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Defensive woes end Fitch’s season
By Steve Wilaj
Struthers
Heading into Friday’s Division I district final matchup against Aurora, Austintown Fitch coach Wally Ford was expecting a tough test from the Greenmen offense.
And while he got just that, Ford received some unexpected play from his defense.
Aurora pounded out 14 hits in defeating Fitch, 13-5, at Cene Park on Friday night. But the Falcons also committed six errors.
“Very uncharacteristic and unexpected,” Ford said. “It was just a nightmare of a game and it’s not like us to make that many errors. When you make them against a good team, it’s not going to be a happy ending.”
The Greenmen (26-5) jumped out to a 5-1 lead after three frames, as they knocked Falcons starting pitcher Alex Difranceso from the game after 21/3 innings. The junior allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits.
Still, Fitch came right back in the top of the fourth to load the bases with no outs. Scott Pierce doubled, Zack Miller singled and Zarek Bell reached on an error.
A Phil Socha sacrifice fly cut the lead to 5-2, but a double-play grounder by Tony Adams ended the Falcons’ rally.
“We hit the ball halfway decent tonight and had guys on that inning,” Ford said. “But they made the plays when they had to and it kind of took us out of it. We battled offensively, but defensively we just had a really bad night.”
Fitch’s worst defensive inning came in the bottom of the fifth when Aurora scored six runs. Matt Carpenter, Kirk Janoch, Andy Weber, Paul Pistone and Nick Ely all recorded RBI base hits off Pierce, who was pitching in relief.
The Falcons also committed three errors in the inning.
“Every time they got on we would boot one or two,” Ford said. “They’re going to take advantage of it because they’re a good team.”
Ely led the Greenmen with three hits and three RBIs. Janoch, Weber and Pistone each had two hits and two RBIs as well. Janoch earned the victory. He allowed four runs on five hits while walking one in 42/3 innings.
Pierce had two doubles and two RBIs. Socha tripled and added two RBIs. Kevin Sierra had a double and scored a run.
Fitch finished its season 21-4.
“It was still a great season and you can’t take that away from us,” Ford said. “But we’re really disappointed and were expecting to go farther. You hate to see the season end, but that’s the nature of the tournament — you play one bad game and it’s over.”