Wednesday, July 21, 2010
By JON MOFFETT
Struthers
Another day, another dominating pitching performance and another critical win for 1080 Media.
But pitching took a back seat to clutch hitting. The only run of the game came in the bottom of the eighth inning. The opportunistic offense propelled 1080 Media to a 1-0 victory over the Chardon Blizzard in the second round of the Connie Mack tournament at Cene Park on Tuesday.
And while the pitching was the main attraction, one hit stole the show.
Deadlocked at zero in extra innings, No. 9 hitter Justin Vrable singled to right field. It was only the fifth hit for 1080, whose offense has been in a bit of a funk, coach Andy Timko said.
Leadoff hitter James Coates was instructed to lay down a bunt and move Vrable over to second. Coates did just that, but Blizzard third baseman Corey Hites’s throw sailed wide of Kevin Barney’s glove.
Coates scampered to second base, and turned to watch Vrable slide across the plate.
“Basically I was kind of overjoyed because everybody had been out on their front foot because you can’t wait back on [pitcher Mike Maxwell],” Vrable said. “I finally stayed back with two strikes and just poked it over there.”
Said Coates, “All I was trying to do was get the bunt down and get the runner over to second, so the next guy could get him in.”
Timko said he needs the bats to come alive if 1080 hopes to make a deep run.
“We need to get on a little bit of a hitting role here because Team Ohio, who we play next, can really swing the bats. They can score runs, and we’re not going to win 1-0 for the rest of this tournament,” he said. “It doesn’t happen too often.”
The win gives 1080 Media some momentum heading into today’s doubleheaders.
Offensively, the team can use any momentum it can get. As far as pitching is concerned, not so much.
Pitcher Justin Summers had 14 strikeouts and scattered six hits over his eight innings. He said he wasn’t disappointed the offense would grab the headlines.
Wins are all he cares about.
“It’s definitely huge to get the win,” he said. “To be able to stretch out one run and still win the ball game is huge.”
Summers said as a pitcher, he knew he important it was to get the leadoff man in the eighth. And when the run scored, it was a ton of weight off his right shoulder.
“It was a sigh of relief,” he said. “I was tired, but I was ready to get out there for another inning.”