The Tyrone Legion took one of three games they were forced to play Thursday. When the Legion finally left Mansion Park close to midnight, they had been playing for almost six hours. Tyrone lost at home to Park Furniture 14-5, and then traveled to Altoona’s Mansion Park to complete one game with ReMax and play another. While they were able to win the suspended game 7-5, they ran out of gas in their third game of the night, falling 14-6.
With three games to be played, the day was already tough for Tyrone, but playing Park Furniture, one of Kelly Federation’s best teams, made it even tougher. Park jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning when leadoff hitter Brandon Perretta walked, stole second, and scored on a single.
Tyrone threatened to score in the bottom of the inning, but Ben Gummo and Nick Friling were left on second and third. The inning would set the tone for the night. “We stranded so many runners at third base with less than two outs tonight,” said Tyrone manager John Harlow. “We have to work on getting those runners in, but with seven games in seven nights there is no time to work on little things.”
Park Furniture tacked on five more runs in the second using five hits and a walk. Tyrone was again unable to score despite getting a man in scoring position, and after two innings it was 6-0 Park Furniture.
After Park added a run in the third, Tyrone stormed back in the bottom on the inning and cut the lead to four. With one out, Friling drew a walk. Ben Gummo hit a rocket to left field, but the ball went directly to left fielder Josh Fouabaugh. Derrick Soellner singled, and a wild pitch sent him to second and Friling to third. With two outs and once again men in scoring position, Brandon Maceno put the Legion on the scoreboard with a RBI double to score both Friling and Soellner. Andy Garofoli drove in Maceno to score a third run, but he was left stranded at second. Heading to the top of the fourth, it was 7-3.
The fourth inning would be a disaster for Tyrone as they gave up five more runs on four hits, a walk, and two errors. “We just didn’t make the simple plays. It is tough enough to get three outs in an inning of baseball, but we gave the other teams four or five an inning at times tonight,” Harlow said.
Park Furniture added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning, and Tyrone was in danger of being ten-run-ruled once they reached the bottom of the fifth, down 14-3.
However, the Legion refused to give up. Friling led off with another walk, and with one down pinch hitter Jeremy Myers doubled to left sending Friling to third. After Justin Clark hit a sacrifice fly to score Friling and Matt Germino walked, Chris Tremmel singled to right scoring Myers to cut the lead to 14-5. Germino and Tremmel were stranded, but Tyrone had avoided the mercy-rule.
Despite fighting back, fate was not on the Legion’s side as the game was called before the top of the sixth inning, because darkness had crept over the unlighted Tyrone Athletic Fields. The game had gone five innings, so it was considered official giving Tyrone the loss.
Tyrone headed to Altoona for their second game of the day which was the completion of a game suspended by darkness on June 2nd. In the game, ReMax and Tyrone were deadlocked at four going into the ninth inning. Jeremy Myers led things off for Tyrone and was hit by a pitch. With one down, Barry Gummo singled to move Myers to third, and Nick Friling drove him in with a grounder to short. Shortstop Paul Mercer attempted to throw out Gummo at second on the grounder, but Gummo had taken off as the pitch was thrown and beat the throw to second. The next batter Andy Garofoli became the second hit by pitch victim of the inning. With the bases loaded Ben Gummo added some insurance runs with a deep drive to left for a double scoring Barry Gummo and Friling. After the top of the ninth, Tyrone had a three run lead.
With closer Tyler Mertiff missing the game, Coach Harlow turned to Jason Wilson to end it. Wilson had yet to let in an earned run the entire season and did not disappoint in his first save opportunity. Things got off to a shaky start when Matt Zeak reached on an error and moved to second on a single. Wilson struck out Mercer and gave up a walk to load the bases. With the pressure on, Wilson got a ground out that scored Zeak and a fly ball to center that Nick Friling squeezed to end the game. With the 7-5 win Tyrone improved to 1-1 on their long day.
