Martin Oil and Corporal Miller were engaged in a pitchers’ duel at Mansion Park on Tuesday evening. Both teams were held to just three hits, but Corporal Miller took advantage of a passed ball to put one runner in scoring position and two walks and a Martin Oil error to score the second in a 2-0 win that evened both teams season record at 1-1.
With Martin Oil starter Earnie Kelley on the mound in the bottom of the first, Vogel singled, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Nate George to give the home team an early 1-0 lead.
Then against Brian Hostler in the fourth, Riley and Gehl reached base on walks, sandwiched around a pair of outs and Riley scored on an error.
The tempo was set for Martin Oil early when Brandon Beech reached base on an error to begin the ballgame, but was picked off first base by winning pitcher Andy Criste. Dustin Harris walked, but Criste picked him off base also. Kelley also drew a walk, but instead of loading the bases, there were then two outs and only a runner on first-end of rally, when Criste struck out the next batter.
Criste scattered three base hits, striking out 10 while walking just two Martin Oil hitters to go the distance for the win.
“The pitching we got from Earnie, Brian and Brandon was terrific,” explained Martin Oil manager Ed Davis. “We walked a few more than I would like, but our pitchers pitched more than well enough to win this ballgame. We just couldn’t get the hits we needed.”
Martin Oil had at least one runner on base in five of the seven innings, including first and second with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Criste was able to stop the Bellwood-based club from putting anything on the scoreboard.
Kelley tossed two innings for Martin Oil yielding one run on three hits, with two strikeouts and no walks. Brian Hostler pitched the middle three innings, giving up one unearned score on no hits, four walks and one strikeout. Brandon Beech finished the game for Martin Oil pitching a one-two-three sixth inning, on two infield pops and a comebacker to the mound.
Kelley saved Martin Oil from further damage when Corporal Miller loaded the bases with one out in the second inning, on his own error, a hit batsman and a hard single. Kelley induced a pop up and groundout to get out of the inning without any runs being scored.
Martin Oil’s only hits were a third inning single by Beech with two outs, a one-out single by Blaze Winterstein in the fifth and a seventh-inning single by Troy Brunner.
Martin Oil returns to action at Bellwood’s Stadium Drive diamond on Thursday against McMullen Furniture with the first pitch set for 6 p.m.
Corporal Miller 2 Martin Oil 0
Martin Oil – Beech, 2b-p, 3-0-1; Harris, cf-lf, 1-0-0; Davilla, lf, 1-0-0; Kelley, p-cf, 1-0-0; Alley, ss, 3-0-0; Coho, 3b, 3-0-0; Brunner, 1b, 3-0-1; Tomchick, rf, 2-0-0; Geis, cr-rf, 1-0-0; Winterstein, c, 2-0-1; McDaniel, lf, Hostler, p, 2-0-0. TOTALS 23-0-3.
Corporal Miller – Vogel, cf, 4-1-1; Henderson, ss, 4-0-0; George, rf, 3-0-1; Sisto, 2b, 2-0-0; Frederick, pr, 0-0-0; Criste, p, 3-0-0; Burns, lf, 0-0-0; Riley, dh, 1-1-0; Wombacher, c, 2-0-0; Gaeto, 3b, 2-0-0; Gehl, 2b, 2-0-1; Casserly, TOTALS 23-2-3.
Martin OIL 000 000 0 0-3-3.
Corporal Miller 100 100 X 2-3-1.
RBI: George.
SO: Kelley 2, Hostler 1, Criste 10.
BB: Hostler 4, Criste 3.
WP: Criste LP: Kelley
