MORAVIA - there was one knock on the Moravia baseball team this season, it was its offense.
Moravia junior Cory Langtry pitches against Groton in a Section IV, Class C playoff game at Ettinger Field in Moravia Friday. Devon DelloStritto / Special to The Citizen
That proved to be Moravia's undoing Friday as it fell to Groton 3-1 in the first round of the Section IV, Class C playoffs at Ettinger Field.
"We were up against a very hittable pitcher," said Moravia coach Rich Valentino. "We just couldn't come through when we needed to."
Moravia (12-10) was hard-pressed to come up with any hits Friday. In all, the Blue Devils only had four hits and two walks against the Indians' Dana Twigg. The only other time the Blue Devils saw Twigg this season was in a brief relief appearance. Coach Gary Giroux said that worked in Groton's favor.
"We were hoping that that would give us an advantage," he said. "And Dana delivered. He went out and pitched well. He had another great game today."
Twigg went the distance for Groton, striking out nine and walking only two.
Langtry was the dominant pitcher early. He retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced - all on strikeouts. In the fourth, he surrendered two walks and his first hit, but the Indians got a little overaggressive on the basepaths and the Blue Devils got out of it unscathed.
Mike Weeks sparked a rally in the bottom of the inning with a two-out line drive to center. He moved to second on a wild pitch and came around to score when Jared Hatfield doubled off the base of the fence in right-center field, giving the Blue Devils a 1-0 advantage.
Langtry got back on track in the fifth when he struck out the first two batters and got Tony Volpicelli out on an easy pop fly.
He worked around a lead-off single, striking out the side in the sixth. Langtry went the distance for Moravia, allowing only four hits. He struck out 16, but also issued six walks.
The trouble for Langtry came in the seventh when Anthony Perkozzi led off with a sharp single to left and Twigg worked a walk, putting runners on first and second.
Manuel Maccou followed with a sac bunt that rolled in between the pitcher's mound and third base. Langtry's only play was to third, but his throw went over Dalton Christiantelli's head and Perkozzi was waved around third, tying the score at 1-1.
The Blue Devils almost escaped further damage when Twigg went halfway instead of tagging on a Volpicelli fly to right, but Cale Giroux roped a single down the left-field line, scoring Twigg and Maccou and putting the Indians up 3-1.
All that was left for the Indians in the seventh was the bottom third of the Blue Devils lineup. Twigg promptly struck out two of the three batters, sealing the victory and earning his team a berth in the semifinals.
The Blue Devils stranded just five runners on base.
"We didn't come through in the clutch tonight," Valentino said. "We left too many men on base."
This was the third meeting between the two teams this season. Moravia won the first two, but Gary Giroux saw a noticeable difference Friday.
"Today our pitcher got the big outs for us," he said. "We stayed close. That's all I told our guys we had to do."
His team's hitting woes aside, Valentino was quick to note that Moravia had its chance to win.
"It's been a week and a half since we've seen live pitching, but that's no excuse," he said. "There is no excuse. If we make that play in the seventh, then we probably win the game."
The Citizen sports dept. can be reached at 253-5311, ext. 258 or
citizensports@lee.net
"We were up against a very hittable pitcher," said Moravia coach Rich Valentino. "We just couldn't come through when we needed to."
Moravia (12-10) was hard-pressed to come up with any hits Friday. In all, the Blue Devils only had four hits and two walks against the Indians' Dana Twigg. The only other time the Blue Devils saw Twigg this season was in a brief relief appearance. Coach Gary Giroux said that worked in Groton's favor.
"We were hoping that that would give us an advantage," he said. "And Dana delivered. He went out and pitched well. He had another great game today."
Twigg went the distance for Groton, striking out nine and walking only two.
Langtry was the dominant pitcher early. He retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced - all on strikeouts. In the fourth, he surrendered two walks and his first hit, but the Indians got a little overaggressive on the basepaths and the Blue Devils got out of it unscathed.
Mike Weeks sparked a rally in the bottom of the inning with a two-out line drive to center. He moved to second on a wild pitch and came around to score when Jared Hatfield doubled off the base of the fence in right-center field, giving the Blue Devils a 1-0 advantage.
Langtry got back on track in the fifth when he struck out the first two batters and got Tony Volpicelli out on an easy pop fly.
He worked around a lead-off single, striking out the side in the sixth. Langtry went the distance for Moravia, allowing only four hits. He struck out 16, but also issued six walks.
The trouble for Langtry came in the seventh when Anthony Perkozzi led off with a sharp single to left and Twigg worked a walk, putting runners on first and second.
Manuel Maccou followed with a sac bunt that rolled in between the pitcher's mound and third base. Langtry's only play was to third, but his throw went over Dalton Christiantelli's head and Perkozzi was waved around third, tying the score at 1-1.
The Blue Devils almost escaped further damage when Twigg went halfway instead of tagging on a Volpicelli fly to right, but Cale Giroux roped a single down the left-field line, scoring Twigg and Maccou and putting the Indians up 3-1.
All that was left for the Indians in the seventh was the bottom third of the Blue Devils lineup. Twigg promptly struck out two of the three batters, sealing the victory and earning his team a berth in the semifinals.
The Blue Devils stranded just five runners on base.
"We didn't come through in the clutch tonight," Valentino said. "We left too many men on base."
This was the third meeting between the two teams this season. Moravia won the first two, but Gary Giroux saw a noticeable difference Friday.
"Today our pitcher got the big outs for us," he said. "We stayed close. That's all I told our guys we had to do."
His team's hitting woes aside, Valentino was quick to note that Moravia had its chance to win.
"It's been a week and a half since we've seen live pitching, but that's no excuse," he said. "There is no excuse. If we make that play in the seventh, then we probably win the game."
The Citizen sports dept. can be reached at 253-5311, ext. 258 or
citizensports@lee.net
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