Charleroi Post 22 rolls to first legion win
By DEAN DELLAMALVA JR
MVI Sports
The Charleroi Legion Post 22 baseball team brought out the bats, defense and pitching in its home opener against Waynesburg Wednesday.
Charleroi pounded out 12 hits – three by shortstop Chad Behrendt – and pitcher Ben Shields struck out eight in an 11-1 victory over Waynesburg Post 330 at Vets Field in Charleroi.
It was a stark contrast from the night before when Charleroi’s game against Elizabeth Forward was suspended and the bats were not as good.
“In our first game, we saw some pretty good pitching and I think we only had three hits,” Charleroi coach Luke Mollis said. “This game, we came out swinging a little more aggressively. I liked the team’s response after the first game.”
After allowing a run in the first inning, Shields was dialed in. He allowed just one hit the rest of the game and didn’t walk a batter. At one point, he retired eight consecutive Waynesburg hitters.
“Shields pitched well. He’s usually around the plate. He did pretty well for me on the high school team,” Mollis said. “We’re pretty deep in our pitching, that’s one plus that I think we have.”
Waynesburg’s lead was short lived as Charleroi tied things up in the bottom of the first inning. Zach Usher reached on an error, stole second and went to third on a fielder’s choice with one out. Remington Lessman drove him home with a line drive single to center.
Post 22 took the lead for good in the second as eight batters came to the plate. Joe Verscharen led off with a single, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Behrendt drove him home on a single of his own,m making it 2-1.
Next, Lorenzo Glasser singled to left and Zane Mahoney was hit by a pitch to load the bases. All the runners advanced on a wild pitch and then a passed ball.
It was 4-1 when Usher walked and subsequently stole second base without a throw. Andrew Mackey stepped to the plate next and doubled to right-center field, scoring Mahoney and Usher for a 6-1 lead. There could have been more damage dealt if Shields did not pop out and Lessman lined out resulting in a double play to end the inning.
Then, with two outs in the third inning, Behrendt reached on an infield hit. He stole second and scored on another Glasser single to right.
After being held scoreless in the fourth, Charleroi put things away in the fifth. Behrendt’s third single started the inning with Glasser and Usher reaching on errors. Colton Palonder singled, which plated Behrendt. Shields followed up with a single down the left field line, scoring two, and Hunter Mamie’s double scored Charleroi’s 11th run, which activated the mercy rule.
Behrendt and Glasser combined for five hits in the game from the number seven and eight spot in the batting order. It is a good problem to have for Mollis, deciding where to put everyone.
“This game helped us hitting wise. It doesn’t matter who you are facing, if you get a couple hits and hit the ball hard a couple at bats, it helps,” Mollis said. “It’s hard to make a lineup. I don’t know the kids well enough, especially with all our Ringgold kids. There’s a lot of kids who are interchangable. We can have a different lineup each day.”
Post 22 resumes with an exhibition contest on Saturday against the Mon Valley Vipers, a local travel team.
