Comets Cash In, A & M Bows

JOHN CURTIS - Daily Union Sports Editor

May 16, 2008 04:42 pm

— After a blow-out win in the first round, the Central A & M Raiders bowed out in the second round, failing to cash in against the host Stew-Stras Comets, 5-1.
The Raiders matched the Comets at the plate, with both teams knocking six hits. However, the Comets were able to cash those hits, while the Raiders couldn’t.
Central A & M knocked out 12 hits on Tuesday in their first round win over Windsor, including three home runs. But Comet senior starter Ben Giertz held the Raiders to just six scattered hits. Giertz went the distance for the win, going seven innings and allowing just one run on six hits and no walks, while striking out ten.
Corey Scott had to take the loss for Central A & M, even though he also allowed just six hits. However, he did allow three walks and struck out no one. The Raiders also allowed three errors, which played a role in the Comets cashing in at the plate.
After Giertz struck out the first two Raiders in the first and got the third on a comebacker to the mound, the Comets got their first chance to manufacture a run.
Gabe Wascher rang up the first hit for the Comets in the first inning with one out. Phil Wetherell followed with a single and Giertz walked to load the bases. Luke Rincker then hit to the Raider second baseman Ryan Bressner, who went to tag Giertz headed for second. Giertz got in a run down and Wascher scored for the 1-0 lead.
Giertz struck out the sides in the second, as he sailed through the Raiders line-up. Holding serve, allowed his teammates to manufacture another run and increase their lead in the second.
Kyle Helmuth led off with a single, but was caught stealing. Justin Mechling was hit by a pitch. Designated hitter Lucas Helton, filling in at the plate for Will Rincker who had his appendix out this week, slapped a single out of the #9 slot. An error on Raider fielder allowed Mechling to come around and score for a 2-0 Comet lead.
Jon Medler, who launched a home run a day earlier, gave the Raiders offense a jump start in the third inning with a lead-off double. However, Giertz snared another comebacker to the mound for the first out, rang up the next batter for the second out , then threw out the next batter on another comebacker to the mound to end the Raider threat to get on the board.
Meanwhile the Comets just kept ticking away, adding another run to their lead in the third. Scott got the first two Comets to go down, but then Rincker reached on an error. Widdersheim reached on the second consecutive error and two wild pitches allowed Rincker to score and the Comets to cash in again, 3-0.
The Raider got another lead-off hit in the fourth, this time from Anthony Tintori. He stole second and was in scoring position. But, Giertz again hunkered down and stopped the threat cold. He struck out the next batter and got the following batter on yet another comebacker to the mound. Tintori was on third with two outs and a fly out to center pulled the plug on another threat.
Scott held the Comets scoreless in the fourth, getting them in order on two fly balls to center and a comebacker to the mound. It was still anybody’s game, if the Raiders could get something going. They tried again in the fifth.
With two outs, another comebacker and another strikeout, Brock Ohl slapped a single. Collin Townsend made it two singles in a row and the Raiders’ hopes raised. Tim Bridgman put the ball in play and reached on an error, scoring Ohl and cutting the lead to 3-1.
However, the Comets responded in the bottom of the fifth and pushed the lead out to four runs. Wetherell led off with a single and stole second. He went third on an error. Giertz walked and stole second. Tintori threw out Wetherell at third on a fielder’s choice for the second out. Helmuth then hit his second and drove in his second run. Widdersheim also scored and the Comets were up 5-1.
The Raiders tried to rev up their offense more, but the Comet defense kept that from happening. Bressner led off with a single and Scott made it back-to-back singles. Mike Dance walked and the bases were loaded with no outs. But they couldn’t cash in.
Jacob Tabbert caught a fly ball in left and then threw the ball in and doubled up the lead runner. Giertz rang up the next batter and the final Raider rally was thwarted. Townsend came in to pitch the sixth inning for the raiders and retired the Comets in order. Giertz did the same in the Raider seventh, including his tenth strikeout.
Stew-Stras (11-9-1) will play in their own regional tittle game on Saturday at 10 a.m., against the winner of the Sullivan vs. Okaw Valley game. Stew-Stras beat Sullivan earlier this year, 8-3, and also beat Okaw Valley, 8-6.
Stew-Stras 5, Central A&M 1
A & M 000 010 0—1-6-3
St.-St. 111 020 x—5-6-1
Stew stats: Clayton Brandt 0-for-4, FC; Gabe Wascher 1-for-4, run; Phil Wetherell 2-for-3, SB; Ben Giertz 0-for-1, run, SB, 2 BBs; Luke Rincker 0-for-3, run, OBE, FC, RBI; Jaden Widdersheim 0-for-3, run, OBE, FC; Kyle Helmuth 2-for-2, BB, 2 RBIs; Justin Mechling 0-for-2, run, HBP; Lucas Helton 1-for-3. (W) Giertz 7 IP, run, 6 hits, 0 BB, 10 Ks.
A&M stats: Tim Bridgman 0-for-4, OBE; Anthony Tintori 1-for-3, SB; Ryan Bressner 1-for-3; Mike Dance 0-for-2, HBP; Kyle Wiseman 0-for-3; Jon Medler 1-for-3; Brock Ohl 1-for-3, run; Collin Townsend 1-for-3. (L) Scott 5 Ip, 5 runs, 6 hits, 3 BBs, 0 Ks; Townsend 1 IP, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 BBs, 0 Ks.

