Niles downs Poland, 4-1

By DAN HINER

dhiner@vindy.com

NILES

Niles senior Corbin Foy learned to deal with adversity over the last year.

He needed that perspective in a 4-1 win over Poland on Wednesday at Wilder Field.

Foy missed time last baseball season with a torn ACL. He was cleared to return in July.

That hurdle helped Foy learn to take things in stride.

“It’s a lot of grind,” Foy said. “You can’t take any days off with a torn ACL. You have to grind every single day.”

Foy allowed one unearned run in six innings. He allowed four hits and four walks while striking out six.

The right-hander worked himself out of a couple sticky situations in the first two innings.

Foy worked out of bases-loaded jams in both innings. He struck out MJ Farber and Andrew Testa to get out of the first and the Red Dragons turned a 6-4-3 double play to escape the second.

“Corbin’s a competitor. We go pitch to pitch and win the next pitch,” Niles head coach Mike Guarnieri said. “That’s what we did in the first two [innings].”

The Red Dragons (12-2, 5-1 Northeast 8) struck first in the first inning.

After a leadoff single by Zach Leonard and Nick Guarnieri reached on a throwing error, Joe Gallo hit an RBI double to left-center field. David Mays hit a sacrifice fly to short right field to increase the lead to 2-0.

The Bulldogs (8-4, 6-2) got on the board in the fifth.

Alex Barth reached base on a dropped third strike and a throwing error by Nick Guarnieri. Braeden O’Shaughnessy followed with an RBI double off the left-field wall, cutting the lead to 2-1.

However, the Red Dragons got some breathing room in the home half after Nick Guarnieri doubled in Leonard and Gallo scored when Chase Sudzina has hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Brandon Hayes relieved Foy in the top of the seventh. He had runners on the corners but got Farber to fly out to right to end the game.

The Bulldogs had opportunities to score. They left 10 runners on base, seven were in scoring position.

“We knew [Foy] was gonna be excellent,” Poland head coach Rich Murray said. “We didn’t get the timely hits.”

Poland starter Braden Olson allowed four runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out three in five innings of work.

The Red Dragons needed to find a new ace since Marco DeFalco graduated and joined the Youngstown State baseball team.

DeFalco gave Foy his blessing.

“That’s my best friend,” Foy said. “He told me, ‘Go out there and be better than me.’ That’s what I’m trying to do, and the rest of us are just as good as me and just as good as him.”

Mike Guarnieri called Foy “the real deal” and said the senior has earned the right to lead the pitching staff.

“It taught me a lot,” Foy said. “It got me bigger and stronger. I feel like the injury helped me more than it effected me badly.”