Martin Oil and Dick’s Pharmacy emerged from the weekend with one victory each in the first round of George B. Kelley Federation playoffs. On Saturday, Martin Oil used as combined effort from Dan Houser and Nate Carlson on the mound to thwart Dick’s 8-2. Dick’s came back on Sunday to score 13 times in the sixth to turn a 10-3 deficit into a 20-10 mercy rule victory to even the best-of-three series at 1-1.
In the opening game on Saturday at Vets Field, Houser went the first five innings, scattering four hits and one run, striking out five and walking three to pick up the win. Carlson tossed the final two innings, allowing two hits and one run with three Ks and no walks to earn a save.
“Winning the league championship on Friday night was definitely a big win,” said Martin Oil manager Ed Davis. “Fortunately, the kids came out ready to play ball in the first game against Dick’s tonight. Danny Houser pitched a real nice five innings for us, that was actually more that I had hoped for, because he hadn’t pitched in awhile. He did a super job, giving up just four hits and then Nate came in and did his usual super job to close it for us.”
Carlson opened the Martin Oil second with a walk and was forced at second by Derrick Miller who stole second base. After Damion Miller moved his twin brother up a base with a groundout, Cory Daly drew a two-out walk and stole. Chris Alley delivered both runners to the plate with a two-run single. Alley continued to third on an error by Dick’s left fielder and scored on another error by the third baseman.
Martin Oil increased their lead to 4-0 in the fourth. Derrick Miller singled and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Damion Miller. Daly was safe on an error, but Derrick Miller was thrown out on the play attempting to get to third base. Daly stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Alley’s second single of the game.
Carlson ripped a triple with two out in the fifth, but was stranded.
Martin Oil put four more insurance tallies on the board in the bottom of the sixth.
Daly singled with one out, stole second and scored on a double by Alley, who drilled three hits and drove in four runs to lead the Martin Oil attack. Dan Houser beat out an infield hit and with two outs, Zach Stere was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Shawn Weiand singled up the middle to score Alley and Houser. Carlson brought in Stere with a single to left.
“Chris Alley had a rough time the night before starting on the mound against Park Furniture,” said Davis. “He sure made up for it tonight with three hits, four RBIs and scored a couple runs. Nate had a couple big hits. Cory, Danny, the kids all played good ball. It was a nice victory to open the series up with.”
On Sunday, Alley was back on the mound and although he was in trouble several times, left after five innings with a 10-7 lead.
Martin Oil took the initial lead 3-0 in the top of the second inning, at Mansion Park. Damion Miller, who was just a home run short of hitting for the cycle, doubled to begin the second. With two outs, Alley continued his torrid hitting with a single to left that scored Damion. Alley ended up at second base when Dick’s catcher threw the ball away on the play and scored on an error by Dick’s second baseman on a Dan Houser ground ball. Houser stole second and scored when Andy Brisbin, who had three hits in the game, singled to center.
Dick’s came right back with two scores of their own to cut the Martin Oil lead to 3-1.
Martin Oil scored three times in the third and three more times in the fourth.
Derrick Miller singled and stole second with one out in the third. Then with two gone, Cory Daly ripped a triple to plate Derrick. Designated hitter Matt Albright walked and stole second base. Alley singled to score Daly and Albright for a 6-2 advantage.
Following a Shane Stiffler home run for Dick’s, Martin Oil came back with three more in the fourth to lead 9-3.
Zach Stere walked and stole second. Derrick Miller walked with two outs and twin brother Damion Miller unloaded a triple to score Stere and Derrick Miller. Daly walked and then Martin Oil pulled off a double steal with Daly swiping second and Damion Miller stealing home.
Martin Oil was able to put one more run on the scoreboard in the fifth. Brisbin singled with two out, moved to second on a base hit by Stere and scored on the third straight hit of the inning, a single to right by Weiand.
That would be all for Martin Oil. Dick’s scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to close the margin to 10-7 and 13 times in the bottom of the sixth to win by the 10-run mercy rule. That was the first time in four years, Martin Oil has lost by the mercy rule.
