With three sraters away and a fourth gettiing to the ballgame late due to practice for the Lezzer Lumber Football Classic on Friday night, Martin Oil manager Ed Davis knew all his club’s games would be adventures this week. On Tuesday at Stadium Drive field in Bellwood, Dick’s Pharmacy sc ored four times in the middle innings and Dick’s pitcher Shane Gillmen limited Martin Oil to five hits in a 6-4 win.
Already short on warm bodies, Martin Oil took another hit, literally when with one out and Gillmen on second base in the top of the first, Josh Ross drilled a line shot off Martin Oil starting pitcher Justin Manning’s glove hand ending the night and most likely the season, quickly for Manning, who will have surgery on Thursday.
Dick’s scored two in the first, but Martin Oil came right back in the home half of the inning to tie the score.
Matt Beech, in Manning’s spot in the lineup, opened the frame with a walk. Jake Manning lined a single up the middle. After a wild pitch moved both runners up a base, Trey Mock scored Beech with an RBI ground out, and Earnie Kelley tied the score by driving home Jake Manning with a single to right.
Dick’s Pharmacy moved ahead 4-2 in the third inning and added solo scores in both the fourth and fifth to build a four-run advantage 6-2.
Martin Oil cut the deficit to 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth. Jared Coho legged out an infield base hit to start the inning and Jake Manning drew a base on balls, with one down. Both runners scored when Mock drilled a double to deep center.
Martin Oil got two hits and two walks in the third inning, but in what proved to be a turning point, with a caught stealing and a base-running blunder, Gillmen and Dick’s Pharmacy got out of the inning without giving up any runs.
“Five hits doesn’t do you much good in a game like this,” explained Martin Oil manager Ed Davis. “Pitching held pretty decent tonight, we didn’t give up all the walks we have been giving up and we had a decent defense. But other than Jake and Trey and Earnie, we just didn’t hit the ball worth a hoot. We had to play a lot of young kids due to people being on vacation, but still we had better expectations than five hits for the lineup we played. We had our opportunities, two hits, two walks and you don’t score in an inning-you can’t have that stuff happen to you and expect to win.
“We just have to go back to the drawing board and try to do a better job tomorrow night.”
Tyler Sweeney had a perfect 4-for-4 night at the plate for Dick’s with a double and two RBI and Kevin Henry had a pair of doubles. Gillmen struck out five and walked five in the complete-game win.
Dick’s Pharmacy 6 Martin Oil 4
Dick’s Pharmacy – Kutruff, rf, 3-1-0; Gillmen, p, 4-1-1; Ross, cf, 4-1-2; Walter, ss, 4-0-0; Sweeney, 3b, 4-2-4; McCaulley, c, 2-0-1; Quirin, cr, 0-0-0; Cruse, cr, 0-1-0; Johnston, cr, 0-0-0; Henry, lf, 4-0-2; Riggleman, 2b, 0-0-0; Snyder, 1b, 4-0-0. TOTALS 29-6-10.
Martin Oil – Ju. Manning, p, 0-0-0; Beech, 1b, 1-1-0; C. Coho, 2b-p, 2-0-0; Ja. Manning, c, 3-2-2; Mock, ss-p, 3-0-1; Kelley, cf, 2-0-1; Irvin, 3b, 3-0-0; Watters, lf, 3-0-0; Kovac, 1b-2b, 2-0-0; Stephens, rf, 3-0-0; J. Coho, 2b-ss, 3-1-1. TOTALS 25-4-5.
Dick’s Pharmacy 202 110 0 6-10-0.
Martin Oil 200 020 0 4- 5-1.
2B: Henry 2, Gillmen, Sweeney, Mock.
RBI: Sweeney 2, Ross, Henry, Riggleman, Mock 3, Kelley.
SO: Gillmen 5, Mock 4, C. Coho 3.
BB: Gillman 5, Mock 3, C. Coho 2.
WP: Gillmen LP: Mock
