St. Marys – St. Marys Insurance and Elk County Tool & Die both picked up wins on what ESPN would have called ‘Big Monday’ in action Monday night at the Robin Road Sports Complex in St. Marys Mens League Softball.
On a night when the games featured all four of the league’s top teams, spectators weren’t disappointed with the action, but maybe they were with the cool, damp weather.
In the opener, St. Marys Insurance rallied from a 12-1 deficit to knock off Keystone Rural Health 24-22. In the nightcap, Elk County Tool & Die held off a late rally from the Allegheny Coatings Goats to pick up the W by the score of 15-10.
KRH (8-5) jumped out to a 12-1 lead in the first inning, sending 17 batters to the plate. Travis Menteer’s three run homerun was the only extra base hit of the inning, as KRH hit 11 singles in the inning.
Overall for KRH, Brett Herzing finished 5 for 5 with a double and 3 RBI’s. Bucky Benson added a 4 for 5 evening that included 5 RBI. Mick Vogt pitched in with a double and RBI.
SMI (10-2) stormed back in the fifth inning, when they also sent 17 hitter to bat, also racking up 12 runs to take the lead for good 19-17. 3-run homeruns from TJ Breindel, Kenny Vogt and Jeremy Williams were the big blows in the inning for SMI.
Lucas Wendel led SMI, going 5 for 5 with 3 RBI’s. Vogt finished 4 for 5, adding a triple and 6 RBI. Williams was 3 for 3 and knocked in 5 runs. Jake Cortina smacked a pair of doubles and Breindel ended the game with 4 RBI.
ECTD did all their damage in just two innings, scoring six in the second inning and seven in the fifth inning to secure their win over the Goats.
Rudy Gleixner, Brandon Sicheri and Kyler Lenox all hit homeruns to lead ECTD (8-3). Danny Singer, Lenox and Garrett Hornung all went 3 for 4 and each had a pair of RBI’s.
The Goats (9-4) tried to rally in seventh, but it was too little, too late, scoring as many runs in the last frame as they had all game, five. Kevin Hoy hit a three-run homer and Andy Eck added a solo shot in the stanza.
Eck had the hot bat of the night, finishing the game 4 for 4 with three homeruns and 5 RBI. Hoy and Meyer both hit dingers to give the Goats their allotted five for the game. Ricky Pearsall was 3 for 4 and Meyer and Rich Quiggle both added a 2 for 3 night at the plate.
Tuesday night saw SMI defeat Elk County Tool & Die 16-11 to take a two game lead in the standings over ECTD and Allegheny Coatings.
Lucas Wendel was 5 for 5 with a homerun and 4 RBI to lead SMI. Kenny Vogt was 4 for 5 with a homer and 5 RBI. TJ Breindel added a double for the winners.
Leading ECTD were Rudy Gleixner and Kyler Lenox, both going 3 for 4, with both players hitting a homerun. Brandon Sicheri added a triple.
In Tuesday’s other game, Keystone Rural Health outlasted Dino’s Place 20-13.
Joe Jacob and R. McClelland both were 4 for 5. Eric Herzing doubled, tripled, and knocked in 5 runs. Travis Menteer added a double and Brett Herzing had 3 RBI’s.
For Dino’s Place, Connor Bressler was 3 for 4 with a homerun and 3 RBI. Jacob Kline, Tyler Daniels, and Josh Robinson were all perfect at the plate, finishing 4 for 4.