Jeremy Horton tripled with the bases loaded and Paul Bucci, Shane Stiffler, Josh Mulhollem and Randy Poorman all had two hits in the sixth inning. Jason McGinnis singled and walked. Poorman had four RBIs in the frame and a total of five RBIs and five hits in five at bats in the game. Horton had three hits and five RBIs overall. Monahan had three RBIs and Stiffler and Mulhollem each had three hits in the contest.
“Leading 10-3 at one point and ending up losing the ballgame 20-10, getting blown away is putting it mildly,” countered Davis following the second game fiasco. “Everybody kept telling me how hot it was out there. I guess it was too hot out there to play ball seriously. That’s a shame because we challenged Chris Alley to see what he could do for us. He went out there and pitched five pretty decent innings for us. He struggled some, but he hung tough. Poor Derrick, came in to pitch the sixth and got absolutely no support defensively at all. When that happened as it often does, they started hitting it where you’re not. They just handed us our hats. Hopefully we can come back tomorrow night and play ball.”
Martin Oil will play the third game of their opening round series with Dick’s Pharmacy tonight at Vets Field at 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 12, at Vets Field
Martin Oil 8 Dick’s Pharmacy 2
DICK’S PHARMACY – Monahan, 2b-p, 3-0-1; Horton, cf, 2-1-0; Clancy, ss, 4-0-2; Bucci, p-2b, 3-0-0; Stiffler, 1b, 3-0-0; Mulhollem, 3b, 3-0-0; McGinnis, c, 2-0-0; Poorman, rf, 3-0-0; DePaolis, lf, 3-1-2. TOTALS 26-2-6.
MARTIN OIL – Houser, p-cf, 3-1-1; Brisbin, 2b, 4-0-1; Stere, 1b, 3-1-0; Weiand, c, 4-0-1; McDaniel, cr, 0-0-0; Carlson, rf-p, 3-0-2; Carrier, cr, 0-0-0; De. Miller, lf, 4-1-1; Da. Miller, cf-rf, 2-0-0; Daly, ss, 2-3-1; Alley, 3b, 3-2-3. TOTALS 28-8-10.
Dick’s Pharmacy 000 010 1 2-6-4.
Martin Oil 030 100 4 8-10-1.
2B: Monahan 1, Alley 1.
3B: Carlson 1.
RBI: Monahan 1, Clancy 1, Alley 4, Weiand 2, Carlson 1.
SO: Houser 5, Carlson 3.
BB: Bucci 3, Houser 3.
WP: Houser LP: Bucci SAVE: Carlson
Sunday, July 13, at Mansion Park
Dick’s Pharmacy 20 Martin Oil 10 (6 innings)
MARTIN OIL – Houser, cf, 4-1-1; Brisbin, 2b-p, 4-1-3; Stere, 1b, 2-1-1; Weiand, c, 4-0-1; McDaniel, cr, 0-0-0; De. Miller, lf-p-2b, 3-2-1; Da. Miller, rf, 4-2-3; Daly, ss, 2-1-1; D. Graham, 3b-lf, 0-0-0; Albright, dh, 3-1-0; Alley, p-3b, 4-0-2; J. Graham, cr, 0-1-0. TOTALS 30-10-13.
DICK’S PHARMACY- Monahan, 2b, 6-2-2; Horton, ss, 4-1-3; Clancy, p, 3-1-2; Bucci, lf, 4-2-2; Stiffler, 1b, 5-3-3; Mulhollem, 3b, 4-4-3; McGinnis, c, 3-3-2; Poorman, rf, 5-2-5; DePaolis, cf, 3-2-0. TOTALS 37-20-22.
Martin Oil 033 310 10-13-2.
Dick’s Pharmacy 021 04(13) 20-22-1.
2B: Da. Miller 1, Monahan 1, Mulhollem 1.
3B: Da. Miller 1, Daly 1, Horton 1.
HR: Stiffler 1.
RBI: Alley 3, Da. Miller 2, Brisbin 1, Weiand 1, Daly 1, Horton 5, Poorman 5, Monahan 3, Stiffler 2, Mulhollem 2, Clancy 1, DePaolis 1.
SO: Alley 2, Clancy 4.
BB: Alley 4, De. Miller 1, Brisbin 1, Clancy 4.
WP: Clancy LP: De. Miller.
