Brandon Maceno, Ben Gummo and Barry Gummo figure to be the core of the Tyrone Legion\’s pitching staff. All three combined on a five-hit victory Monday evening that wasn\’t easy thanks to four unearned runs by Sheetz late in the game.
Jordan Dillen led off the game with a single to right, but Maceno, Tyrone\’s starter, shut down the next three Sheetz batters.
Barry Gummo got things started for the Tyrone offense with a leadoff single to left. Gummo stole second, the first of nine Legion steals on the day.
“We\’re going to be very aggressive. That\’s my style and the way I like to do things,” said head coach John Gummo.
After a ground out and a fly out, Gummo stood at third. An error on a ball hit by Clint Wilson allowed Gummo to score, and Wilson scored on a Derrick Soellner double to stretch Tyrone\’s lead to two after one inning.
Maceno struck out the side in the top of the third, and Tyrone added another run in the bottom of the inning. Clint Wilson doubled with one out and scored on a Soellner single.
After both teams went quietly in the fourth, an error cost Tyrone a couple runs in the fifth. Maceno got two of the first three batters in the inning to ground out, but Ryan Greaser reached on an error. Three straight Sheetz singles brought in two runs and a walk loaded the bases. Coach Gummo called on Ben Gummo in relief, and Gummo got out of the jam when Brent Massar grounded out to end the threat. Tyrone was held scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, and after five innings Tyrone led 3-2.
The top of the sixth inning turned out to mirror the fifth. Ben Gummo loaded the bases with three walks, and with two outs an error allowed two more runs to score. Once again, Gummo got out of the jam with a ground out, but Sheetz led 4-3.
Tyrone tied the game in the bottom half of the inning with a Jeremy Myers triple and some risky base running. With Myers on third and one out, Sheetz pitcher Matt Massaro struck out Tyler Hoover, but the ball got away from catcher Cory Fatigante.
Hoover began to walk back to the dugout, but realized the ball got away and headed toward first. When Fatigante threw the ball to record the out, Myers took off for home, sliding in safely under Fatigante\’s tag.
Sheetz threatened to retake the lead in the top of the seventh when with two outs Fatigante singled and moved to second on a walk to end Ben Gummo\’s day on the mound.
Reliever Barry Gummo allowed the runners to move up a base when his pick off attempt ended up in center field, but got out of the jam by striking out Greaser.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Maceno singled and stole second. Clint Wilson ripped a single to center field which appeared would score Maceno easily, but an amazing throw from centerfielder Justin Adams cut down Maceno at home when he did not slide. A wild pitch moved pinch runner Justin Wilson to second, but Soellner lined out to end the inning and send the game to extras.
Barry Gummo took care of business in the top of the eighth, allowing only a one out walk.
In the bottom of the eighth Tyrone got a one out infield single from Jason Wilson. Wilson had arrived at the game only a few innings ago, held up by a scholarship interview in Hollidaysburg. Wilson stole second and moved to third when Jeremy Myers struck out on a wild pitch and reached first. Massaro got a strike out for the second out of the inning to bring up Barry Gummo with runners at second and third after Myers stole second.
Massaro got ahead of Gummo 0-2, but when he tried to throw a curve ball in the dirt for the strike out, Gummo laid off and the ball got away from Fatigante allowing Wilson to score the game winning run.
“This was pretty good for a first game. We hustled and Jeremy Myers looked real well and had a couple hits,\” said Gummo after the extra inning victory.
Legion Notes: Clint Wilson made his Federation debut after being sidelined with an injury all of last year… Soellner had Tyrone\’s only two RBIs… Tyrone was nine for nine in the stolen base category, getting three from Jeremy Myers and two a piece from Tyler Rickards and Barry Gummo… Gummo led Tyrone Legion with 18 steals last year… Combined, Tyrone stole 84 bases as a team last season… Rickards drew the Legion\’s only walk.
Sheetz 4 Tyrone Legion 5 (8)
SHEETZ – J. Dillen, ss, 3-1-2; Adams, cf, 5-0-1; Massaro, p, 5-0-1; Champeno, 1b, 2-0-0; B. Massar, rf-lf, 4-0-0; Fatigante, c, 4-0-1; L. Dillen, dh, 2-1-0; Greaser, 3b, 3-2-0; S. Massar, 2b, 1-0-0; Tragon, 2b, 3-0-0; Schmidt, lf, 0-0-0; Cooper, rf, 0-0-0; Hetrick, rf, 0-0-0. TOTALS 32-4-5.
TYRONE LEGION – Ba. Gummo, cf-p, 4-1-2; Be. Gummo, ss-p, 4-0-0; Maceno, p-ss, 4-0-1; C. Wilson, 1b, 4-2 2; Soellner, c, 4-0-2; Ju. Wilson, cr-pr, 0-0-0; Rickards, 3b, 3-0-0; Lynn, 2b, 2-0-0; Ja. Wilson, 2b, 2-1-1; Myers, lf, 4-1-2; Gherrity, rf, 3-0-0; Hoover, rf, 1-0-0. TOTALS 35-5-10.
Sheetz 000 022 00 4-5-3.
Tyrone Legion 201 001 01 5-10-5.
2B: C. Wilson, Soellner.
3B: Myers.
RBI: Soellner 2, J. Dillen, Massaro.
SO: Maceno 5, Ba. Gummo 2, Be Gummo 2, Massaro 8.
BB: Be. Gummo 4, Maceno 2, Ba. Gummo 1, Massaro 1.
WP: Ba. Gummo LP: Massaro.
