BATS COME ALIVE

By Jim Flick

Rondinelli cruises, 9-0,

advances to final eight

Defense was key in the win; Rondinelli had struggled in recent games.

STRUTHERS — With their backs against the wall, Rondinelli Tuxedo came out swinging Thursday.

They swung hard, defeating the Pittsburgh Chargers 9-0 to earn a berth in the final round of the Continental Amateur Baseball Association’s 18-and-under World Series, which begins today at Cene Park.

“We’re in the ‘Elite Eight,’” Rondinelli Tuxedo coach Ken Quinn told his players after the game.

A loss would have eliminated Rondinelli from the tournament.

Defense was a key to the victory, which raised Rondinelli’s Tuxedo’s record in the tournament to 3-3. Quinn said his team played well defensively in the first two games of the tournament, which it won. But in the next three games, it committed 12 errors, losing all three.

The last of those three losses came earlier Thursday, when Andy’s 9ers beat Rondinelli’s 8-4.

Rondinelli didn’t have an error against Pittsburgh.

“[That] makes a big difference,” Quinn said. “Your pitcher doesn’t throw any extra pitches, and you keep everyone in the game.”

Rondinelli’s strong effort started on the mound, Quinn said. Robert Franks pitched well, yielding only three hits and striking out five in five innings.

“He did a good job of keeping them off-balance, and he kept the ball down,” Quinn said. “When you keep the ball down, you have a lot of success.”

Low pitches result in frequent ground balls, which Rondinelli’s fielders handled flawlessly against the Chargers.

The game ended after five innings due to the tournament’s eight-run rule.

Rondinelli’s offense was quite successful against the Chargers, starting in the second inning. First baseman Todd Kibby led off with a double, and left fielder Matt Durkin followed with a triple to drive in the game’s first run. After a Chargers error allowed a second run to score, Drew Fitzpatrick smashed a sharp ground past Pittsburgh’s shortstop to increase the margin to 3-0.

In the third, right fielder Phil Double singled and scored on a double by third baseman Corey Hitt. Hitt came home on a sacrifice fly by Kibby. Durkin then smacked his second triple of the game and came home on a hit by center fielder Cory Nesbitt to make it 6-0.

Rondinelli second baseman Bret Basilone smacked a bases-loaded double in the fourth to drive in two more. Double closed the scoring with a sacrifice fly that made it 9-0.

Durkin and Basilone each drove in a pair of runs, while Double, Kibby, Nesbitt and Fitzpatrick added RBIs.

The Pittsburgh Chargers finished the tournament without a win.

The Chargers’ best offensive effort came in the top of the fifth, when they loaded the bases but were unable to score. The game ended on a strong defensive note for Rondinelli when Franks picked off a Chargers player who had wandered too far from first base. The game ended with Kibby, the first baseman, tagging out the runner.