Lilly Conrad Chiropractic on verge of 20th Greater City League title

Errors hurt Refresh

Making eight errors in a game against a high-caliber, perennial championship team is a prescription for disaster.

That fate befell the Refresh Med Spa squad in the third game of its best-of-five Altoona Greater City Baseball League championship series against defending league champion Lilly Conrad Chiropractic Wednesday night at Vets Field, and the result was predictable.

Lilly pounced on all the opportunities and also rode its 12-hit batting attack to a 12-2 victory that was ended by the mercy rule when Lilly scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The win gave Lilly a 2-1 series lead, and the opportunity to clinch its seventh consecutive league title when the two teams meet in the fourth game of the series at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Vets.

Lilly has dominated the league for well over two decades and will be bidding for its 20th league championship in the last 23 years tonight.

Refresh Med Spa manager Joe Fornwalt said that the errors were the tell-tale factor in Wednesday's game.

"It's disappointing to have a meltdown like that in a game of this magnitude,'' Fornwalt said. "You can't win a game playing baseball like that.

"I think that if I had to describe how not to win a game, we played like that tonight,'' Fornwalt added.

Lilly scored five runs on four hits in the first inning, while capitalizing on four Refresh Med Spa errors --three of which led directly to runs scored.

"That inning blew up on them,'' Lilly manager Luke McCoy said. "We definitely capitalized on the opportunities that they gave us.''

After Refresh Med Spa scored twice in the top of the third inning when Brandon Cook slugged an RBI triple and scored on a single by Max Rogers, Lilly countered with three runs in the bottom of the third to take an 8-2 lead.

A two-run throwing error allowed Tim Fabbri, who had singled, and McCoy, who was hit by a pitch, to both cross the plate. Brandon Ickes, who had three hits and drove in three runs, followed with a single to left field to plate Alex Yost from third base.

Ickes -- a former three-sport star at Claysburg-Kimmel High School -- was recognized as the league's George Wagner Most Valuable Player Award recipient in an on-the-field ceremony held prior to the game.

Veteran right-hander Shane Suter, a graduate of Northern Bedford County High School, turned in a complete-game pitching performance for Lilly, allowing just five hits and two runs while striking out four batters. He did not walk a single hitter.

"In my opinion, there is nobody else that you'd rather have out on the mound in a game like this than Shane Suter,'' Luke McCoy said. "He has eight wins this season. I can't remember the last time that a pitcher had eight wins in this league in a single season. It's been a long time.''

Lilly evoked the mercy rule with a four-run sixth inning. The first run scored courtesy of a balk, before Ickes drilled a two-run single and Brock Porter ended the game with an RBI single.

"I'm proud of our team,'' Fornwalt said. "We're still alive. We've got to go out (tonight) and try to bounce back.''

McCoy expects a battle from the Refresh Med Spa team that is on the brink of elimination tonight.

"They're going to come out ready to go,'' McCoy said. "We're just going to have to match their intensity. As long as we pitch well and play clean defense, we'll have a chance to wrap up the series.''

REFRESH MED SPA (2): Cook cf 311, DeRubeis ss 301, Rogers lf 301, Zavalanski 1b 000, Yahner dh 300, Ball p-3b 300, Chirdon 3b-p 200, Hanlon p 100, Bogarcz c 200, Repko 2b 312, Cherico 2b 000, Mark Mento rf 200, Larson rf 000. Totals - 25-2-5.

LILLY CONRAD CHIROPRACTIC (12): R. Ickes cf 210, Yost cf 220, Suter p 000, Gallaher dh 200, Bracken cr-dh 010, B. Ickes 3b 513, Hillard lf 511, Porter rf 513, Farabaugh 1b 413, C.J. McCoy c 401, Fabbri 2b 321, L. McCoy 220. Totals - 34-12-12.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Refresh Med Spa 002 000 X -- 2-5-8

Lilly Conrad Chiropractic 503 004 X -- 12-12-1

E--DeRubeis 2, Ball 2, Cook, Rogers, Chirdon, Repko, L. McCoy. 2B--DeRubeis. 3B--Cook. RBI--Cook, Rogers, B. Ickes 3, Porter 2, C.J. McCoy. SB--Bracken. HBP--Bogarz (by Suter); Hillard (by Ball); L. McCoy (by Chirdon); L. McCoy (by Hanlon). LOB--Lilly Conrad Chiropractic 12, Refresh Med Spa 6.

PITCHING

Refresh Med Spa:

Ball (L) 2/3IP, 4H, 5R, 3ER, 0BB, 0SO;

Chirdon 2 1/3IP, 3H, 3R, 0R, 1BB, 2SO;

Hanlon 2 2/3 IP, 5H, 4R, 3ER, 3BB, 2SO.

Lilly Conrad:

Suter (W) 6IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 4SO.

Umpires: Matt Cursio (plate); Dave Meckley (1b); Bill Wolf (3b).