The lack of offense against Ben Giertz and the Comets, was a reversal of fortunes for the Raiders over the course of one day. The day before the Stew-Stras game, the lower-seeded Raiders blew-up host Windsor, launching three home runs in the first round and winning by the ten-run rule, 12-2.
Windsor entered the postseason with hopes of rising to the occasion, but it was the Central A & M Raiders who took the first step in a hopeful attempt at a season-saving regional title.
The game was close for four innings, before the Raiders exploded for a 6-run fifth and dealt the death blow with a 4-run sixth. Tim Bridgman gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead in the first, scoring on Ryan Bressner’s RBI-double. Anthony Tintori put the Raiders up 2-0 in the third with a 2-out solo homer.
Windsor starter Jake McIlwain held the Raiders in check through four innings, but then came the fatal fifth. With one out, Bridgman reached on an error and Tintori singled. With two outs, Corey Scott reached on an error and McIlwain was lifted for freshman reliever Kyle Floyd. Floyd was lit up, watching McIlwain’s runs score and giving up five of his own while getting just one out.
Raider pitcher Mike Dance walked, Kyle Wiseman singled and Jon Medler turned on a pitch and blasted a 3-run homer. Brock Ohl walked and finally a ground out ended stopped the bleeding, temporarily, 8-0 Raiders.
Windsor finally counted coup in their half, but it was a flatulent in a windstorm. With one out, Kyle Floyd walked. With two outs, McIlwain singled, Torey Leasher walked and Floyd scored on a wild pitch, 8-1.
Central A & M came back in the top of the sixth and got enough runs to put down the hobbled Devils. Bridgman walked and Tintori doubled. Ryan Bressner singled a run in, then Corey Scott launched the third A & M homer for three runs and a 12-1 lead, still with no outs in the sixth. Ryne Floyd came in to pitch got two outs and gave up a single to Medler and a walk, before getting a strikeout to end the at bat.
Down 12-1 and facing extinction, the Devils almost went without a whisper. But, with two outs, Junior Trevor Warner blasted a last gasp and a down payment on next fall by rocketing a pitch over the fence. A follow-up pop out ended the game and the Devils season, 12-2.
Central A&M 12, Windsor 2
Central 101 064—12-12-0
Windsor 000 011—2-6-2
Windsor stats: Tucker 1-for-4; K. Floyd 2-for-2, run, 2B, BB; Trimble 0-for-3; McIlwain 1-for-2, BB; Leasher 0-for-2, BB; R. Floyd 0-for-3; Welsh 0-for-2; Kearney 0-for-1; Howard 1-for-3; Warner 1-for-3, run, HR, RBI. (L) McIlwain 4.6 IP, 5 runs, 6 hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks; K. Floyd 7 runs, 5 hits, 3 BBs, 0 Ks; R. Floyd 1 IP, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 BB, 1 K.
Central stats: Bridgman 1-for-3, 3 runs, OBEs, SB, BB; Tintori 3-for-3, 3 runs, 2B, HR, SB, BB, RBI; Bressner 3-for-4, run, 2-2Bs, 2 RBIs; Scott 1-for-4, 2 runs, HR, OBE, SB, 3 RBIs; Dance 0-for-3, run, BB; Wiseman 2-for-4, run, SB, RBI; Medler 2-for-3, run, HR, BB, 3 RBIs; Ohl 0-for-2, 2 BBs; Townsend 0-for-4. (W) Dance 6 IP, 2 runs, 6 hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks.

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