Derry edges Mt. Pleasant
One inning and clutch pitching by Greg Lasinski was all Derry needed Thursday to defeat Mt. Pleasant Area 3-1 in an important Section 5-AA contest at Mt. Pleasant.
Derry scored all of its runs during the first inning and then let Lasinski take care of the rest.
'Sometimes, all you need is one big inning,' Derry coach Bob Slezak said. 'Greg pitched a great game, and we played phenomenal defense behind him.'
Joe McBroom supplied the offense for the Trojans, who improved to 3-1 in the section and 4-3-1 overall. He clubbed a two-run, two-out triple on an 0-2 pitch to give Derry a 2-0 lead in the opening inning. McBroom later scored when he and Zack Lukon pulled off a double steal.
'Joe came through with the big hit,' Slezak said. 'Good thing - we didn't do anything else the entire game.'
Mt. Pleasant pitcher Brett Eutsey, a left-hander, blanked Derry the rest of the way. But unfortunately, for Eutsey and his Vikings teammates, Lasinski was a little tougher.
The Trojans right-hander didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning and worked out of jams in the fifth and sixth innings.
'I'm glad we got that one big inning,' Lasinski said. 'We've been getting good pitching and great fielding all season.'
Mt. Pleasant scored its only run in the fifth inning on a run-scoring single by Mike Hill.
The Vikings loaded the bases with one out in the sixth inning, but Lasinski got out of trouble when he got Ed Tylka to pop out to first baseman Lee Friedline and got Dave Bellush to ground out.
'We didn't hit the ball when we needed to,' Mt. Pleasant coach Dennis Miscik said. 'We scored only one run in two games against Derry. That's why they won both games.
'I'm surprised we're not hitting the ball. It's not the weather. We probably take more batting practice than the Pirates. We're not getting the job done.'
Mt. Pleasant, which fell to 3-3 in the section and 3-4 overall, got two hits from Adam Miscik, the coach's son. Ben Hantz had two hits for Derry.
Miscik said Eutsey did a good job against Derry and deserved a better fate.
'Brett made a lot of good pitches,' Miscik said. 'His one mistake, a hanging change-up on an 0-2 pitch, cost him.'