Thursday, July 24, 2003
Pitcher John Hay went the distance to get the victory.
By MATT BIXENSTINE
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS -- Neither team had to win to advance, but that didn't mean Saturday night's showdown between Astro Falcons and Line Drive Academy didn't have significance.
Having already secured regional berths, the final two undefeated Class B teams in the double-elimination Ohio State Connie Mack Baseball Tournament squared off at Bob Cene Park after coincidentally drawing each other as sixth-round opponents.
Astro Falcons remained the tournament's only undefeated team, besting Line Drive 9-5 behind Canfield's offensive onslaught and John Hay's pitching performance.
"It's two Youngstown teams so it's some rivalry and there's a lot of pride at stake," Astro Falcons manager Bob Broughner said.
The Falcons jumped to a 4-0 first-inning lead and added three more in the third after Line Drive had erased the deficit with four runs of its own in its half of the second.
Tough at the plate
Canfield High players Mike Pulakos, Dan Leonard, Brent Parks and Frank Turocy accounted for all of the Falcon's runs batted in. Left-fielder Pulakos led the way, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a walk, a steal and two runs.
Hay, the Falcons' ace pitcher from Poland who struggled early before settling down, enjoyed his team's run support.
"There's no reason we should ever lose when we score nine runs," Hay said. "Our hitting has been very strong all tournament."
Hay, a University of Pittsburgh recruit, was frustrated at times by his inability to hit his spots with his pitches consistently.
He loaded the bases in both the first and second innings, but ultimately managed to find a rhythm. Hays went the distance, allowing four earned runs while striking out nine.
Despite his pitcher's pitch count reaching 125 after six innings, Broughner said his decision to let Hay finish what he started was not a difficult one.
"John Hay has been our number-one guy all year," Broughner said. "We have all the confidence in him."
Hay bounced back after having lost to Line Drive in his first start of the regular season.
Because of his friendships with members of the team and their quality hitters, Hay said he considers Line Drive his favorite opponent.
"It doesn't always help my E.R.A., but they're my favorite team to play," Hay said.
Errors costly
Line Drive, who opted to skip pre-game fielding practice after having already played during the afternoon, were stung by four errors that led to three unearned Astro Falcon runs.
"We more or less shot ourselves in the foot defensively all night," Line Drive manager Jim Ciambotti said. "We were fortunate to battle back against a quality pitcher and tie the game."
Right-fielder John Zizzo, who plans to walk-on at Ohio State, paced Line Drive with two triples, three RBIs and a run scored.
mbixenstine@vindy.com