Dingel throws shutout for Roth

Photo

Dylan Dingel

By Dan Hiner

dhiner@vindy.com

austintown

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. And Roth Brothers 18-U Class B team caught a lucky break in its 7-0 win over Creekside Fitness on Tuesday night at Austintown Fitch.

Roth Brothers’ Christian Gabriel hit a one-out fly ball to center field in a scoreless game in the bottom of the sixth. But Creekside’s BJ Arnold lost the ball in the sun, leading to a double.

Gabriel’s double began a seven-run inning for Roth Brothers (7-5) on a night when both starting pitchers seemed unhittable.

“It was kind of luck,” Roth Brothers’ Robbie Russo said. “It doesn’t really happen a lot. The sun was in our favor there.

“It was just a fluke mistake — nothing on the center fielder there. Sometimes you can’t see the ball and that’s what happened there.”

The two teams combined for seven hits in the first five innings. Of those seven hits, only three made it out of the infield.

Russo hit a three-run double off Creekside starter Brennan Olesh to extend the lead to 5-0 in the sixth.

Roth Brothers sent 11 batters to the plate in its breakout inning. Russo said the team needed to string a couple hits together to build some confidence at the plate.

“We need a little spark,” Russo said. “It’s kind of hard to hit Brennan Olesh a little bit. [He was] going to the slider, fastball ... we really couldn’t pick him up.”

Roth Brothers pitcher Dylan Dingel had a no-hitter entering the fourth inning. Creekside’s Gerald Taylor got the team’s first hit after reaching on a single down the third-base line with one out in the fourth.

The right-hander’s game plan didn’t change even after getting a seven-run lead.

“[My perspective] was to just throw strikes and work ahead of the batters because I had a lead,” Dingel said. “Just work ahead of the batters and let the defense work. If they get a run or two, no big deal.”

Dingel, from Slippery Rock, Pa., allowed five hits in a complete-game shutout. He struck out seven and walked one in his first outing of the season.

“Pitching-wise, [I was] just trying to throw as [few] pitches as possible, pound the zone as much as you can and let the defense work,” Dingel said.

Olesh pitched 51⁄3 innings in the loss. The Cardinal Mooney pitcher allowed six runs on six hits and four walks. He struck out seven and hit a batter.

Nick Bianco, from Austintown Fitch, relieved Olesh with one out in the inning. Bianco struck out one and allowed a run on a hit and a walk.

Russo, also from Austintown Fitch, went 1 for 3 with three RBIs and a run scored. Struthers’ Chad Laczko, Mathews’ Adam Wibert and Jared Knight all had an RBI and scored once for Roth Brothers.

Canfield’s Alex Hernandez, Nic Ottaviani and Bianco all doubled for Creekside Fitness (7-5). Olesh hit an infield single in the top of the fifth inning.

The win snapped Roth Brothers’ two-game losing streak. Creekside Fitness has lost three of its last four games.

Russo said the team was a little frustrated during the middle innings, but started to relax after they started putting hits together late in the game.

“Once we get one or two things going our way, we’re rolling,” Russo said.