Bruisers rally for walk-off victory
Jun. 15—ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP — Looking at the scoreboard in right field Tuesday night, the Cowle Post 151 Bruisers baseball team had to feel elated as much as they were frustrated.
Elated to have seven runs on the board in the seventh inning, frustrated they would need to score another one to pull out a win.
Zack Vencill drew a lead-off walk and moved around on the two well-executed bunts, and with the help of a fielding error, scored the winning run in the Bruisers 8-7 walk-off win over Millcreek, Pa., in American Legion baseball action at Edgewood High School.
Coach Steve Kray said the game was certainly not the script his team has followed this summer.
"We've had a little bit of trouble scoring some runs of late," Kray said. "Our pitching has been outstanding, but today we had a little trouble finding the strike zone. Those guys in the last inning though, the plan was to get the lead-off guy on, bunt him over, bunt him over and hopefully hit a sacrifice fly."
The Bruisers actually executed the plan better than it was drawn up.
After the walk to Vencill, Ben Welty dropped a perfectly placed bunt past the mound along the first-base side and legged it out for a single.
Cohen Popoloske followed with another bunt, this one to the third-base side of the mound. The Millcreek pitcher went for the out at third, but the throw went off the third baseman's glove, allowing Vencill to trot home with the winning run.
"We don't work on bunting a whole lot," Kray said. "But they know that we like to sac bunt when there's an opportunity, because if you get guys in scoring position, swinging the bat gets you a run, and we did some good situational stuff tonight."
It looked as if the Bruisers would cruise early. Bryce Spurlin picked up Welty with an RBI single in the first. Millcreek tied it in the second, but Logan Kray hit the gap in left-center in the fourth inning for a bases-loaded double making it 5-1 in favor of the home team.
Pitcher JR Hutchison was strong for three innings, but ran into trouble in the third.
Kray summoned Welty to the center of the diamond with the bases loaded and just one out
Welty gave up an RBI single, but got help from his catcher Tony Hall, who picked off a runner at first for the second out of the inning. Welty responded by getting a strikeout to get his team back in the dugout
"That was the biggest play of the game," Kray said of the pick-off play. "That could have been a disaster of an inning."
The Bruisers did have a bit of a disaster in the sixth inning though as Millcreek had three hits and took advantage of three walks to score four runs and tie the game at 5.
The Bruisers reclaimed the lead with two in the sixth, only to have Millcreek get to Ashtabula County Player of the year, Logan Kray for two runs on four hits in the seventh to tie the game again.
Logan Kray struck out the final hitter in the seventh though, leaving the bases loaded and setting his team up for a chance to get the walk-off.
The Bruisers will be back in action the next four days starting with a trip to Lyndhurst tonight.
"We're excited," Kray said of the games ahead. "This is a good group of kids and they're fun to be around."
