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Creekside still plenty fit despite lightning delay
By Greg Gulas
STRUTHERS
Currently saddled with little pitching depth, the last thing Creekside Fitness manager Terry Landis needed Monday night was a suspended game.
His bats made sure he didn’t have anything to worry about when play resumed on Tuesday.
Nick Stotler and Cal Miller each had three hits and Creekside registered 12 of their 15 hits after the break as they defeated Troy American Legion Post No. 43, 8-3, to remain undefeated in the AABC Connie Mack Tournament.
“I knew that I would have to replace starting Gino DiVincenzo and with our depth being what it is, I definitely had a restless night. We brought Mitchell Wood back on two days rest and he did an admirable job for us,” Landis said. “Our hitters attacked the ball and we will need to do that the rest of the tournament if we expect to continue winning. In a tournament like this you have to bring your ‘A’ game every time you take to the field.”
Creekside opened the scoring in the second inning on Monday when Nick Stotler singled, stole second, advanced to third base on a fielding error by Troy second baseman Colt Nealeigh and raced home on the back end of a double steal by Kyle Wise.
Play was then suspended after three innings due to lightning with Creekside leading, 1-0.
When play resumed on Tuesday, Mitchell Wood replaced starting pitcher DiVincenzo for Creekside and he proceeded to set down Troy in order in the fourth inning.
Creekside’s offense was anything but sluggish due to the weather interruption as they pounded out six safe
ties, plating four runs in the bottom half of the inning for a 5-0 margin.
A two-run single by Wood and sun-scoring singles by Stotler and Cal Miller were the big blows.
“We came out sluggish yesterday but our bats were anything but sluggish when play resumed today,” Stotler said. “We didn’t want to lose any of the momentum that we had built up so we wanted to start fast and strong and attack the ball.”
Troy finally broke into the scoring column in the fifth frame on the benefit of two hits and three walks to cut the Creekside advantage to 5-2, but Youngstown’s host team continued their hitting ways by adding three more tallies in their half of the inning for an 8-2 margin.
Creekside’s Scott Sada and Stotler each doubled in the frame.
A run-scoring single in the sixth inning by Troy’s Ryan Lavy to cut the deficit to 8-3 ended the scoring.
“We got a good night’s sleep and that really helped. Our goal every game is to start quick, see a pitch and then drive it,” Miller said. “In my case, see the ball and then slap it.”