Almost immediately Tyrone was back on the field. This time it was for a entire game against ReMax. After closing the first game against ReMax, Jason Wilson was given the start in the second game and shut them down in the top of the first.
Tyrone got the bats going early in their half of the inning with a leadoff single by Barry Gummo who stole second and scored on a single by Nick Friling. Friling moved to second on a bad pick off throw. Andy Garofoli drew a walk and both he and Friling moved up a base on a wild pitch. Ben Gummo drove in Friling with an RBI ground out to second, but Garofoli was stranded at third when ReMax pitcher John Milliron struck out the next two batters.
ReMax got the two runs back in the top of the second when A.J. Palazzi singled, stole second, and scored on a Matt Zeak single. Zeak was thrown out by right fielder Jeremy Myers trying to stretch his single to a double. After Nick Friling made a diving catch in center, ReMax used a walk and a triple to score another run and tie the game.
Tyrone took the lead back in the bottom of the inning when Myers was hit by another pitch, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by Barry Gummo. However, ReMax would tie the game again in the top of the third adding their own run after a walk and three consecutive hits. With the bases loaded and no outs, Matt Zeak hit a grounder back to Wilson who threw home for one out, and catcher Derrick Soellner threw to first for a second to complete the double play. Wilson then got Paul Mercer to line out and end the threat.
In the fourth inning, ReMax took their first lead of the game thanks to two Legion errors that led to two runs. The errors were the first of eight the Legion would commit in the game.
With ReMax leading 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, Nick Cushion and Matt Germino drew one out walks. Cushion moved to third when a pick off attempt went into centerfield, and he scored on a suicide squeeze bunt by Jason Wilson.
ReMax got the lead back to two with a run in the fifth, but Tyrone fired back with their own rally in the bottom of the inning. Andy Garofoli, Brandon Maceno, and Derrick Soellner walked to load the bases, and with two outs Nick Cushion broke out of a slump with a RBI double to score Garofoli and Maceno. “Cushion has been struggling a little, but that hit was huge, and I’m sure it will be the start of many good things from Nick,” Harlow said about his third baseman. After a ground out ended the inning, the game was tied at six.
The rally used up whatever energy the Legion had left as they entered their sixth hour of play, and ReMax didn’t let the game stay even for long with two runs in the sixth and a back breaking six-run seventh inning. Tyrone couldn’t take advantage of two ReMax errors in the seventh inning, and fell 14-6 in what was a much closer game than the final score indicated.
Legion Notes: ReMax’s two runs in the second inning of the second game were the first two earned runs given up by Jason Wilson this year…. Tyrone Legion had just four hits in that game and Barry Gummo accounted for two of them….Tyrone is now 6-6 after Thursday’s action and has a doubleheader Saturday at Geesey Park and Vets’ Field.
Park Furniture 14 Tyrone 5
PARK FURNITURE – B. Perretta, cf, 3-2-2; Apple, ph, 0-0-0; Z. Moran, ss, 4-1-2; N. Perretta, ph, 1-0-0; Griswold, c, 4-0-1; Koch, 3b, 1-2-0; D. Moran, 2b, 3-3-2; McNelis, 1b, 3-2-2; Milley, rf, 4-1-1; Fouabaugh, lf, 2-2-1; George, ph, 1-0-0; Gibbons, p, 4-1-0. TOTALS 30-14-11.
TYRONE LEGION – Ba. Gummo, p, 3-0-0; Friling, 1b, 1-2-1; Be. Gummo, ss, 3-0-1; Soellner, rf, 2-1-1; Myers, rf, 1-1-1; Maceno, 2b, 2-1-1, Clark, ph, 0-0-0; Garofoli, c, 2-0-1; Germino, cr-ph, 0-0-0; Tremmel, cf, 3-0-2; Cushion, 3b, 3-0-0; Wilson, lf, 0-0-0; Rickards, dh, 2-0-0. TOTALS 22-5-8.
