Wharmby Sports, Falcons advance to Class B finale

Mike Holmes and Chad Baker were the winning pitchers on Monday.
By PAUL TRGOVAC
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- Wharmby Sports and Astro Falcons will face off in the best-of-five Class B Championship Series beginning tonight at 8 at Cene Park.
Monday, Wharmby eliminated Joe Koch Construction/Line Drive Academy, 8-0, while Astro Falcons advanced with a 3-1 win over Livi Steel.
A five-run second inning was the key for Wharmby. Billy Herman had three hits, including a pair of triples.
Mike Holmes picked up the win on the mound as he tossed a four-hit shutout with four strikeouts. Only two runners from Koch/Line Drive reached second base.
Kyle Milbert, and Jessie Alfreno doubled for Wharmby. Alex Oles suffered the loss as he went the first 4 1/3 innings, with four strikeouts. Matt Madrid had two hits and Anthony Porter doubled.
The five-run second inning began with back-to-back singles by Pat Oman and Billy Herman. After a walk to J.C. McCoy, a hit batter produced the first run. A bases-loaded walk, a wild pitch and an error followed. A second wild pitch produced the final run.
Falcons win
The Falcons scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to eliminate Livi Steel, 2-1, in the best-of-three series.
Chad Baker tossed a four-hit complete game for the win. He had two strikeouts and walked just one.
Eleven of the outs by Livi were on ground balls and the only run he allowed was unearned.
Mark Tanner went the distance for Livi in defeat, allowing only two earned runs. Tanner recorded seven strikeouts and walked three.
Livi scored first in the bottom of the third inning. Manoli Pahoulis singled and as he was stealing second the pitch by Baker was wild, allowing Pahoulis to reach third base.
The throw by Bill Christian was high into left field as Pahouis slid into third. The umpire ruled he was obstructed and awarded home.
Christian started the Astro rally with a double up the alley in right-center field in the top of the fourth inning. A passed ball advanced him to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Skoff.
Dom Marchionda led off the fifth with a single and he was sacrificed to second by Jared Bartholomew. A two-out single by Frank Turocy gave Astro the lead.
The final Astro run came on a double by Adam Wigley, and a two-out single by Marchionda, his second hit of the game. Christian also had two hits.