McMullen Furniture added Tyrone Legion player Nick Friling to their roster for the 2002 NABF Regional Tournament held in Altoona. A late pickup, Friling wasn’t around for McMullen’s first game Thursday morning when the team dropped a tough 10-9 loss to White Oak. Nick was there at Vets Field for McMullen’s second game at five p.m. however. Starting on the mound, the Tyrone athlete tossed the first five innings, weathering some shoddy fielding to pick up the win in an eventual 16-14 slugfest.
Friling struck out two and walked four, scattering eight hits, and left the game after the fifth inning with a six-run lead and McMullen barely held on for the win.
Robert Wagner and Tom McGough walked with one gone in the first and both scored on a Brian Camberg single for the early lead for McMullen.
The advantage didn’t last long, as Yough showed off a potent offense that was aided by McMullen miscues. Of Yough’s first 10 runs, only six were earned and with better defense many of the run-scoring sequences would never have happened.
Tied at 6-6 after three innings, McMullen scored three times in the fourth, four more in the fifth and two in the sixth, which when all was said and done, proved to be the two the needed.
In the fourth, Mike Thrower, who was the designated hitter batting for Friling singled home Wagner and came around to score on a basehit by Ryan Clouse. Brian Camberg, who was hit by a pitch and Clouse both scored on an error. Wagner singled in another tally in the fifth with an infield hit, and McGough and Thrower scored on a Camberg double. Clouse completed the barrage with a single to plate Camberg.
Finally, Chad Griswold singled to begin the sixth for McMullen and Brenden Perretta beat out an infield hit. Wagner, who went three-for-four at the plate, made his only out, but the fielder’s choice scored Griswold. McGough doubled home Perretta, who had three infield hits with the final McMullen run.
Yough Palomino the second straight Pittsburgh area team for McMullen, would not go quietly. Matt Watkiss belted a bases loaded triple in the sixth and scored on a groundout as Yough closed to within 16-11 then singled and scored one of three more runs in the seventh. Yough actually cut the McMullen lead to 16-14 and had two runners on and the winning run at the plate when Jason Nametska was caught in an attempted steal and thrown out for the final out of the game with McMullen just barely holding on for the win.
Weather permitting, McMullen Furniture will play Team Ontario, which sent Martin Oil to the sidelines Thursday night, at Vets Field at 1p.m. today. A win at that time would get McMullen an 8 p.m. game at Vets against a yet unknown foe.
Thursday 5 p.m. at Vets
McMullen Furniture 16 Yough Palomino 14
MCMULLEN FURNITURE- Perretta, ss, 5-3-3; Wagner, rf, 4-3-3; McGough, cf-lf, 4-3-2; Friling, p, 0-0-0; Himes, p, 0-0-0; Thrower, dh-p, 5-2-2; Camberg, 1b, 2-2-2; Clouse, 3b, 5-1-3; Patterson, lf, 4-0-0; Pike, 2b, 1-0-0; Griswold, c, 4-2-3; Ritchey, 2b, 1-0-0; Consalvo, cf, 2-0-0. TOTALS 37-16-18.
YOUGH PALOMINO- Smouse, lf-ss-p, 5-3-2; Watkiss, 2b, 4-2-4; Nametska, ss-p, 4-1-3; Sullenberger, rf-lf, 3-1-0; Reho, lf, 1-0-0; Fiori, p-rf, 3-1-1; Ellsworth, rf, 1-0-0; Kasics, 3b, 4-0-0; Desimone, 1b, 4-0-0; Aldredge, cf, 1-3-0; Evans, c, 4-3-3. TOTALS 34-14-11.
McMullen Furniture 240 442 0 16-18-3.
Yough Palomino 330 104 3 14-11-7.
2B: MF- McGough 1, Camberg 1, Clouse 1, YP- Nametska 1.
3B: YP- Watkiss 1, Evans 1.
RBI: MF- Camberg 4, Wagner 2, McGough 2, Clouse 2, Thrower 1, YP- Watkiss 4, Nametska 4, Fiori 2, Smouse 1, Evans 1.
SO: MF- Friling 2, YP- Fiori 3, Smouse 1.
BB: MF- Friling 4, Himes 1, YP- Fiori 3, Smouse 1.
WP: Friling LP: Fiori
