43
Limongi, Hanshaw lead Niles over Howland
By Greg Gulas
NILES
For three-and-a-half innings, Howland did everything except deliver the knock-out punch against Niles.
The Tigers sent 23 batters to the plate, ripped seven hits and led 2-0, but left nine runners stranded.
Those were the last runners that would reach base.
Richard Limongi had three hits and five RBIs and scored two runs while Chance Hanshaw earned the win by setting down all eight Tigers batters that he faced as the Red Dragons topped the Tigers, 12-2 in an All-American Conference, intra-division clash Friday at Wilder Field.
Limongi’s first hit, a single in the fourth inning, knotted the game at 2 while his two doubles in the fifth and sixth frames accounted for three of his RBIs.
It was the first five-RBI game of Limongi’s varsity career.
“We started off slow and didn’t hit the ball like we wanted to. When we tied the game we just fed off of the energy,” he said. “Once you get going, it’s kind of contagious. The first double came off a curveball and the second one I hit was a fastball.”
Freshman Marco Defalco started for the Red Dragons (12-7), who improved to 12-2 during the Ohio portion of their schedule.
They went 0-5 on their southern trip.
Defalco allowed both Howland runs and all seven hits, but showed resiliency in the first three frames as the Tigers had runners in scoring position all three innings yet failed to cross the plate.
Howland (7-8) stranded six of its nine runners against Defalco.
“We’re ecstatic about how Marc threw today. He had great stuff and is going to be a terrific pitcher for us,” Red Dragons coach Mike Gaurnieri said. “He threw a lot of strikes today and gave us a chance to win the game and that was what we were looking for.”
The “chance” for Hanshaw to minimize any damage came in the fourth inning with one out and the bases juiced. He retired the next two batters that he faced and stranded the final three Tigers to reach base.
He followed that performance by then setting down the final six hitters of the game.
“Coach Guarnieri was relying on me to do the job and that’s what I did,” Hanshaw said. “My go-to pitch is my slider and I relied on that the entire time. When I went into the dugout coach told me that they would be looking for fastballs, especially when down in the count so I just went to my slider.”
A single by Tyler Srbinovich in the fourth inning gave Niles the lead for good at 3-2 while a sacrifice fly by Hanshaw and another single by Geno Barricella extended their lead to 5-2.
Limongi’s double in the fifth inning made it a 6-2 game. His double in the sixth inning was the big blow during a six-run uprising.
“Give them credit because they hit the ball and hit it the ball well. You can’t ask for anything better from our pitcher [Stephen Hornak] than throwing strikes. They just hit it,” Tigers head coach Sean Price said. “It’s very basic baseball. Catch the ball, throw the ball. It’s not complicated. A very simple game played by very complicated people.”
Howland lead-off batter Craig Lewis had three of his team’s seven hits and drove in a run.