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Grazianos lead Girard to victory
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Girard’s Dan Graziano (2) crosses home plate to score as the ball is thrown past LaBrae catcher Blake Sprague during Thursday’s baseball game at Tod Park in Girard. The Indians capitalized on six Vikings errors to win 7-2.
By Ryan Buck
GIRARD
The Girard baseball team, led by a pair of brothers, capitalized on six LaBrae errors to post a 7-2 victory on Thursday at Tod Park.
The Indians (7-2) bounced back from a defeat to Cardinal Mooney on Wednesday to get the win in their first All- American Conference National Division game.
Girard runners stole three bases in the contest and caused several miscues from the Vikings defense, which led to runs.
“We always say that any time you put pressure on people, you force people to make decisions and sometimes you’re on the wrong end of it and sometimes it works for you,” Girard coach Jason Johnson said.
“If you get on base we need to find ways to score runs.”
After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the third inning, the Girard offense went to work in the bottom half of the inning. Brothers Jordan and Dan Graziano, batting first and second in the lineup, kick-started the rally.
To begin, Jordan Graziano, a sophomore, singled up the middle and stole second base. Senior Dan Graziano, attempting a sacrifice bunt, sped down the first base line and forced an errant throw.
Younger brother Jordan strolled home to tie the game. Two more LaBrae (3-4-1, 0-1) errors in the inning led to another Girard run, giving the Indians a 2-1 lead.
“Through the first three, we played pretty well,” LaBrae coach Dan Chiaberta said.
“Girard’s a good, young team here. If you don’t make the plays, it’s going to be a longer night.”
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the home team plated four runs to break the game open.
Nick Malvasi and Evan Standohar came home on Jordan Graziano’s two-out single to right field. He later scored on his brother Dan’s double to left-center, much to the delight of their coach.
“Those guys cause havoc. They’re two guys that bring their lunch boxes to work,” said Johnson. “I’m so lucky to have a pair of brothers that just want to come out here and have fun and play the game hard.”
Scoring runs has not been a problem thus far for the Indians’ offense, and their pitching was on display Thursday as well.
Indians starting pitcher Jim Melfie allowed one earned run in six innings of work, striking out four. Corey Matey pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up the save.
LaBrae center-fielder Tyler Davidson scored both the Vikings’ runs while stealing two bases.