Fast start propels West Branch over Poland
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POLAND -- West Branch started fast and held on for dear life.
Courtesy of production from the bottom of the order, the Warriors strung together a six-run second inning and then narrowly escaped a pair of late Poland rallies as they topped host Poland on Friday, 7-6.
"It started with the fact that the bottom of the order was able to produce good at-bats, put the ball in play and get runs," West Branch coach Rick Mulinix said. "Any time in high school baseball that the bottom of the order can get on base for your 1-2-3-4 (hitters), good things usually happen."
Anthony Perry led the frame off by drawing a walk, and then a Poland (8-6) error allowed him to advance to second and for Gavin Bell to reach first safely. Perry later came around to score on a well-executed squeeze play by Reed Williams, who dropped a bunt down the third base line.
After a hit by pitch loaded the bases, JT Thomas singled in another run, and then with two outs, Hunter Shields lined a single into center field to push the lead to 4-0.
Beau Alazaus followed with an RBI single, and then the Warriors (11-3) scored their final run as a runner on first got in a run down, and Poland lost track of Thomas, who swiped home during the confusion.
That run support put Perry, who took the start for the Warriors, into a comfortable position. The sophomore worked five innings, allowing four runs -- two earned -- on three hits. He fanned three batters and walked none.
That performance came even with a 30-minute lightning delay that put a lengthy amount of time between Perry's second and third innings.
"He's a strike thrower, always has been and always will be," Mulinix said. "The half-hour delay maybe took a little bit of juice out of him, but he said he was good to go, and he went out and gave us another two innings before we had to make the switch."
Poland began chipping away in the bottom of the third out of that delay. Evan Hegarty reached on an error to lead off, and then with two outs, Matt Paparodis drilled a two-run home run over the left field fence to bring Poland to within 6-2.
That continued a recent hot streak for the junior, who entered the game batting .483 with 9 RBIs. The home run was his first of the year.
"(Paparodis is) hot. He's been swinging it real well," Poland coach Rich Murray said.
The Warriors got one back in the top of the fourth on an RBI double from Alazaus, and then Poland made a furious comeback attempt in the six and seventh frames.
In the sixth, Carmine Tukalo led off with a single -- one of his three hits in the loss -- and Paparodis reached on a hit by pitch. Ryan Dilullo followed with a walk to load the bases, and Matt Boccieri cleared them with a three-run double into left-center.
Of Tukalo's three-hit day, Murray noted, "He's making the most of his opportunities. If you hit like that, you're going to play. So I have to make room for him."
Then, in the seventh, Teagan McCurdy doubled and then scored on an RBI single from Tukalo, but West Branch closer Gavin Bell managed to close things out from there to preserve the win.
"We had a chance there. We had some good hits, and (West Branch) made some great plays defensively. Six is tough to come back from against a good team like that, and (we spotted) them six," Murray said.
Poland faces Lakeview on Monday and Tuesday in Northeast-8 play, while West Branch visits Howland today.