MORAVIA - Its two-out, bottom-of-the-seventh rally fell short, but the Moravia baseball team is not one to give up.
Marathon defeated the Blue Devils 9-2 at Ettinger Field on Tuesday, in a game that gave the Olympians a big upper hand in the league standings for the first time this season, but Moravia has an opportunity to redeem itself on Friday when the two teams meet again in Marathon.
The Blue Devils entered the game 6-0 in the league, while Marathon was 5-0 and 7-1 overall. The Olympians made the leap to first place after scoring three in the first and three more in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
Luckily for the Blue Devils, they have back-to-back games against league foe Groton today and tomorrow before facing the Olympians again.
“If we can take Groton twice and beat Marathon Friday, we'll be back in business,” Moravia coach Rich Valentino said.
Moravia had a tough time getting hits off Brett McGowan, who despite throwing mostly fastballs, hurled nine strikeouts and allowed just five hits in a complete game.
“I was surprised we didn't hit him a little better,” Valentino said. “He threw very few curveballs and very few off-speed stuff. It was uncharacteristic how poorly we hit today.”
Justin Stanton, who started on the mound for the Blue Devils, earned two of the team's three hits through the sixth inning, both on singles. Stanton singled in Dillon Langtry in the third to make the game 3-1.
Down eight runs heading into their last at-bat, Jeremy Steward ripped a double down the left-field line for the game's only extra base hits. With two outs and Stewart on second, Greg Pasho hit a bloop single to center field to bring in Moravia's final run. Langtry belted a well-hit ball to left field, but Karl Vanorden made the catch to end the game.
Conversely, the Olympians were able to get 12 hits. Leadoff batter Aubrey Barry led the effort with four singles, two RBIs and two runs. Derrek Root smacked two hits and had four RBIs, Chase Wiley had two hits, as did David McDonald who also scored an RBI. The bottom three batters didn't get a hit as Stanton, Mike Drake and Jeremy Stewart combined for 12 strikeouts. Stanton racked up 11, but got the loss in his 4 2-3 innings.
In 27 batters faces, Stanton gave up seven hits, five walks and eight runs. Drake lasted the next 1 2-3 and Stewart threw the seventh.
“They actually had some pretty good hits,” Valentino said of Marathon. “They hit it hard and they had those ones where they gets two runs on a crack. Right when they needed it, they'd reach down and pop them right into that 3-4 hole.”
The Blue Devils look to get back to their winning ways beginning today at home. Moravia went 4-0 over its previous four games and in order to get through Friday with another winning week, the team knows they have a marathon in front of them, not a sprint.
“This was the game we know we needed because now we have to play them at their place on Friday,” Valentino said. “So now we'll make it interesting. We're not out of it yet.”
Olympians 9
Blue Devils 2
The Blue Devils entered the game 6-0 in the league, while Marathon was 5-0 and 7-1 overall. The Olympians made the leap to first place after scoring three in the first and three more in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
Luckily for the Blue Devils, they have back-to-back games against league foe Groton today and tomorrow before facing the Olympians again.
“If we can take Groton twice and beat Marathon Friday, we'll be back in business,” Moravia coach Rich Valentino said.
Moravia had a tough time getting hits off Brett McGowan, who despite throwing mostly fastballs, hurled nine strikeouts and allowed just five hits in a complete game.
“I was surprised we didn't hit him a little better,” Valentino said. “He threw very few curveballs and very few off-speed stuff. It was uncharacteristic how poorly we hit today.”
Justin Stanton, who started on the mound for the Blue Devils, earned two of the team's three hits through the sixth inning, both on singles. Stanton singled in Dillon Langtry in the third to make the game 3-1.
Down eight runs heading into their last at-bat, Jeremy Steward ripped a double down the left-field line for the game's only extra base hits. With two outs and Stewart on second, Greg Pasho hit a bloop single to center field to bring in Moravia's final run. Langtry belted a well-hit ball to left field, but Karl Vanorden made the catch to end the game.
Conversely, the Olympians were able to get 12 hits. Leadoff batter Aubrey Barry led the effort with four singles, two RBIs and two runs. Derrek Root smacked two hits and had four RBIs, Chase Wiley had two hits, as did David McDonald who also scored an RBI. The bottom three batters didn't get a hit as Stanton, Mike Drake and Jeremy Stewart combined for 12 strikeouts. Stanton racked up 11, but got the loss in his 4 2-3 innings.
In 27 batters faces, Stanton gave up seven hits, five walks and eight runs. Drake lasted the next 1 2-3 and Stewart threw the seventh.
“They actually had some pretty good hits,” Valentino said of Marathon. “They hit it hard and they had those ones where they gets two runs on a crack. Right when they needed it, they'd reach down and pop them right into that 3-4 hole.”
The Blue Devils look to get back to their winning ways beginning today at home. Moravia went 4-0 over its previous four games and in order to get through Friday with another winning week, the team knows they have a marathon in front of them, not a sprint.
“This was the game we know we needed because now we have to play them at their place on Friday,” Valentino said. “So now we'll make it interesting. We're not out of it yet.”
Olympians 9
Blue Devils 2
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