Roth Brothers stays unbeaten in NABF World Series

July 25, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

STRUTHERS

Mike Boswell knows when he has a good catcher on the receiving end of his pitches.

That’s why it was so important that his Class B regular-season batterymate, Jake Smith (both played for Rudzik Excavating), joined him with Roth Brothers as tournament additions for this year’s NABF Senior Division World Series.

Boswell threw a complete-game two-hitter, striking out seven and Smith laced a two-run double, scored a run and walked twice to lead Roth Brothers to a 9-2 victory Friday on the second day of pool play at Bob Cene Park.

The win allowed Roth Brothers (3-0) to remain undefeated while Boys of Summer (3-1) suffered their first loss.

Boswell, who also had two hits, needed just 85 total pitches while holding the middle of the Boys of Summer lineup hitless (0-for-12) in 14 total at-bats.

“It’s great to throw to a catcher that you are comfortable with and Jake and I have had a really nice season working together this summer. He’s able to come to the mound, tells me what pitch is working and to stay with it, and also what pitch or pitches I should be staying away from,” Boswell said. “I told Jake coming into the game that I had watched Boys of Summer in an earlier game, so we had a mini-scouting report that we could use for the game.”

Pitching with a lead turned out to be advantageous for both pitcher and catcher on Friday night.

Jon Pingree’s opposite-field triple and Pete Hernandez’ run-scoring single accounted for two runs in the opening inning as Roth Brothers opened a 3-0 advantage.

They extended their lead to 5-0 in the second frame when Smith’s opposite-field double scored Craig Lewis and Pingree.

Smith said that Boswell didn’t do anything differently in the tournament that he hadn’t already done during the regular season.

“Mike was the same today as he has been all summer. His fastball had a lot of movement, he worked ahead in the count and that just dictated his pitch selection,” Smith said. “I kid him about it, but he also has a wicked curve that he just doesn’t like to use very much.”

Boswell set down eight of the first nine batters, but Boys of Summer was able to cut into the lead at 5-2 in the third inning when Drew Potesta’s run-scoring single accounted for one score and a couple of infield error’s the other tally.

A four-run, fifth inning was highlighted by Ryan Cheslik’s two-run single to make it 9-2.

According to Roth Brothers manager Matt McGivern, Boswell was ready to go from the minute he stepped into the bullpen for pre-game warmups.

“Our pitching coach, Gary Knittle, told me right before the game that Mike looked really sharp while warming up. He said that his fastball was popping, his breaking stuff looked great and he was ready to go,” McGivern said. “Both Boswell and Smith are hard workers so to be able to add two guys of their caliber is truly a blessing for us. We’re 3-0 now and control our own destiny. That’s a really nice feeling.”

ASTRO FALCONS WIN

In the only other game involving a local team, Astro Falcons stopped the Michigan Bulls (Vandemark), 5-0 to move to 2-1 in the tourney.

Michael McDonough pitched 6 1/3 innings, scattered three hits and struck out seven to pick up the win.

Riley Campbell had three hits (including a double), two runs batted in and two runs scored while Kyle Benyo and Noah Laster each had two hits as the trio combined for seven of the Astros Falcons’ nine hits.

One of Benyo’s hits was a triple.

Both teams will conclude pool play this morning with Astro Falcons taking on the Toledo Hawks and Roth Brothers hosting Team Ontario.

Both games begin at 9 a.m.

The elimination portion of the tournament will begin at 3 p.m. with three games on tap and a 5:30 p.m. contest also slated.

World Series action concludes on Sunday with two semifinal games set for 10 a.m. and the title game at 12:30 p.m.