Earlier this season the Tyrone Legion was out hit by Locker Room, but Barry Gummo pitched well enough to give Tyrone a 3-2 victory. Saturday Clint Wilson was the man getting it done on the mound. Wilson pitched a complete game, and if not for an error in the final inning, would have had a shut out in Tyrone\’s 4-2 series-clinching victory.
The Legion managed only four hits, two of them by right fielder Jason Wilson, but all four led to or scored runs.
Locker Room hurler Bruce Diehl was on top of his game as well. He struck out the side in the top of the first, but Locker Room could not take advantage of two walks on the bottom of the inning and came up scoreless.
The Legion threatened in the second when Derrick Soellner walked and courtesy runner Matt Morrissey went to third on two wild pitches, but the threat was cut down when Shane Gherrity hit a fly ball to right field and Matt Michael threw out Morrissey at the plate trying to score on the fly ball.
Locker Room put together their first real threat in the third inning. Dennis Walter singled to lead off the inning and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Mike Albright. Garrett Clawson was hit by a pitch, and Aaron Harris bunted both runners to third. Joel Reese walked to load the bases, but Clint Wilson snagged a grounder back to the mound and threw out Michael to end the threat.
The momentum carried over to the offense. With one out, Wilson was hit by a pitch and courtesy runner Morrissey stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before Soellner doubled him in. Jason Wilson followed the double with his first of two big hits, a single to right that got past Michael. Soellner scored on the play and Wilson ended up at third. Gherrity made the score 3-0 on a grounder that brought Wilson home before Diehl got Tyler Hoover to fly out.
Both teams went quietly in the fifth, but the Legion added an insurance run in the sixth. After Diehl had struck out the first two batters in the inning, Jason Wilson laced a double, and Gherrity brought him home again with a single.
“Jason had some really timely hits tonight, and he also advanced well on the base paths,” said head coach John Gummo.
Locker Room finally broke the shut out in the bottom of the seventh in an attempt to save their season. Greg Macionsky singled to lead off the inning, but Clint Wilson kept his composure and got Walter to line out. An error allowed Albright to reach, but a Clawson pop out put the Legion an out away from the second round. But Locker Room wasn\’t ready to put away their bats for the season yet. Harris singled in Macionsky and Reese brought home Albright to make the score 4-2 and put the tying run on first. Tyler Rickards made certain that Locker Room got no closer when he fielded Matt Michael\’s bouncer and threw to first to send Locker Room home for the winter.
“Clint pitched real well. He had a few control problems in the early innings, but he found the zone and stayed in it for the rest of the game,” said Gummo about his pitcher.
The error in the seventh inning was the only one committed by the Legion in the game.
“The defense playing well was critical. We didn\’t have Ben (Ben Gummo suffered a muscle strain in game one and is currently unavailable), but Shane played well at shortstop,” said Gummo about what the defense meant to Tyrone\’s victory.
Sunday the Legion headed into the second round to take on the second seeded Altoona First-Barkman Oil. Tough competition was expected from Altoona First-Barkman Oil, but a tough call on a play at home plate ultimately turned out to be the downfall of the Legion in game one.
In a pitching rematch from earlier in the season, Jason Wilson took on Jeff Curfman. Curfman got the better of Wilson in Tyrone earlier this season, notching a 4-2 victory, but two of Altoona First-Barkman Oil\’s runs were unearned in the game. In the rematch, Wilson out pitched and outlasted his counterpart.
It didn\’t take long for Tyrone to get to Curfman. Barry Gummo led off with a double down the left field line and moved to third on a Thadd Westley single. Clint Wilson walked on a wild pitch that allowed Gummo to score, and Derrick Soellner brought home Westley with a single. Wilson and courtesy runner Matt Morrissey pulled off a double steal, but a Jason Wilson grounder helped Curfman get the first two outs of the inning.
Wilson was thrown out at first and Morrissey was thrown out trying to get to third, but Clint Wilson scored the third run of the inning for the Legion. An error allowed Shane Gherrity to reach, but Curfman got a strike out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the first catcher Derrick Soellner put on a show. Scott Zimmerman singled to lead off the inning, but was thrown out by Soellner trying to steal second. Wilson got Eric Snyder on a pop out, and Evan Snowberger singled. Snowberger took off for second, but once again Soellner was up to the task and threw him out by several steps.
The Legion got three hits in the next two innings off Curfman, but were unable toscore. When the fourth inning began, Curfman\’s night on the mound was over and it was time for an incredible pitchers duel between Jason Wilson and Eric Snyder.
Snyder\’s left handed side arm delivery stopped the Legion bats in order in the fourth and fifth. Meanwhile Wilson continued his gem with control in the strike zone to sit down Altoona First-Barkman Oil in order as well.
In the sixth inning Snyder\’s defense let him down with two errors that allowed Tyrone to put a threat together, but got out of it by catching a pop out and getting a fly out to end the inning.
The Legion followed with a miscue of their own in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Snowberger singled and Ryan Blough reached on an error. But Wilson got out of the jam by snagging a grounder and jogging to first before flipping the ball to Clint Wilson for the put out.
Tyrone almost added an insurance run in the seventh when with one out Westley walked and Clint Wilson stepped to the plate. Head coach John Gummo sent Wilson back to the dug out in order to get Jared Rodgers an at bat. Rodgers, playing in his first game in weeks, hit a rocket down the third base line to move Westley to third. But the Legion did not get an extra run thanks to a perfect throw by second baseman Cody Beach when Westley tried to score on a Soellner pop out.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Altoona First-Barkman Oil bats finally caught up to Jason Wilson. Beach doubled to lead off the inning and Nate Detwiler followed with a single. The throw came in to cut off man Barry Gummo who threw home to Soellner. The throw beat Beach to the plate by several steps, and Soellner applied the tag, but Beach was called safe. The call would come back to haunt the Legion as Andrew Lafferty singled in Detwiler. Leading by only one, Wilson struck out the next two hitters before walking Snyder to put runners at first and second. Snowberger tied the game with a single that was just out of the reach of diving second baseman Thadd Westley, but Wilson stopped the rally by striking out Curfman.
