Tyrone reserve Tyler Gillmen experienced all of the extremes a freshman could experience in 15 innings of baseball yesterday at the Harry K. Sickler Sports Complex in Tyrone.
With the score tied late in the first game of a MAC Division III double-header against Bishop Guilfoyle, Gillmen, on first as a courtesy runner, was gunned down attempting to steal second base in a sacrifice bunt situation. The Eagles went on to drop their second straight game 14-11 in 9 innings.
Undaunted, Gillmen came back in game two, making his first start as a varsity pitcher, and manhandled a Guilfoyle lineup that generated 13 hits in game one. He limited the Marauders to two runs on five hits – at one point retiring eight consecutive batters – as the Golden Eagles preserved a split with a 7-2 win in the six-inning, darkness-abbreviated nightcap.
“Tyler did a tremendous job for us,” said Tyrone manager Tom Coleman, whose team finished its five-game week just 2-3. “I\’m sure coming in as a freshman he had some pre-game jitters, but from the first inning on he threw strikes and kept their hitters guessing, and he used his defense. Our fielders made some nice plays and we scored some runs for him.”
But while Gillmen\’s performance may have taken the Marauders by surprise, what didn\’t was the work of Brit Mingle and Barry Gummo when they swung the sticks. Mingle continued a tear that has him batting .456 with a team-high 21 hits, by going 5-for-7 in the two games with four RBI. Gummo, meanwhile, checked in with his 20th hit of the season after a 4-for-5 day with two RBI and four runs.
Tyrone improved to 9-4 overall and 4-3 in the MAC. Guilfoyle remained at .500 with the spilt at 7-7.
GAME 1
Guilfoyle pitcher Matt Lonero was not going to be denied a victory in Game 1.
Lonero not only went the distance, throwing all nine innings to record the win, but he also finished 2-for-5 at the plate with four RBI and a monster two-run homer in a six-run second inning that gave the Marauders a 7-2 lead early. He later drove in runs with singles in the eighth and ninth as BG won a battle of attrition in the opener 14-11.
Lonero finished with nine walks and five strikeouts.
Barry Gummo took the loss, coming on in relief of starter Brice Mertiff in the sixth inning when the Marauders had a 9-7 lead. Gummo allowed five runs, including four in a disastrous ninth inning when he walked three and hit another.
Tyrone tied the score at 9-9 in the sixth on a two-run single by Mingle, and tied it at 10 in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Gummo, who drove in Brandon Maceno. Max Soellner followed with a two-out triple, but the Eagles were unable to get him home, one of eight runners Tyrone stranded on base.
Centerfielder Johnny Cotto burned the Eagles, going 3-for-4 with one RBI and three runs while reaching base in five of six plate appearances.
Gummo and Soellner each had three hits.
GAME 2
Tyrone\’s defense was sharp enough to match its starting pitching in a 7-2 win in the nightcap.
The Eagles twice pegged runners attempting to take home, cut another down at third and never made the kind of crippling error that opens the floodgates to a big inning.
In both the first and fourth innings, BG had runners on third when a Gillmen delivery eluded catcher Derrick Soellner. Both times, a hustling Soellner was able to recover and toss to Gillmen to cut down the runner at home, drilling Jonathan Milliron in the third and Matt Georgiana in the fourth.
The Marauders then had runners on first and second with one out in the fifth trailing 6-1 when a rocket off the bat of Josh Destefano was snagged by Brice Mertiff, who cut the lead runner at third for out number two. One batter later, Cotto flew out to Gummo and Gillmen was out of another jam.
Three consecutive two-run innings midway through were all the support Gillmen needed. Nick Cushion doubled home a pair in the second with a shot of the fence in deep left-center to make it 3-1, Clint Wilson added another run-scoring double in the third, and Mingle collected another RBI in the fourth.
“The team showed a lot of character coming back to win game two after a tough loss,” said Coleman. “It was a long, tough week and if we had lost that second game it could have meant the season.”
