Tyrone manager Tom Coleman has known for a while that his team could swing the sticks with anybody on its schedule.
What he wasn\’t sure of was its mental make-up. After committing nine errors, stranding 10 base runners and all but handing West Branch a 6-4 win on Monday, Coleman questioned whether the Eagles would be ready in one day to bounce back against one of the top programs in the District.
They did, and they showed that in clean defensive games there aren\’t many situations they can\’t slug their way out of.
With 13 hits, including seven doubles, Tyrone defeated Mount Union 11-7yesterday at the Harry K. Sickler Sports Complex, improving to 4-1.
It was the fifth time in five outings this season that Tyrone\’s lineup has produced double digits in hits, and the third time it has generated double digits in scoring.
“I\’m very pleased with our offense,” said Coleman. “Since the beginning of the season, we\’ve seemed to put the ball in play and get hits. It\’s hard to bounce back from a tough loss like yesterday, but to come out here and beat a good, quality team, you\’ve got to be pleased with everybody.”
Brice Mertiff went the distance for the Eagles in his first starting appearance of the season. He allowed seven earned runs on eight hits, and while he never went an inning without allowing a base runner, he battled and pitched well with runners in scoring position, stranding five men on second base.
Mertiff also continued to swing a hot bat, tripling for the second straight game while driving in two more runs to raise his team-leading total to 11. Barry Gummo, Brinton Mingle and Brandon Maceno each collected three hits and five different Eagle hitters went for extra bases.
Perhaps more important than Tyrone\’s offensive output was its play defensively. The Eagles committed just one error in the first inning and were helped along by eight fly ball outs by the Trojans.
“We had a good pre-game warm-up and I told them errors are going to happen – shake them off and make the next play,” Coleman said. “It was a big turnaround from the defense we put out there yesterday.”
The Eagles trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the third before exploding for eight runs and chasing starter Danny Pachulla off the hill. Barry Gummo batted twice in the frame and came away with a single, a double, two runs and two RBI. Ben Gummo doubled and scored wice, Tyler Rickards shot a two-bagger to right-center and Brandon Maceno and Nick Cushion each had run-scoring singles.
Five of Tyrone\’s runs in the inning were unearned, coming after Derrick Soellner reached with two outs on a ball booted by Trojan shortstop Matt Baird. That opened the floodgates for five more runs to score as the Eagles built an 8-1 lead after three innings.
The Trojans made it 8-4 in the fourth on the strength of a two-RBI double by Puchalla, but Tyrone – ignited by a Mertiff triple and Mingle double in back-to-back plated appearances – sent home three insurance runs in the sixth to go on top 11-4.
The Trojans rallied late, stringing together five consecutive hits to start off the seventh inning and eventually pulling within four on an RBI single by Baird, but Mertiff settled and retired three straight to end the threat.
NOTES: Barry Gummo now has four doubles in his last seven at-bats….after starting the season 0-for-10, Maceno has now hit safely in his last six plate appearances, lifting his average to .250….the Eagles have eight players batting above .330 and are hitting .427 as a team….Bellwood-Antis visits Tyrone today at 4 p.m.
Tyrone 11 Mount Union 7
MOUNT UNION – Puchalla, p-ss, 4-1-2; Martinez, 1b, 4-0-1; Brown, cf-rf, 4-1-1; Inch, c, 4-1-1; Hoffmaster, rf-lf, 4-0-2; Atherton, cr, 0-1-0; Pollicino, 2b, 4-1-2; Baird, ss-p, 2-0-1; McConaughey, cr, 0-1-0; Yocum, 3b, 4-0-0; McVey, dh, 3-0-0; McClain, lf, 0-0-0; Donaldson, ss, 0-0-0. TOTALS: 33-7-8.
TYRONE – Ba. Gummo, cf, 4-3-3; Be. Gummo, ss, 2-1-1; Mertiff, p, 2-1-1; Mingle, rf, 4-2-3; C. Wilson, 1b, 4-0-0; Maceno, 2b, 3-1-3; D. Soellner, c, 4-0-0; Myers, cr, 0-1-0; Rickards, dh, 3-1-1; J. Wilson, lf, 0-0-0; Cushion, 3b, 3-1-1. TOTALS: 29-11-13.
Mount Union 100 300 3 – 7-8-1.
Tyrone 008 003 x – 11-13-1.
2B: Ba. Gummo 2, Mingle 2, Be. Gummo, Maceno, Rickards, Puchalla, Hoffmaster
3B: Mertiff
RBI: Ba. Gummo 2, Mertiff 2, Mingle 2, Maceno 2, Be. Gummo, Cushion, Puchalla 2, Martinez, Inch, Baird, Hoffmaster, Pullicino
K: Mertiff 6, Puchalla 5, Baird 2
BB: Mertiff 4, Puchalla 2
WP: Mertiff LP: Puchalla
