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Brookfield slows Newton Falls in tourney opener
By Brandon Judeh
Brookfield
Brookfield’s pitching tandem of Anthony Wielbruda and Jeremy Quinlan stifled the Newton Falls bats in route to a 3-1 victory in the Division III sectional baseball tournament on Monday.
The two pitchers combined for six strikeouts and scattered six hits. Wielbruda started things off, but his start was a bit shaky.
A walk, followed by a single led to a Cody Pelyak RBI groundout to give the Tigers (11-12) an early lead.
However, in the second inning, Newton Falls would relinquish the lead when the Warriors’ (13-7) T.J. Hurst reached via a walk and then stole two bases to put himself in scoring position.
After a walk to Quinlan, followed by a stolen base, the stage was set for Collin Harkulich.
He delivered with a one-out, two-run single to put the Warriors ahead 2-1.
“It usually takes me a while to warm up, I started out a little rough, but was able to figure it out,” said Wielbruda.
Wielbruda pitched three solid innings, setting the stage for Quinlan to come in and tame the Tigers.
Quinlan allowed two hits and struck out five in four innings pitched, but things got scary in the fifth inning when Newton Falls picked up two consecutive singles.
That’s when center fielder Harkulich stepped up to make the play of the game.
With one out, Tigers starting pitcher Logan Harrah smashed a single into center field, Matt Brazin rounded second and headed toward third. Harkulich fired a perfect strike to third to throw out Brazin.
“That was a big play for us, he usually makes the plays for us out there and this one was huge,” said Quinlan.
Newton Falls coach Rob Bauman said his team let an opportunity slip away in the fifth inning.
“That was a crucial situation for us, if he was safe then we would have had runners on second and third with one out and our number four batter up,” said Bauman.
In the bottom of the fifth, Brookfield put together a two-out rally that featured three consecutive singles and led to a run that gave Quinlan and his team a comfortable 3-1 lead.
“My game plan was to just throw it over the plate, if they hit it they hit it, if they don’t then they don’t,” said Quinlan.
Quinlan retired the final seven batters, including striking out four out of the last five, to complete the save and keep his team’s playoff run alive.
“It’s nice to get this first [tournament] win under our belts,” said Wielbruda.