Closing Time
CRANBERRY TWP — Mars was on the verge of seeing its 4-run lead slip away and having to play a fifth and deciding game in its Eagle County League baseball semifinal series against the Captains.
The team needed someone to shut the door on the Captains’ rally.
Enter Jim Pasquine.
The closer entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning with the bases loaded and no outs after the hosts had already pushed across two runs to cut Mars’ edge to 4-2.
Pasquine struck out Brandon Cooper before Chris Davis’ sacrifice fly plated courtesy runner Brett Smithco for a third run.
Conor Carney walked to again load the bases, but Pasquine then induced Seth Schrader to fly out to end the game and send Mars to next week’s championship series with a 4-3 victory Thursday at North Boundary Park.
“I did my best to not let nerves get to me,” said Pasquine. “I’m 34 and have been doing this for a long time, so I have a lot of experience.
“Coming into the game (with the bases loaded), I didn’t want to get behind any hitter, so I was going with my best stuff right off the bat.”
Prior to the seventh inning, Mars starter Dave Lemley had held the Captains without a run on just three hits.
“We felt pretty confident with a 4-run lead and Dave was amazing in those first six innings,” said Mars player/manager Brendan Malone. “But the last three outs are often the toughest to get.”
The Captains (15-11) made sure of that, beginning with a leadoff double from James Diamond. Zach Streightif reached on an error before Justin Dattoli singled in his team’s first run of the game.
Anthony Cinicola singled off Lemley to load the bases and Marco Gambino walked to force in another run. That’s when Pasquine entered the game.
“We played ‘em tough in all four games,” said Captains’ manager Frank Cinicola. “If a few more swings of the bat go our way, it’s a different series, but that’s baseball.”
Mars (22-6) tallied single runs in the first, second, fourth and sixth innings.
Zach Murray singled twice and drove in two runs for Mars and teammate Greg Stokes singled three times.
“We had a chance to score more in several innings and didn’t,” Malone said. “That almost came back to hurt us in the end.”
Mars, four-time defending league champion, will meet Cranberry Township in the final series for the fourth straight year. Game 1 is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at Callery Field.
“We know each other pretty well,” said Malone. “It’s a friendly rivalry and I know we’re excited to be playing each other.”
Mars 110 101 0 — 4 11 2
Captains 000 000 3 — 3 6 2
W: Dave Lemley 6+ IP (8K, 2BB). L: Justin Dattoli 5+ IP (1K, 3BB). S: Jim Pasquine 1 IP (1K, 1BB).
Mars: Zach Murray 2-1B 2RBI, Jim Pasquine 1B 3B R, Dave Lemley 2-1B, Greg Stokes 3-1B R
Captains: James Diamond 1B 2B R, Marco Gambino 2B RBI, Justin Dattoli 1B RBI
Monday: Mars vs. Cranberry Township, best-of-5 championships series, Callery Field, 6 p.m.