Both Wilson and Snyder battled fatigue in the eighth and ninth innings, but kept the opposition off the scoreboard.
In the top of the tenth, fatigue finally did in Snyder. After getting Clint Wilson to ground out, Snyder walked Soellner, Jason Wilson, and Gherrity to load the bases for Tyler Rickards. Rickards came through in a big way with a two run double to the wall in left field that scored Soellner and Wilson. Jeremy Myers hit a chopper to third, but the errant throw home allowed Gherrity to score. Tyler Hoover hit a blooper to center that scored Rickards, but Myers was thrown out at second. Reliever Scott Zimmerman got Barry Gummo to pop out and end the inning, but Tyrone led 8-4.
With Barry Gummo and Clint Wilson pitching the first two games of the playoffs against Locker Room, and Ben Gummo out of the game with injury, Jason Wilson was the only experienced pitcher available Sunday. Unfortunately Kelley Federation league rules state that a pitcher can pitch no longer than nine innings in one day. Therefore, Wilson\’s day on the mound was over.
Head coach Gummo went to Shane Gherrity to try to get the final three outs of the game. After a walk and a single, Gherrity got Beach to pop out, but his lack of experience on the mound caught up with him soon after. Detwiler drew a walk and Lafferty single coupled with a few wild pitches brought home three runs. Mark Lanzendorfer singled in the tying run off reliever Tyler Rickards before Rickards got Zimmerman to strike out. Snyder reached on an error, and Snowberger gave Altoona First-Barkman Oil the 1-0 series advantage with an infield single to third.
“Our kids played their hearts out tonight, but we just ran out of pitching,” said Gummo after the ten inning loss.
Tyrone will try to keep their season alive as they take on Altoona First-Barkman Oil in game two at Vet\’s field. First pitch is scheduled for 8:30 PM.
Legion Notes: Derrick Soellner has thrown out four of six base runners attempting to steal in the playoffs… Barry Gummo will start Monday, and Tyrone will be in the same situation with pitcher availability as Sunday, because they will be playing for the fourth straight day…Jason Wilson walked only one batter in his nine innings of work.
Tyrone Legion 4 Locker Room 2
TYRONE LEGION – Ba. Gummo, cf, 4-0-0; Westley, 2b, 3-0-0; C. Wilson, p, 2-0-0; Morrissey, cr, 0-1-0; Soellner, c, 2-1-1; J. Wilson, rf, 3-2-2; Gherrity, ss, 3-0-1; Rickards, 3b, 1-0-0; Hoover, 1b, 3-0-0; Lynn, lf, 3-0-0. TOTALS 24-4-4.
LOCKER ROOM – Albright, ss, 3-1-0; Clawson, c, 3-0-0; Mills, cr, 0-0-0; Harris, 2b, 2-0-2; Reese, cf, 2-0-1; Michael, rf, 4-0-0; Diehl, p, 3-0-1; Rahoi, 3b, 3-0-1; Macionsky, 1b, 3-1-1; Walter, lf, 3-0-1. TOTALS 26-2-7.
Tyrone Legion 000 301 0 4-4-1.
Locker Room 000 000 2 2-7-1.
2B: Soellner, J. Wilson, Harris.
RBI: Gherrity 2, Soellner 1, J. Wilson 1, Harris 1, Reese 1.
SO: C. Wilson 4, Diehl 9.
BB: C. Wilson 3, Diehl 3.
WP: C. Wilson LP: Diehl.
Barkman Oil 8 Tyrone Legion 7 (10 Innings)
TYRONE LEGION – Ba. Gummo, cf-ss, 5-1-1; Westley, 2b, 4-1-2; C. Wilson, 1b, 3-1-0; Rodgers, ph, 1-0-1; Morrissey, cr, 0-1-0; Soellner, c, 4-0-2; J. Wilson, p-cf, 4-1-0;
Gherrity, ss-cf-p-rf, 4-1-1; Rickards, rf-p, 5-1-1; Myers, lf, 5-0-0; Hoover, 3b, 5-0-1; Lynn, pr, 0-0-0. TOTALS 40-7-9.
ALTOONA FIRST-BARKMAN OIL – Zimmerman, 3b-p, 6-0-1; E. Snyder, rf-p, 4-0-0; Snowberger, c, 6-0-5; Curfman, p-rf-3b, 3-1-1; Blough, rf, 1-0-0; Patterson, cf, 5-1-2; Beach, 2b, 5-1-1; Detwiler, 1b, 4-2-2; Lafferty, lf, 5-2-2; Lanzendorfer, dh, 5-1-2; V. Snyder, ss, 0-0-0. TOTALS 42-8-16.
Tyrone Legion 300 000 000 4 7-9-4.
Barkman Oil 000 000 300 5 8-16-3.
2B: Ba. Gummo, Rickards, Beach, Detwiler.
RBI: Rickards 2, Hoover 1, Myers 1, J. Wilson 1, Snowberger 2, Detwiler 1, Lafferty 1, Lanzendorfer 1.
SO: J. Wilson 6, Rickards 1, Snyder 6, Curfman 3.
BB: Gherrity 2, J. Wilson 1, Snyder 5, Curfman 1.
WP: Zimmerman LP: Rickards.
