The two teams that have battled in the last two George B. Kelley Federation championship finals met for the first time in the 2004 season at Bellwood on Tuesday afternoon. This time McMullen Furniture reversed the verdict winning 2-1, although Martin Oil made McMullen stretch it out for eight innings before giving way.
Pitchers Tim Eck of McMullen Furniture and Dustin Harris of Martin Oil dueled through the regulation seven innings with neither giving an inch. Eck, who eventually picked up the victory, scattered seven hits in allowing just one run, striking out eight and walking a pair.
Harris, a 16-year-old in his first federation season, had to settle for a no-decision, allowing one run over seven innings on just three hits while striking out four and walking three. Kyle Drost, who pitched the eighth inning for Martin Oil took the loss, although he deserved a better fate.
We just couldn’t have asked for a better pitching performance,” exclaimed Martin Oil manager Ed Davis. “We were hoping to get three or four innings from Dustin Harris and he goes out there and throws three-hit ball for seven innings and gives up just one run. That was a tremendous effort, more than I ever hoped for. Then Kyle Drost came in and gave us a nice inning and got stuck with the loss on a call-third strike that was dropped. Boy, that was a screwy way to lose a ballgame. We can’t cry too much, because the pitching was there and our defense was there for the most part.”
Drost relieved Harris to start the eight inning. Also a 16-year old, Drost got the first out on a fly ball then struck out Mike Weyandt for what should have been the second out of the inning. Weyandt reached first base however, when Martin Oil catcher Matt Albright couldn’t locate the ball. Weyandt stole second base, while Drost was striking out Zach Haulman. McMullen catcher Jake Settle then singled to left to drive in what proved to be the winning run.
Martin Oil still had a chance in the bottom of the eighth, but couldn’t pull it out. Ryan McCartney singled to open the frame and moved to third base on two wild pitches. He was stranded there however, with Eck inducing three fly outs to secure the win.
Martin Oil scored their lone tally in the fourth inning. Chris Alley singled with one out and advanced to second on when Eck walked Drost. Matt Plummer stroked a solid single to left to get Alley home to tie the game at 1-1.
McMullen Furniture opened the scoring in the second when Bryan Plummer doubled Settle home following a walk to Settle and a passed ball.
Martin Oil was able to get runners on base in nearly every inning, but weren’t able to capitalize except in the fourth.
Andy Brisbin walked and McCartney singled in the first inning. Brandon Beech doubled and moved to third with two outs in the third frame. Albright reached on a error and was stranded at third in the fifth inning, after Harris singled and was forced at third. Matt Plummer singled and reached third in the sixth with one out. Martin Oil wasn’t able to pull the trigger on any of those occasions.
“Ryan McCartney and Matt Plummer are still hitting the ball pretty good,” said Davis. “Brandon Beech had a nice rip again tonight. We just have to come back on Friday and put this game behind us.”
Matt Plummer and McCartney led Martin Oil with two hits each, while Bryan Plummer had two doubles for McMullen Furniture.
Martin Oil (1-1) was scheduled to play Barkman Oil/Altoona First on Thursday at Martinsburg, but the Central High School baseball team is still in the District VI-AA playoffs, so that game has been postponed until a later date. Martin Oil will play Sheetz, at Prospect on Friday evening at 6 p.m.
McMullen Furniture 2 Martin Oil 1
MCMULLEN FURNITURE – T. Miller, 2b, 4-0-1; Moschella, cf, 2-0-0; Weyandt, ss, 4-1-0; Haulman, 1b, 4-0-0; Epple, pr, 0-0-0; Settle, c, 3-0-1; Craig, cr, 0-0-0; B. Plummer, rf, 2-0-2; Briggs, pr, 0-0-0; Conrad, cr-lf, 1-1-0; Eck, p, 3-0-0; Ma. Sprouse, 3b, 1-0-0; Cole, ph, 1-0-0; B. Miller, 3b, 1-0-0; Mi. Sprouse, lf, 0-0-0; Stotler, rf, 2-0-0. TOTALS 28-2-4.
MARTIN OIL – Harris, p-cf, 4-0-1; Brisbin, 2b, 3-0-0, Albright, c, 4-0-0; Reimer, cr, 0-0-0; Graham, ss, 0-0-0; McCartney, dh, 4-0-2; Alley, 3b, 4-1-1; Drost, rf-p, 3-0-0; M. Plummer, 1b, 4-0-2; Kenawell, lf, 3-0-0; Beech, cf-rf, 3-0-1. TOTALS 32-1-7.
McMullen Furniture 010 000 0 1 2-4-2.
Martin Oil 000 100 0 0 1-7-2.
2B: B. Plummer 2, Beech 1.
RBI: Settle 1, B. Plummer 1, M. Plummer 1.
SO: Eck 8, Harris 4, Drost 2.
BB: Eck 2, Harris 3.
WP: Eck LP: Drost
