Imler’s Poultry falls to Buffalo in AAABA tourney
Failure to deliver key hits hurts Imler’s Poultry
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PORTAGE -- Altoona's Imler's Poultry fell in game 2 of the All American Amateur Baseball Tournament in Pool D to Buffalo East Coast Pipeline, 7-3, at Pete Haschak Memorial Field on Tuesday, falling to 1-1.
Buffalo's offense was too hard for Imler's pitching staff to handle. From top to bottom, they battled, putting pressure on Imler's all game long. Seven different hitters in the Buffalo lineup accounted for an RBI.
"When someone comes up to the plate, it doesn't really matter if it's one, nine or eight, whatever." Buffalo manager John Haynes stated. "I know that every one of them can produce, and we have two guys on the bench that can produce also. It's a well-rounded team. We're really excited about the opportunity ahead of us."
Imler's had just as many opportunities to score but struggled to get those big hits. That included getting a runner in scoring position in five different innings.
"We've battled through it, and tomorrow's another day," Imler's manager Adam Plummer said. "(Monday), we got timely hits, today we didn't. Buffalo was a good team, and there's always tomorrow."
After a scoreless top half of the first, Imler's quickly picked up some momentum, getting its first two runners on, forcing some pressure on Buffalo. After an error by the center fielder to load the bases, Michael Powell drove in the first run of the game on an infield single.
Buffalo responded by reaching on an error and a double to lead off the next inning. Then with a 1-1 count, Buffalo ran a suicide squeeze, stealing home and dropping a bunt down and it worked to perfection, tying the game and reaching first. Buffalo tried it again directly after but missed the bunt and ran into an out at home plate, keeping the game tied.
Each inning from the second to the fifth, Buffalo put runs on the board. In the third, Buffalo took the lead on an RBI triple by Joey Haynes, and then Brendan Buccello followed with a run-scoring double.
Then Buffalo got another run in the fourth before really taking a big lead in the fifth. Victor Mazzara crushed a solo home run and then Bryce Mucica followed with an RBI double, and a run-scoring single from Mike Zacher made it a 7-1 game.
That knocked Imler's starter Jacob Smith out of the game after 4• innings of work, bringing in Bellwood-Antis grad Matt Berkowitz to relief. He delivered 3ª scoreless frames, giving Imler's a chance to come back.
Imler's got some momentum in the bottom half of the fifth inning, After two singles to lead off the inning, a groundout to second allowed a runner to score.
Then Imler's had runners on the corners with two outs for its cleanup hitter, but on a stolen base attempt, Buffalo's catcher pump faked to second and caught the runner on third in a rundown. After tagging him out, Altoona left critical runners on base, creating a very tough hole to climb out of.
"It was just a misread going in a rundown in that situation," coach Plummer said. "It happens, it's part of the game. We just got to regroup at this point."
Imler's put another effort in the eighth but just struggled to execute that big hit with runners on base. It scored on another groundout, but it wasn't enough, ending the game at 7-3.
Imler's pitching competed all game long against a tough Buffalo offense, that was headlined by Buccello, who went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and RBI.
"I felt like I was seeing it well today," Buccello said. "I think having the team behind me the whole time, just everyone's really into it the whole game. A lot of energy, and that just kind of turned up for us."
Imler's will likely need to win today to move on from pool play to the single elimination portion of the tournament. Imler's faces Schenectady at Roxbury Park at 10 a.m.
Schenectady is 0-2 in pool play, dropping the opener to Buffalo, 21-3, and falling in game 2 to Zanesville, 6-0.
"We're just going to play our baseball," Plummer said. "We've made it all year. Nothing changes. We worry about ourselves and worry about what we control. Go out there, have fun, play baseball, and the results will speak in the end. I believe in these guys."
BUFFALO (7): Mazzara ss 511, Haynes lf 511, Buccello dh 313, Mucica 1b 301, Diamond 3b 320, Hy cf 301, Weber eh 312, Zacher rf 401, Lesmeister c 400, Vanderlip 2b 412; Totals - 37-7-12
IMLER'S POULTRY (3): Fowler 2b 322, Lamb 3b/ss 302, Kraft c 300, Plummer dh/3b 400, Powell cf 402, Parsons rf 301, Steiner ss/p 400, Farabaugh 1b 200, Gutshall ph/1b 200, Szynal lf 311, Perry eh 301, Totals - 34-3-9
SCORE BY INNINGS
Buffalo 012 130 000 -- 7 12 1
Imler's Poultry 100 010 010 -- 3 9 1
E--Hy; Steiner. 2B--Buccello 2, Mucica, Hy, Weber. 3B--Haynes. HR--Mazzara. RBI--Mazzara, Haynes, Buccello, Mucica, Weber, Zacher, Vanderlip. Lamb, Plummer, Powell. WP--Denall. LP--Smith. SO--Denall 6, Kelly 3; Smith 3, Berkowitz 2 BB--Denall 2; Smith 4, Berkowitz 1
Records: Buffalo (2-0); Imler's Poultry (1-1).