Quick start for Mars
MARS — The Mars Eagle County League baseball team opened its best-of-five semifinal series against Cranberry Township with a bang.
Three to be precise.
Dan Penberthy and Bob Spithaler hit back-to-back home runs to highlight a 9-run first inning.
Mike Sikorski then launched a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth to end the 13-1 decision via the mercy rule Friday at Marburger Field.
Mars is the six-time defending league champion. The team closed the regular season last Friday and, as the No. 2 seed, received a bye in the first round.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” Mars manager Brendan Malone said of his team’s offensive output in the first frame. “We were just hoping to score one or two runs to get things going, get back into playoff mode. But nine runs will do.”
The bottom of the first began ominously for Cranberry when an error allowed leadoff hitter Brendan Bergstrom to reach base. By the time starting pitcher Mike Patsch got out of the inning, Mars had sent 13 men to the plate. Aside from the home runs, Bergstrom, Cody Herald and Malone each had a two-run single in the frame.
The outburst was so much more than Mars starter Matt DeSalvo needed. He limited Cranberry to just one run on seven hits while striking out eight and not walking a batter.
Cranberry avoided being shut out when it tallied three straight hits in the top of the fourth. With one out, Dave Coradi doubled, moved to third on a single from Joel Shaffer and scored on Ryan Owens’ two-base hit.
Meanwhile, Patsch settled down after being knocked around in the first. He allowed just one hit in three scoreless innings from the second through the fourth. Reliever Branden Schlick then worked a scoreless fifth before surrendering Sikorski’s grand slam in the next inning.
When reminded that his pitchers worked four straight scoreless innings, Cranberry manager Bill Clinefelter remarked, “That’s one positive spin you can take from this. We’re just hoping this loss doesn’t stick with us. Our goal now is to tie the series.”
The bad news for Cranberry is that Malone believes he has not yet been able to field his best lineup so far this season.
“We should be able to (Saturday in Game 2),” Malone said. “We have a lot of guys on the team who have families. So there are times when their kids have something going on and players also miss games because of vacations. But we know that the first two weeks of August is the playoffs and we’re ready to go.”
Game 2 will be played at 5 p.m. Saturday at North Boundary Park.
The other semifinal series between Zelienople and Mars II was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Highfield Park.
Cranberry Twp. 000 100 x — 1 7 3
Mars 900 004 x — 13 11 0
W: Matt DeSalvo 6 IP (8K, 0BB). L: Mike Patsch 4 IP (3K, 2BB).
Cranberry Township (21-12): Brandon Pouch 2-1B, Dave Coradi 2B R, Joel Shaffer 1B, Ryan Owens 2B RBI, Bill Clinefelter 2B, Reed Tomlinson 2B
Mars (24-7): Brendan Bergstrom 1B R 2RBI, Cody Herald 1B R 2RBI, Brendan Malone 2-1B 2B 2R 2RBI, Dan Penberthy 1B HR 2R 2RBI, Bob Spithaler HR 2R, Mike Sikorski GSHR, Sam Sibeto R, Matt Johnson 1B R, Scott Ventura 1B R, Tim Devine R
Saturday: Mars at Cranberry Township, 5 p.m.
