Game slips away from Pine Forge in 9-4 loss
EPHRATA, WASH. » It took just slightly more than 24 hours for elation to turn from disappointment for the Pine Forge Indians.
One day after getting the first Senior Babe Ruth World Series victory in program history, the Indians suffered their first loss in pool play on Sunday afternoon. Pine Forge dropped a 9-4 decision to Lakeside Recovery of Seattle, Wash., to slip to 1-1 at JohnsonO’Brien Stadium.
The Indians, who are looking to reach bracket play in the tournament on Thursday, will try to bounce back Monday morning with an 2 p.m. contest against the Grays Harbor (Wash.) Longshore, the Pacific Northwest regional champs. After getting a break on Tuesday, Pine Forge will finish pool play Wednesday at 8 a.m. against the Southwest champs and seven-time World Series winners, the Alabama Rawdogs.
After playing the Seattle club to a 3-3 tie after 2-½ innings, the game slipped away when Lakeside scored twice in the bottom of the third frame, then fell completely apart as Lakeside scored four times in the sixth inning.
“Kind of brutal, that describes it,” said Pine Forge manager Andy Duffy. “We didn’t execute well, and yeah, we’re disappointed.
“We had our opportunities to get back into the game, but you’re not going to win when you commit a couple of errors and walk six guys,” he added. “We’re just hoping we can get to the bracket and see what happens from there.”
Lakeside was ahead until the top of the third inning when Pine Forge was able to take advantage of three walks to tie the game. Aaron Kratz, Daniel Monzo and John DeMartino all got free passes – Kratz scored on a sacrifice fly by Seth Endy, while Monzo and DeMartino dashed home on a Lakeside error.
The Seattle team put two runs up in the bottom of the third to push out to a 5-3 edge, but the Indians cut the margin to 5-4 in the sixth frame. Ryan Jacobs opened the inning with a walk, moved to third base on two groundouts and scored on a single by Nick Chroscinksi.
But Lakeside was able to seal the win in bottom of the sixth inning, stringing together four hits with three walks to put four runs on the scoreboard.
Duffy is planning to put Jordan Shustack on the mound to face Grays Harbor Monday. Shustack was the hero of the Indians’ regional title victory, driving in the winning run to beat Mt. Olive, N.J.
“Jordan is going to be a fresh arm for us,” Duffy said, “and he gives us a chance to win.”
NOTE » All the games in the Babe Ruth World Series are being streamed live at www.ephrataworldseries2016.com.