Park Furniture 151 52 14-11-0
Tyrone Legion 003 02 5-8-4
3B: B. Perretta 1
2B: Z. Moran 2, D. Moran 2, Myers 1, Maceno 1.
RBI: D. Moran 3, Milley 2, B. Perretta 2, Z. Moran 2, George 1, McNelis 1,
Maceno 2, Clark 1, Garofoli 1, Tremmel 1.
SO: Gibbons 4, Ba. Gummo 4.
BB: Gibbons 3, Ba. Gummo 8.
WP: Gibbons LP: Ba. Gummo
Tyrone Legion 7 ReMax 5
TYRONE LEGION – Ba. Gummo, cf, 5-2-2; Friling, p-1b, 5-2-2; Mertiff, ss-p, 4-2-2; Garofoli, lf, 0-0-0; Be. Gummo, c-3b-ss, 4-0-2; Maceno, 2b-p, 5-0-0; Cushion, 1b-2b-3b, 4-0-1; Wilson, lf-p, 2-0-0; Clark, ph, 1-0-0; Myers, rf, 3-1-0; Rickards, 3b, 1-0-1; Soellner, c, 2-0-0. TOTALS: 36-7-10.
REMAX – Kaack, lf-cf, 4-0-0; Montgomery, c, 5-0-0; Milliron, cf-p, 3-1-1; McConnell, 1b, 3-2-2; Rodriguez, p-3b, 4-1-2; Zeak, dh, 4-1-0; DeArmitt, rf-pr, 0-0-0; Knapp, 3b, 3-0-2; Thayer, lf, 1-0-1; Zemleduck, pr, 0-0-0; Mercer, ss, 3-0-0; Palazzi, 2b, 3-0-0. TOTALS: 33-5-8.
Tyrone Legion 002 000 203 7-10-2
ReMax 000 200 201 5-8-2
HR: Rodriguez 1
2B: Be. Gummo 1, Milliron 1, McConnell 1.
RBI: Be. Gummo 2, Friling 1, Mertiff 1, Rodriguez 4, Kaack 1.
SO: Friling 2, Mertiff 1, Maceno 1, Wilson 1, Rodriguez 8, Milliron 2.
BB: Friling 7, Mertiff 3, Maceno 2, Wilson 1, Rodriguez 1.
WP: Mertiff LP: Milliron S: Wilson
ReMax 14 Tyrone 6
REMAX – Kaack, cf-p, 5-0-2; Milliron, p-cf, 6-1-3; Rodriguez, 3b-p, 3-2-1; McConnell, 1b, 6-2-3; Montgomery, c, 4-1-2; Palazzi, 2b, 5-2-3; Zeak, lf, 5-1-3; Mercer, ss, 4-1-0; Deyarmin, rf, 2-4-1. TOTALS 40-14-18.
TYRONE LEGION – Ba. Gummo, 1b, 4-1-2; Friling, cf, 3-1-1; Garofoli, lf, 2-1-0, Be. Gummo, ss-p, 4-0-0; Maceno, 2b-ss, 3-1-0; Soellner, c, 3-0-0; Cushion, 3b, 3-1-1; Myers, rf, 0-1-0; Germino, rf, 1-0-0; Wilson, p-2b, 2-0-0. TOTALS: 25-6-4.
ReMax 021 212 6 14-8-4
Tyrone Legion 210 120 0 6-4-8
3B: Kaack 1
2B: Milliron 1, Montgomery 1, Cushion 1.
RBI: Zeak 3, Montgomery 2, Palazzi 1, Kaack 1, Milliron 1, Rodriguez 1, Cushion 2,
Ba. Gummo 1, Friling 1, Be. Gummo 1, Wilson 1.
SO: Milliron 5, Rodriguez 2, Be. Gummo 4, Wilson 1.
WP: Kaack LP: Be. Gummo S: Rodriguez.
