ReMax Realty coach Bill Wolf had to wait two extra days to find his team's opponent in the George B. Kelley Federation Championship after the Martin Oil-Dick's Pharmacy's series was suspended by rain twice.
Wolf thought his team would have came out flat.
But behind a four-run first inning and Nate Sanders' relief performance, ReMax downed Martin Oil in game one of the George B. Kelley Federation championship, 10-2, at Vets Field.
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Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
ReMax Realty’s Marcus Wolf and Martin Oil catcher Trenton Creppage collide at home plate during Tuesday’s game.
"I really didn't like being off two-three days," Wolf said. "I sooner would have played earlier. I think once you get in a grove like that, you want to keep on playing. We came out, and we were a little rusty early on in the game. We put up that four in the first inning with one hit. We were kind of fortunate there."
ReMax enjoyed two walks and two errors. The lone hit was Dustin Albright's two-run double.
"To be truthful, I thought it was going to be to our benefit," Martin Oil coach Ron Mock said. "I just looked at it more games in or practice. I just thought that was to our advantage since they were coming in cold.
"We just made a lot of errors tonight. You can't do that. You can't win games making errors like that. We walked quite a few kids."
In total, Martin Oil commited four errors, while ReMax did not commit one.
Martin Oil did have the bases loaded in the first inning. However, Dan Beech hit a ball between first and second base, which struck baserunner Casey Gray. No run scored on the ball due to a dead ball.
"Getting out of the bottom of the first inning, with the interference play, that changed the whole inning," Wolf said. "That ball gets through, it's 4-2, first and third and nobody out. That just changed the whole game right there, I thought."
ReMax then built its lead, scoring two runs in the second. ReMax would go on to scored two runs in the sixth and seventh. Albright finished the game with four RBIs and Kenny Dalto scored two runs and drove in another.
ReMax's Sanders shut the door for Martin Oil, giving up only one hit and two walks in three innings of relief.
"[Sanders] knows what is expected from him," Wolf said. "He has been in these playoff games before. He knows that all we want him to do is come in and throw strikes."
Sanders struck out three.
"I went out there today and just threw strikes," Sanders said. "That is all I want to do, My last couple of outings out there I didn't throw strikes. I gave myself confidence now."
Game two will be tonight at 7 p.m.
"We preach about throwing strikes and not walking guys," Wolf said. "If we can do that I think we will be all right."
REMAX (10):Dalto cf 321, Wolf ss 311, Robertson p 110, Sanders rf-p 311, Albright 2b 412, N. Johnson 3b-1b 111, M. Johnson 1b 200, Funcheon ph-cr 101, Mayhue 100, Hershey c 311, Mirenda rf 200 . Totals - 25-10-7.
MARTIN OIL (2):Mock p-1b 210, Zitterbart cr-ph 100, DeGennaro 201, Gray ss 300, Beech dh 412, Snyder 2b-rf 000, Creppage c 301, Soellner 000, Lingafelt 3b 201, Wertman 1b-p 301, Hunter 200, Stapleton lf 200 . Totals -24-2-6 .
SCORE BY INNINGS
ReMax420 002 2-10 7 0
Martin Oil101 000 0-2 6 4
E-Creppage, Lingafelt, Hunter. 2B-Albright, Sanders. 3B-Creppage. RBI-Albright 4, N. Johnson, Robertson, Hershey, , Dalto, Creppage, Lingafelt. WP-Sanders. LP-Mock. SO-Robertson 5, Sanders 3, Wertman, Mock 2. BB-Robertson 3, Sanders 2, Wertman 3.
Records: ReMax leads series 1-0.