Game Notes: Gillmen kept BG hitters off balance most of the game, collecting eight fly-ball outs and three strikeouts â€| Tyrone\’s skid of three losses in four games before yesterday\’s game two win was its worst slide of the season â€| defensive gems were in abundance over the two-game set, with several coming in game one, when both teams battled back and forth for breathing room. None prettier than the full-extension, diving grabs made by Tyrone third baseman Nick Cushion and BG shortstop Tommy Seasoltz, who both reached across their bodies to snatch hot liners. Eagle second baseman Brandon Maceno also made a diving grab to end the inning in the sixth, Clint Wilson made several tough scoops to control throws at first base, and left fielder Jeremy Myers saved a home run off the bat of Destefano in the third, colliding with the left field fence just as he hauled in the towering blast.
Game 1
Bishop Guilfoyle 14 Tyrone 11, Nine Innings
BISHOP GUILFOYLE – Destefano, lf, 5-2-1; Cotto, cf, 4-3-3; Milliron, dh, 5-1-1; Seasoltz, ss, 0-0-0; Georgiana, 2b, 1-4-0; Garafoli, c, 3-0-1; Massar, cr, 0-0-0; Lonero, p, 5-1-2; Zeak, 1b, 6-2-2; Sipes, 3b, 4-0-2; Zimmerman, rf, 1-1-1; Gibbons, rf, 5-0-0. TOTALS: 39-14-13.
Tyrone – Ba. Gummo, cf-p, 4-4-3; M. Soellner, c, 5-1-3; Mertiff, p-ss, 4-1-1; Mingle, rf, 3-0-2; Wilson, 1b, 5-0-2; Gillmen, cr, 0-0-0; Be. Gummo, ss-cf, 5-0-0; D. Soellner, dh, 4-2-1; Myers, lf, 0-0-0; Maceno, 2b, 4-2 0; Cushion, 3b, 3-1-0. TOTALS: 37-11-12.
Bishop Guilfoyle 106 110 014 – 14-13-4.
Tyrone 201 402 011 – 11-12-2.
2B: Destefano, Milliron.
3B: M. Soellner.
HR: Lonero.
RBI: Cotto, Milliron 2, Garafoli 2, Lonero 4, Gibbons, M. Soellner 2, Mingle 3, Mertiff, Wilson, Ba. Gummo.
WP: Lonero LP: Ba. Gummo.
K: Lonero 5, Ba. Gummo 2, Mertiff 1.
BB: Lonero 9, Ba. Gummo 4, Mertiff 5.
Game 2
Tyrone 7 Bishop Guilfoyle 2
TYRONE – Ba. Gummo, 1b, 1-0-1; M. Soellner, cf, 4-0-0; Mertiff, ss, 2-2-1; Mingle, rf, 4-1-3; Wilson, dh, 2-1-2; Be. Gummo, lf, 2-2-0; D. Soellner, c, 3-0-0; Myers, cr, 0-0-0; Maceno, 2b, 4-0-1; Cushion, 3b, 2-1-1. TOTALS: 24-7-9.
BISHOP GUILFOYLE – Destefano, p, 2-1-0; Cotto, cf, 2-0-0; Milliron, lf, 2-1-1; Georgiana, 2b, 2-0-2; Garafoli, c, 3-0-0; Lonero, dh, 3-0-1; Seasoltz, ss, 0-0-0; Zeak, 1b, 3-0-0; Sipes, 3b, 2-0-0; Massar, pr, 0-0-0; Gibbons, rf, 3-0-1; Zimmerman, rf, 0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-2-5.
Tyrone 022 210 X – 7-9-2.
Bishop Guilfoyle 100 001 X – 2-5-1.
2B: Wilson, Cushion.
RBI: Ba. Gummo, Mingle, Wilson, Cushion 2, Georgiana, Lonero.
WP: Gillmen LP: Destefano
K: Gillmen 3, Destefano 4.
BB: Gillmen 3, Destefano 8.
