Altoona uses pitching, ‘D’ to beat NJ
Trending
By Matt Michelone
For the Mirror
Thursday night's nightcap for the first day of the Babe Ruth Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament Pool Play for 13-year-olds turned out to be two teams that look comparable to one other.
Altoona and Atlantic West, N.J. put on quite a defensive and pitching show, but it was the Altoona bats that did just enough in the end for a victory.
Altoona broke the stalemate in the fourth and fifth innings with some clutch hitting, along with drawing some walks as the locals hung on for a 4-3 triumph at Seitz Field.
"We trust our defense, we're pitching to contact, we want our kids to have opportunities to make plays which they do," Altoona manager Brad Hatch said. "I had to bring our (starting pitcher Brody Dull) back in at a 2-0 count (in the seventh) and he rose to the occasion."
Both teams traded runs in the first as Liam Schulingkamp drove in the game's first run on a fielder's choice scoring Colton Guerrina.
Altoona answered in the bottom half as Chase Link reached on a fielder's choice of his own to tie the game.
"Altoona is a lot like us," Atlantic West manager Mike Angelo said. "They definitely play like we do. They're clean in the infield, good hitting team, got the arms that we have. We made some mistakes early in the game, didn't capitalize. I got to give it to Altoona, they're a solid team."
Jackson Boob came in to shut things down with four strong innings, giving up just one hit while recording a strikeout and a walk as he racked up the win.
"(He) completely neutralized (Atlantic West)," Hatch said. "He has a great mix of pitches; he throws his curveball for a strike at any point in the count which is a strength at this age level. When you can do that, you can beat a lot of kids."
That gave Altoona's offense just enough time to get going as Caleb Detrick belted a fly ball to right field for a leadoff double in the fourth. He scored on Aspen Anderson's single to put the home squad up 2-1.
Altoona later cashed in on three walks in the top of the fifth. Beau Rabel brought one of those runners home on a bases-loaded walk and Dull knocked another one in on a fielder's choice to make it 4-1.
"They threw a good pitcher tonight (starting pitcher Kyle Vanaman)," Hatch said. "(Relief pitcher Guerrina) throws hard. He neutralized us a little bit, we were able to rattle him a little bit the one inning, get some runners on base and put the ball in play."
Altoona will now have a matchup with Mifflin County tonight at 7 back at Seitz Field.
ATLANTIC WEST, N.J. (3): Angelo ss 310, Guerrina cf-p-cf 220, Pahang 3b 300, Schulingkamp c 301, Vanaman p-lf 101, Gates p 101, Caffarelli rf 300, Fazzino 2b 200, Minissa pr 000, Pilla 1b 200, Spena eh 200, Mollenkopf eh 000. Del Piano lf-cf-lf 200. Totals: 24-3-3.
ALTOONA (4): McGough ss 221, Brazile cf 210, Link c-3b-rf-eh 300, Hatch 1b-c-eh-c 300, Rabel 2b 301, Dull p-1b-p 300, Anderson rf-eh-lf-rf-lf-eh-rf 301, Albarano lf-eh-cf-eh-lf 300, Phillips 3b 200, Boob p 100. Totals: 20-4-5.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Atlantic West, N.J. 100 002 0 - 3 3 2
Altoona 100 120 X - 4 5 2
E - Gates, Angelo; Link, Rabel. 2B - Detrick. RBI - Pahang, Schulingkamp 2; Link, Rabel, Dull, Anderson.
PITCHING COMPARISON
ATLANTIC WEST, N.J.: Vanaman (L), 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, Guerrina 1 1/3 IP 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, Gates 1 IP 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO.
ALTOONA: Dull (S), 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, Boob (W) 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, Gates 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO.