AUSTINTOWN OH- With spring break rapidly approaching, that means a variety of baseball and softball teams are gearing up for trips to South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida over the break! These trips are designed to give teams a unique look at different competition, build everlasting bonds amongst teammates and, most importantly, to have fun while doing so! For the Austintown-Fitch Falcons baseball club, they had one more scheduled contest before hitting the road for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Their opponent? Ashtabula County’s own, Lakeside Dragons! Meaning the battle between all YSN opponents would be going to the sky for Falcons vs. Dragons.
Starting on the mound for Fitch was Frankie Pugliese, while opposing him for The Dragons was Anthony Wooten. Pugliese pitched around a two out double by Alex Disalvatore, by striking out a pair in the first, sending it to The Falcons half of the inning. Frankie Senediak would get aboard to lead things off, before Rocco DiFlorio delivered a clutch, two out, RBI-double to give Fitch the initial 1-0 lead! Pugliese would be pulled after three innings of work where he surrendered no runs and struck out five! Fitch Head Coach Joe Paris said “The goal is to get everyone a little bit of work before going on our trip.” Meaning multiple pitchers and position players would be utilized in the contest.
For The Dragons, Wooten was a magician on the mound, getting himself out of multiple jams, including a bases loaded, one out pinch in the fourth! Keeping The Fitch lead to a slim 1-0 advantage, Wooten pitched strong enough to give his team a good chance to win! However, The Falcons finally broke through in the fifth, when they scored a combined nine runs of offense off both Wooten and relief pitcher Dillion Schidel, with the help of some infield errors by The Dragons defense.
Nik Kyprianou and John Darnley pitched the remaining inning for The Falcons, with Darnley going two innings of relief and Kyprianou going one. Fitch would get the last run needed in the sixth, effectively enforcing the mercy rule and winning the ballgame 10-0 over Lakeside in six innings. The Dragons will be in-action next on Friday, April 7th where they will travel to Madison in a matchup with The Blue Streaks. Following the win, Fitch will now travel to Myrtle Beach for a trio of games, starting on Tuesday, April 11th at Saint James High School in South Carolina!
Interviews with Austintown-Fitch Head Coach Joe Paris and Player of The Game Frankie Senediak can be found below!
