Roth Brothers, Astro advance to title series

By Greg Gulas

sports @vindy.com

STRUTHERS

Down 1-0 in their best-of-three semifinal series with Creekside Fitness, Roth Brothers manager Matt McGivern told his players just to play like they were capable and good things would happen.

After sweeping both games from Creekside at Bob Cene Park, 8-6 and 8-5, McGivern and his squad now find themselves in the Class B championship series against Astro Falcons, a 14-6 winner over the Ohio Glaciers.

The best-of-five championship series gets underway today at 7 p.m.

“This is my 11th year as manager and the first time to the championship series, so it’s a very special feeling. We had big leads in both games, watched as Creekside fought back and were just able to hold on,” McGivern said. “Everybody got it done for us tonight.”

Josh Fristik, a 16-year-old from East Palestine, threw a complete game, scattered seven hits and weathered the final inning when Creekside scored three runs in the stanza.

“It was my first year with in a wooden bat league and plenty of fun. Tonight, my off-speed worked really well and I had to keep working the outside of the plate, especially against their big hitters,” Fristik said.

Roth scored first when Ray Belchick led off the second frame with a single, was sacrificed to second by Dan Kiester and then raced home on a pair of wild pitches.

“We are the underdogs so to win and get to the championship series is a pretty amazing feeling,” Belchick stated.

Roth increased its lead to 3-0 in the third inning when Kiester’s single up the middle plated both Fristik and Jon Pingree.

All three Roth runs came with two away.

Creekside cut into the Roth lead in its half of the third as Mitch Wood led off with a triple, then scored on a single by Bill Krull. It made it 3-2 later in the inning after Krull scored on Kip DeShields’ opposite field double.

Roth sent nine batters to the plate in the fourth, adding three more runs for a 6-2 margin despite just one hit in the frame.

In the fifth, John Medvec and Luke Kelty led off with singles and scored to make it 8-2.

Creekside added three runs in the final inning, but it was too little, too late for last year’s league champions.

“It’s a very disappointing feeling. We struggled with pitching all season long and the injuries finally caught up to us,” manager Terry Landis said. “Leaving five runners on after the first three innings also hurt.”

Astro Falcons 14, Ohio Glaciers 6

Astro built an 11-1 lead after four frames. Matt Gibson had three hits while Hunter Snyder and Kyle Benyo each added two for the Falcons. Benyo had four RBIs, including a two-run homer, while Jared Kapturasky also had four RBIs. Jake Trautman had two hits while Ken Robinson had two RBIs for the Glaciers.

Roth Brothers 8, Creekside Fitness 6

Andrew Armstrong got the win, going five innings and scattering five hits while Kiester pitched the final two innings in relief. Kiester and Parker Janosko each scored twice for Roth while Pingree added two RBIs. Mitch Wood, Scott Sada and Brady Minetti each had two hits for Creekside while Wood scored three runs.