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Odd Fellows hold off Comet Blue in NET quarters
By Bruce Morgan
Lititz Record Express
Published: Jul 24, 2008 2:21 PM EST
Lititz -
Justin Nolt redeemed himself nicely.
Thrown out at the plate in the
fourth inning, Nolt scored what proved to be the game-winning run on a wild
pitch in the top of the seventh to help lift the Lititz Odd Fellows to a
3-2 win over Comet Blue in a New Era Midget quarter-final round playoff
game at Clipper Magazine Stadium on Monday night.
"(Justin) was
really down after the first one, so it was nice to see him get the chance
to score there (in the seventh inning)," Lititz coach Frank Camera
said.
It was also nice, from the Lititz Odd Fellows'
perspective, to avenge a 6-0 loss to Comet Blue back on June
16.
"(Comet Blue) had said some things after the game that we
didn't really like," Nolt said, "so it was our revenge
game."
The Odd Fellows will be trying for more revenge next
Monday, July 28 when they play in the semi-finals against Solanco, an 11-10
winner over Lititz on July 1, back at the Clip.
Of course, nothing
came easy in their win vs. Comet Blue. Lititz starter Jordan Donmoyer was
battling himself for most of the night. He threw 51 pitches after three
innings and was over the 100 mark before turning the ball over to Adam
Zipko in the seventh.
Donmoyer yielded only three hits and K'd
eight en route to getting the win, but he walked three and ran three-ball
counts to seven batters. His defense also committed three errors behind
him.
"Jordan was high in the zone ... he labored out there
tonight," Camera said.
Comet Blue took advantage in the first
inning with a two-out rally. Zach Buterbaugh singled to left and circled
the bases on Andrew Hershey's RBI double to make it 1-0.
On the
hill, Buterbaugh retired the first five batters he faced, and then he
pitched out of a bases-loaded two-out jam in the third.
But the Odd
Fellows took their first lead of the night in the fourth. Kyle Keener led
off with a double to left field and went to third on an error, then Zipko
walked, and Donmoyer dropped a perfect bunt which he beat out for a base
hit, tying the game 1-all.
Overall, Donmoyer was 3-for-3 off of
Buterbaugh, who gave up seven hits.
"Donmoyer is a fantastic
bunter and he can lay it down for a base hit ... he's done it several
times this year," Camera said. "It wasn't a squeeze play. It
was basically bunt for a hit, to put it down on the first base side. And
Keener is a smart enough player on third base to get the good enough
secondary lead and come in and score on it."
After Buterbaugh
retired the next batter on strikes, Darren Erb walked and J.T. Garner
lifted a sac fly to center field to drive in Zipko, putting the Odd Fellows
in front 2-1. Moments later, Nolt tried to give Lititz a two-run cushion
when the ball briefly trickled away from Comet Blue catcher Tanner Kennedy,
but Buterbaugh was able to tag him out at the plate.
Then in the
fifth, Comet Blue came back to pull even. Kennedy led off with a single to
left and advanced to second on Cody Buterbaugh's sacrifice. Donmoyer
seemed to be out of trouble when Zipko settled under a fly to left field.
But the ball glanced off his glove and Kennedy scored the tying
run.
"Zipko is usually money out there," Camera said.
"He read it and it hit his glove. In two years, I haven't seen him
drop a ball like that. But it ended well, so (the errors) didn't come
back and hurt us."
A passed ball and a wild pitch hurt Comet
Blue, though, in the top of the seventh inning. After Donmoyer singled to
center and Andy Woolley walked, both runners moved up on a passed ball, and
Nolt eventually scored on a wild pitch to put Lititz in front
3-2.
"It's a judgment call right away, and then if (coach
Camera) wants to hold, then he'll say it, but I missed the first
time," Nolt said.
Zipko took over for Lititz in relief to
protect the one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh, and after he got the
first two batters, Zach Buterbaugh singled to left and stole second. Camera
elected to give Hershey an intentional pass, and then Zipko whiffed Josh
Longsderff to put the win in the books.
"It's been this way
all season ... grinding them out," Camera said. "The teams that
are here are the ones that we've played tough all year. We lost to
these guys 6-0 earlier in the year, so we wanted to avenge the loss and we
knew we were going to have to come and work tonight."
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