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Falcons win Bob Cene Memorial Baseball Tournament
By Greg Gulas
STRUTHERS
Last summer at the inaugural Bob Cene Memorial Baseball Tournament, the Astro Falcons couldn’t quite find a way to solve fellow Class B member Creekside Fitness and had to settle for runner-up laurels.
On Sunday, the Falcons sent a message to the Western Pa. Slurve that settling for anything less than the title would be a huge disappointment.
Erick Taylor tossed a one-hitter, striking out five, including the side in the final inning as the Falcons defeated the Slurve, 11-1 in a four-inning affair.
“My catcher, Trent Humphries and Coach [Andy] Timko called a great game today. I can only remember shaking off two pitches that they called,” Taylor said. “This is our tournament. We wanted to win it and in the process, send a message to the rest of the league about the remainder of the regular season and then the playoffs.”
The Falcons struck first in the opening inning, building a 2-0 lead on run-scoring singles off the bats of Matt Gibson and Jacob Bonner.
It was a lead that they would not surrender.
Slurve cut the lead in half in their half of the inning when Zach Lubick’s single plated James Flemm.
It turned out to be Slurve’s only run.
Gibson had three hits including a triple, four runs batted in and scored twice. He said last year’s loss in the championship game only made the team more determined this year.
“Last year’s loss only fueled the fire this year. We lost to the Slurve earlier in the tournament, but got them back today,” Gibson said.
Gibson said the most important thing was that “we won it for our sponsor, Bob Cene, Jr. He does so much for us as a team. It was just so nice to be able to present the trophy to him after the game.”
After scoring 17 runs in their three-inning semifinal contest against Roth Brothers earlier in the day, the Falcons continued their offensive assault in the second and third frames by sending 16 batters to the plate to open an 11-1 advantage.
Gibson’s bases-clearing triple in the second inning helped Falcons build a 7-1 lead while in the third inning. RBIs by Tyler Canova, Dom Stilliano and Gibson keyed a four-run uprising and a 10-run advantage.
“Our bats were dead early in the tournament so it was great to see them come alive today,” Canova said. “Everyone in the line-up today had a good game offensively.”
The Falcons are 23-2 overall with those two losses coming by 2-1 scores.
Timko said Taylor has command of his pitches and isn’t afraid to throw any of them at any time in the count.
“Erick is a three-sport star in high school and is one of the most athletic players that I have ever coached,” Timko said. “He throws strikes, isn’t afraid to throw his curve at any point in the count and sneaks up on you with his fast ball.”
Semifinals
Astro Falcons 17, Roth Brothers 2, 3 innings
Dalton Donachie scattered three hits to pick up the win, allowing just one earned run while striking out two.
Gibson and Jared Kapturasky each had two hits and scored twice, Tyler Cannon had two hits, including a double while Stilliana scored three times and six other players scored at least twice.
Keenan Davis had an RBI for Roth Brothers.
Western PA Slurve 9, Baird Brothers 2
Slurve scored seven times in the the sixth inning to put the game away.
They sent 11 batters to the plate and had four hits and six walks.
Jared Kollar picked up the win for Slurve, scattering five hits and striking out seven.
Sam Ireland and Dan Williams each had two hits and Matt DiDonato had a triple for Baird Brothers.