All-Star Slugfest
Mike McCarty earned a save on the mound Monday night — in more ways than one.
The Saxonburg player was called upon to close out the Butler County Area Baseball League All-Star Game at Kelly Automotive Park. His team had a 16-14 lead. The opposition had runners at first and second, one out when McCarty took the hill.
McCarty was greeted by a run-scoring single to left by East Butler's Garet Banner. The hit put the tying run at second, the go-ahead run at first.
“You didn't know what was gonna happen next in this game,” Saxonburg manager Pete McMillen said.
Cranberry's Luke Engel stepped to the plate and drilled a liner up the middle. McCarty barely had time to lift his glove in front of his face.
The ball caromed off the glove, deflecting a couple of feet above McCarty's head. He snared it and fired to first to double off Banner and end the game.
The team of Saxonburg, Meridian, Karns City and Kiski nipped the squad from Cranberry Township, Center Township, East Butler and West Sunbury, 16-15.
Freeport did not send any all-star representatives as its roster was depleted by injuries late in the season. Freeport also withdrew from the BCABL Tournament, which begins Thursday.
“That was the art of self-preservation right there,” McCarty said of the game-ending line drive. “That's all that was. The kid (Engel) put a good swing on the ball.
“The way this game went, that was a fitting ending.”
McCarty maintained his composure in firing a strike to first base for the final out.
“I have no idea,” he said of his quick thinking. “Natural reaction, I guess. I've played a lot of baseball in my life.”
The teams combined to commit 10 errors and walk 21 batters.
“I was a little disappointed with the quality of the game,” Cranberry manager and BCABL president Larry Stelitano admitted. “But the kids looked tired out there. A lot of games had to be crammed into this past weekend to finish out the regular season.
“A lot of guys pitched tonight who don't normally pitch. We were hoping to play this game Tuesday night to give the kids another day of rest, but this was the night we could get the field.”
Saxonburg-Meridian-KC-Kiski scored seven runs in the fourth inning to assume a 7-1 lead. Karns City's Nolan Riley had a three-run triple to left-center in the frame. McGwire Covert of Meridian followed Riley with a RBI triple of his own.That lead ballooned to 9-2 before Cranberry-CT-East Butler-West Sunbury tied the game with a seven-run sixth. East Butler's Trevor Gilliland had a RBI single in that inning.The game went back-and-forth from there. Riley had a run-scoring double and Covert a two-run single to give their team a 13-9 lead in the bottom of the sixth. A five-run eighth inning — Gilliland delivering another key RBI single — gave Cranberry-CT-East Butler-West Sunbury a 14-13 edge.Saxonburg's Sean McGill beat out an infield hit to plate a run during a three-run eighth as his team recaptured the lead again, setting up McCarty's heroics.“It was a fun night for the kids, a chance for them to get to know each other,” McMillen said. “We let our kids write on a board what positions they wanted to play. They're all athletes.”Stelitano said the game gave the kids an opportunity “to share some camaraderie with each other before the playoffs begin and everyone starts hating each other.”He smiled as he spoke.“This was a good night for our league,” Stelitano added.Lake Pry of West Sunbury, Isaiah Lucas of East Butler and Brandon Kowalski of Saxonburg were awarded $1,000 scholarships by the league prior to the game for submitting winning essays about community baseball.
