MONTICELLO - Sunny skies and 60-degree weather are much more suitable for baseball than low 40s, wind and rain. For that reason, Monticello and Albany moved their doubleheader scheduled for Thursday back one day to Friday.
It turned out to be a good move.
"It was a great decision, especially with the doubleheaders we're doing this year in conference," Monticello coach Jason Pinnow said. "By getting it in (Friday) it means we don't have to play (Saturday), which then saves your pitching.
Monticello won the first game 3-1 and the second 4-3 in walk-off fashion.
"Every time we play Albany we pull some crazy stuff together," Pinnow said. "With Albany coming in, two close games aren't surprising at all."
Pitching dominated the day, with Albany's Cody Schulz and Monticello's Lukas Kolasch pounding the strike zone in the first game. Kolasch struck out eight batters in seven innings, allowed six walks and two hits. Schulz, a southpaw, also went seven innings, struck out five, walked one and allowed five hits.
"For Lukas, that was the best he's thrown this year. He was around the plate a lot. It's good to see," Pinnow said. "Our pitching is good enough to keep us in games, and when our hitting is there, we're in pretty good shape."
The Ponies scored the game's first run in the bottom of the third. After an Aaron Hefty single, Monticello's Tyler Ritschard ripped an RBI double.
Albany tied it at 1 in the fourth when Patrick Deegan drove in Josh Peters. The Comets had both of their hits in the frame.
Monticello took the lead for good in the bottom of fifth. Kolasch walked and moved to second on an bad pick-off attempt, then scored on a booming double to deep left by Austin Steffen. Hefty then singled in Steffen moments later on a Texas League single to right field.
The second game finished with much more excitement.
"It was exciting. It was good for us," Pinnow said. "I had told the guys that this would be a classic let-down game - we were feeling good about ourselves. It's not that I was expecting a letdown, but it was in the back of my mind. But we put the ball in play and good things happened."
Albany scored right away in the first inning. Ty Mauerman singled and moved around the bases on passed balls.
Monticello then tied it up in the first in nearly the same fashion. Chris Voegeli walked and moved to third on passed balls. A Corey McGowan single tied it up.
McGowan not only stepped up throughout the game at the plate - he was stellar on the mound. In seven innings, McGowan allowed six hits and four walks while striking out eight. His counterpart, Boomer Detra, allowed just four hits, three walks and two hit batters while striking out nine.
"I've got to give Boomer credit, he pitched pretty well. It wasn't his best game, but he had a lot of their batters guessing," Albany coach Brian Dahl said. "He pitched well enough to win."
The Comets scored two runs in the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead, but the Ponies kept inching back. Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Ritschard stepped to the plate and found a pitch he could hit.
"It was just the luck of the pitch," Ritschard said. "Boomer was pitching well all day and I was just fortunate enough to catch a fastball and put it where they weren't."
Ritschard roped a deep drive to left for a leadoff opposite field double. Voegeli was then asked to sacrifice bunt to move the run to third. Detra picked up the bunt, looked to third and then double-clutched a throw to first, which broke free from first baseman Jared Anderson, allowing Ritschard to score easily.
"Errors killed us again," Dahl said. "Mental errors, physical errors - that's the story of our season. We have some experienced guys, but they're still not thinking out there."
Albany hosts Argyle on Monday while Monticello welcomes Pecatonica to town.
It turned out to be a good move.
"It was a great decision, especially with the doubleheaders we're doing this year in conference," Monticello coach Jason Pinnow said. "By getting it in (Friday) it means we don't have to play (Saturday), which then saves your pitching.
Monticello won the first game 3-1 and the second 4-3 in walk-off fashion.
"Every time we play Albany we pull some crazy stuff together," Pinnow said. "With Albany coming in, two close games aren't surprising at all."
Pitching dominated the day, with Albany's Cody Schulz and Monticello's Lukas Kolasch pounding the strike zone in the first game. Kolasch struck out eight batters in seven innings, allowed six walks and two hits. Schulz, a southpaw, also went seven innings, struck out five, walked one and allowed five hits.
"For Lukas, that was the best he's thrown this year. He was around the plate a lot. It's good to see," Pinnow said. "Our pitching is good enough to keep us in games, and when our hitting is there, we're in pretty good shape."
The Ponies scored the game's first run in the bottom of the third. After an Aaron Hefty single, Monticello's Tyler Ritschard ripped an RBI double.
Albany tied it at 1 in the fourth when Patrick Deegan drove in Josh Peters. The Comets had both of their hits in the frame.
Monticello took the lead for good in the bottom of fifth. Kolasch walked and moved to second on an bad pick-off attempt, then scored on a booming double to deep left by Austin Steffen. Hefty then singled in Steffen moments later on a Texas League single to right field.
The second game finished with much more excitement.
"It was exciting. It was good for us," Pinnow said. "I had told the guys that this would be a classic let-down game - we were feeling good about ourselves. It's not that I was expecting a letdown, but it was in the back of my mind. But we put the ball in play and good things happened."
Albany scored right away in the first inning. Ty Mauerman singled and moved around the bases on passed balls.
Monticello then tied it up in the first in nearly the same fashion. Chris Voegeli walked and moved to third on passed balls. A Corey McGowan single tied it up.
McGowan not only stepped up throughout the game at the plate - he was stellar on the mound. In seven innings, McGowan allowed six hits and four walks while striking out eight. His counterpart, Boomer Detra, allowed just four hits, three walks and two hit batters while striking out nine.
"I've got to give Boomer credit, he pitched pretty well. It wasn't his best game, but he had a lot of their batters guessing," Albany coach Brian Dahl said. "He pitched well enough to win."
The Comets scored two runs in the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead, but the Ponies kept inching back. Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Ritschard stepped to the plate and found a pitch he could hit.
"It was just the luck of the pitch," Ritschard said. "Boomer was pitching well all day and I was just fortunate enough to catch a fastball and put it where they weren't."
Ritschard roped a deep drive to left for a leadoff opposite field double. Voegeli was then asked to sacrifice bunt to move the run to third. Detra picked up the bunt, looked to third and then double-clutched a throw to first, which broke free from first baseman Jared Anderson, allowing Ritschard to score easily.
"Errors killed us again," Dahl said. "Mental errors, physical errors - that's the story of our season. We have some experienced guys, but they're still not thinking out there."
Albany hosts Argyle on Monday while Monticello welcomes Pecatonica to town.
