hits, an error and a walk to cut the deficit in half to 6-3.
Earnie Kelley reached on the Marauders only error of the game, and Chad Coho hit a seeing-eye double to right that just got past the right fielder to put runners at second and third. Tyler McClellan drew a walk to load the bases before Josh Kleinfelter ripped a single through the left side of the infield to score Kelley. Andy Brisbin drove a single to right center to drive home Coho and McClellan to slice the margin in half with still nobody out. BG pitcher Travis Gibbons stopped the Blue Devils to turn the game however when a base hit would have meant at least one more run and maybe more.
An inning later, the Blue Devils came back for more. Troy Brunner doubled to left and Kelley slammed a two-run home run over the short right field fence to draw Bellwood-Antis to within a run, 6-5. Once again. Gibbons wouldn’t allow the Blue Devils the clutch hit they so desperately needed. Gibbons walked McClellan with one out, but retired three of four hitters following the home run to minimize the damage and keep his team in the lead.
“I think we played well,” said Bellwood-Antis coach Steve Conlon. “We got a good second pitching performance by Chris Alley. I think that is the best I have seen him pitch in at least a year. He looked good on the mound. He held them down. We got hits when we needed but not enough when we needed. We still left too many baserunners on. We have some guys coming up with key hits. We are still not getting enough runs and we are still making a few mistakes in the field. We are playing better baseball, which is positive.”
Bellwood-Antis (4-13), which had their two-game win streak stopped will travel to Claysburg to play Claysburg-Kimmel on Friday at 4 p.m.
Bishop Guilfoyle 6 Bellwood-Antis 5
Bishop Guilfoyle – Seasoltz, ss, 3-2-2; Zimmerman, cf, 4-2-2; Garofoli, c, 4-0-1; Gibbons, p, 4-0-1; Craig, lf, 0-0-0; Perehenc, dh, 4-1-2; A. Williams, 2b, 4-0-2; Sipes, 3b, 3-0-1; N. Williams, 1b, 3-0-1; St. John, rf, 2-0-0; Kresse, cr-rf, 1-1-0. TOTALS 32-6-12.
Bellwood-Antis – McClellan 1b-rf, 2-1-1; Kleinfelter, lf, 4-0-1; Brisbin, 2b, 4-0-1; Winterstein, c, 0-0-0; Dorman, dh, 3-0-0; Alley, 3b-p, 4-0-2; Drost, ss, 4-0-0; Brunner, p-3b, 1-1-1; Seidel, rf, 1-0-0; DeArmitt, rf, 1-0-0; Kelley, cf, 3-2-1; Beech, rf-3b, 1-0-0; Coho, 1b, 2-1-1. TOTALS 29-5-8.
Bishop Guilfoyle 300 030 0 6-12-1.
Bellwood-Antis 000 032 0 5 -8-1.
2B: Seasoltz, Brunner, Coho.
HR: Kelley.
RBI: Gibbons 2, Perenhinc, A. Williams, Sipes, Brisbin 2, Kelley 2, Kleinfelter.
SO: Gibbons 7, Brunner 1, Alley 5.
BB: Gibbons 2, Brunner 1.
WP: Gibbons LP: Brunner.
