What Brit Mingle and Clint Wilson did for the heart of Tyrone’s lineup yesterday – while eye-opening – is almost expected.
Two of the Eagles’ top power and RBI men for the last two seasons, the duo absolutely dominated two Claysburg-Kimmel pitchers from the three- and four-holes, combining to go 7-for-9 with seven RBI, five runs scored and four extra base hits.
What may not have been expected was the way sophomore pitcher Tyler Gillmen – who made just his third varsity start – handled the same spots in the Bulldogs’ order. Claysburg’s three and four hitters managed just two hits, one run, one RBI and struck out twice as Tyrone snapped a two-game losing streak with a 12-4 victory in Claysburg.
With a lively fastball and biting curve, Gillmen rendered the two production spots so ineffective that their lone run didn’t cross the plate until the fifth inning, after Tyrone had already built an 8-3 lead, and even then it came only when two passed balls and a throwing error plated three-hitter Mike Claycomb.
Gillmen was just as strong against batters five and six – which went 0-for-6 – and he grew stronger as the game wore on, retiring the final nine batters he faced, and 10 of the last 11.
In picking up the complete-game win, Gillmen allowed only three earned runs on four hits and fanned nine – tops for the Eagles this season. Tyrone improved to 4-2 (2-2 MAC), and won for the first time since April 5.
“Tyler mixed his pitches very well,” said Tyrone manager Tom Coleman. “That was really important for him in his first outing of the season. It was nice to see him get the win and get the nine strikeouts.”
Strong run support made Gillmen’s job that much easier, and it started with Wilson and Mingle. Wilson went 4-for-5 with a double and 4 RBI, while Mingle ripped three doubles, drove in three runs and scored four times.
Seven of the Eagles’ 12 hits were for extra bases as eight different players hit safely.
“I hope that’s a good sign for the future,” said Coleman, whose team had struck out 19 times in its two losses. “At practice yesterday we worked on just putting the ball in play and making the defense do the work. Today, we did a good job of hitting with two strikes and making things happen with two outs just by putting the ball in play.”
Tyler Weyant took the loss for the Bulldogs (3-2, 2-1), allowing nine earned runs in just over five innings of work. He fanned five and only walked three, but he was soft with his fastball in the heart of the strike zone, and the Eagles jumped on him early.
In the first inning, Tyrone had three straight extra-base hits as a Ben Gummo triple to the gap in left center, followed by Wilson and Mingle doubles, allowed the Eagles to forge a 2-0 lead.
Tyrone scored three more in the third to go up 5-1, but the backbreaker for the Bulldogs came in the fourth when the Eagles plated three runs to go up 8-2. Sophomore Jamie Levinson started the inning with a double and scored one batter later when Josh Clark singled to left. Clark would eventually come around on Mingle’s second double, and Mingle came home soon after when a Wilson liner squirted into left field for Tyrone’s third run of the frame.
Gillmen ran into a little trouble in the bottom of the fourth when, after walking Tyler Claar to load the bases he walked Adam Whetstone on four pitches to give Claysburg its third run, but he would allow only one other base runner the rest of the way. Over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, Gillmen fanned three and allowed only one ball to be hit out of the infield.
Tyrone tacked on four more runs in the sixth, two coming home when Wilson singled to left for his fourth hit of the game.
“Clint and Brit are good contact hitters,” said Coleman. “They have a lot of experience and I have high expectations for them. They’re the kind of hitters that usually come through for us.”
DIAMOND NOTES: Tyrone played all 16 of the players that made the trip … catcher Derrick Soellner (.353, 5 RBI) missed the game to attend a school-related conference … Tyler Golden rapped his first varsity RBI with single in the sixth … Levinson registered the first extra-base hit of his varsity career with his fourth-inning double … Gillmen is now 2-1 as a starter in two seasons … Tyrone visits rival Bellwood-Antis Monday at 4:30.
Tyrone 12 Claysburg-Kimmel 4
TYRONE – Mertiff, ss, 5-1-1; Gummo, 2b, 3-2-1; Morrissey, 2b, 0-0-0; Mingle, rf, 4-4-3; Wilson, 1b, 5-2-4; Romano, pr, 0-1-0; Gillmen, 4-1-1; Graham, c, 0-0-0; Stotler, dh, 2-0-0; Myers, lf, 0-0-0; Rogers, pr, 0-0-0; Hertzler, 3b, 3-0-0; Golden, 3b, 1-0-1; Levinson, lf-c, 4-1-1; Clark, cf, 3-1-1; Anders, ph, 1-0-0. TOTALS: 35-12-13.
Claysburg-Kimmel – Whetstone, ss, 2-1-0; T. Weyant, p-cf, 4-0-0; Claycomb, 3b, 0-0-0; Leslie, dh, 3-1-1; Doroba, c, 3-0-1; J. Claar, cr, 0-0-0; Iachini, lf, 3-0-0; Negley, p, 0-0-0; Helsley, rf, 3-0-0; Nale, cf-lf, 3-1-1; R. Weyant, 1b, 2-0-0; McClore, ph, 1-0-0; T. Claar, 2b, 2-1-1. TOTALS: 26-4-4.
TYRONE 203 304 0 – 12-13-2
CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL 101 110 0 – 4- 4- 2
2B: Mingle 3, Mertiff, Wilson, Levinson, T. Claar.
3B: Gummo.
RBI: Wilson 4, Mingle 3, Gillmen, Golden, Clark, Claycomb, Doroba, Whetstone.
K: Gillmen 9, T. Weyant 5, Negley 3.
BB: Gillmen 3, T. Weyant 3, Negley 2.
WP: Gillmen LP: T. Weyant.
