Gallant effort: Copperheads fall one win short as M&R Transit takes FCBL title
CARMICHAELS 鈥� Santino Marra蘑菇视频 grand slam in the top of the second inning provided the spark that lit the fire under the offense as M&R Transit came alive Tuesday night after back-to-back losses to clinch the league title with a 12-2 win at Carmichaels.
M&R Transit secured its third consecutive Fayette County Baseball League crown by taking the best-of-3 championship series, 3-2.
M&R Transit won the first two games of the series, but Carmichaels, the regular season champion, battled back to win the third and fourth games to force Tuesday蘑菇视频 Game 5.
鈥淭he first one probably had to be the best because a new team doesn鈥檛 do that. They鈥檙e all good,鈥� said M&R Transit manager Buddy Marra. 鈥淭he three-peat is a hard one to do鈥�
Marra knew the Copperheads would come to play after back-to-back, come-from-behind victories.
鈥淒ickie蘑菇视频 a great coach, a great baseball guy. He has a great squad,鈥� said Marra. 鈥淭hey absolutely did have the momentum coming in.
鈥淭o beat somebody three times in a row, we didn鈥檛 do it. We couldn鈥檛 do it and it would be hard for them to do it.鈥�
Buddy Marra ran through the gambit of emotions and thoughts after Carmichaels forced a fifth game.
鈥淚 felt more confident tonight than I did last night. I felt we were going to get Pratt or Cantini, somebody. I felt better tonight, not discounting any of the pitchers we saw tonight, but Pratt is a heckuva pitcher. So, that is who I thought we would get tonight,鈥� explained Marra. 鈥淲hen I got home Sunday, I was down. When I got home last night, I wasn鈥檛 as down because we had a rally and a comeback, and we ran (Pratt蘑菇视频) pitch count to 63. That made me feel a little better about tonight. If they didn鈥檛 put him in, I would鈥檝e felt really bad about coming here tonight.
鈥淚 played to win tonight and I told my guys if we were up 8-0 or 8-2, play like we鈥檙e down 2-0.
We鈥檙e going to push runners ahead because I don鈥檛 put anything past those guys after they came back Sunday.鈥�
Carmichaels was unable to carry the spirit of the back-to-back victories to a third win in a row.
鈥淲e just ran out of steam,鈥� said Carmichaels manager Dickie Krause. 鈥淲e were in an absolute no-win situation down 7-1 in the third inning down two games to none. And, they found a way. 鈥淭hen, we went over to Hopwood yesterday and they were so loose.
鈥淭oday, they figured out they were a game away from the championship.鈥�
M&R Transit bats came out firing with consecutive singles from Ryan Covelens, Santino Marra and Nate Zimcosky to load the bases with one out against starter Ryan Opfar.
Covelens scored on a ground out and Marra crossed the plate on a mishandled ground ball.
The visitors exploded for six runs in the top of the second inning with the Copperheads running through three pitchers.
Braeden O鈥橞rien started things with a one-out double down the left field line. Opfar gave way to Wyatt Walker, who opened by walking Justin Brestensky. Covelens walked to load the bases and Santino Marra followed by launching a grand slam over the left-center field fence.
Zimcosky was hit by a pitch and Andino Vecchiolla walked, and again the visitors made the most of the free runners with Chad Petrush driving in both runners with a double.
Ethan Erhard entered the game after the Petrush hit to end the big inning with consecutive ground ball outs to shortstop Jimmy Sadler.
鈥淲e got down to pitching where the first guy hasn鈥檛 thrown a lot lately and he was rusty. Our first few pitchers in the game had something that compromised their ability to be 100 percent. Whether they didn鈥檛 get enough work or they couldn鈥檛 work out the rust, or like Erhard didn鈥檛 have enough rest,鈥� explained Krause.
鈥淲e came out and hit the ball. At this point, you don鈥檛 know what you鈥檙e going to get,鈥� said Buddy Marra.
Krause felt the Copperheads鈥� home field favored the heavy-hitting M&R Transit lineup.
鈥淚 said (Monday) this field does not play well for us because they hit a lot of fly balls and we caught those balls over there (at Hutchinson Field). Home runs are home runs. We hit one that barely went over, too,鈥� said Krause. 鈥淭hey hit the ball here. I knew that coming in. If it had been flipped and the game was at Hopwood, that would鈥檝e been a better situation for us.鈥�
Carmichaels answered in the bottom of the inning when Pratt opened with a single and came around to score on AJ Vanata蘑菇视频 home run, his second in as many days.
Vanata蘑菇视频 home run would be the last hit for the home team with Brestensky and Vecchiolla pitching shutdown ball over the final four innings.
Brestensky retired the next three batters after the home run.
The left-hander ran into a bit of trouble in the third inning with two-out walks to Drake Long and Noah Mildren, but both were stranded on Forrest Havanis鈥� ground out to third base.
Vecchiolla entered the game in the bottom of the fourth inning and retired all six batters he faced with four strikeouts, including the side in the fifth inning.
鈥淲e just worked our pitching a little different. I saved Vecchiolla. I had him in my pocket and we went with Santino deeper than we wanted to last night (in Game 4) to preserve Andino. I wanted Justin to get us through three and we had Dino four, five, six and seven,鈥� said Buddy Marra, adding, 鈥淭he plan worked.鈥�
The M&R Transit was retired in order in the third inning, but came alive in the fourth inning on Kaleb Scott蘑菇视频 three-run home run with two outs.
A bit of fortune favored in M&R Transit in the top of the fifth inning to score the run needed to invoke the mercy rule.
Brestensky singled off the pitcher with one out. Mildren made a nice diving catch of Covelens鈥� ground ball, but was unable to make the throw for another infield single. Santino Marra singled to load the bases.
After a strikeout, Vecchiolla then worked a walk to bring Brestensky to the plate.
Buddy Marra said his squad is looking for a fourth straight title in the league蘑菇视频 50th season in 2025, but acknowledged the roster will look a little different.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what we鈥檙e doing with our team. I鈥檓 sure it will be different. I don鈥檛 know if all the same guys are coming back,鈥� said Marra.
Krause peered into the 2025 season based on his assessment of the 2024 season, the Copperheads鈥� 40th in the league.
鈥淭he one thing people don鈥檛 realize is that out of 10 or 12 guys that played the most for me, four of those kids just graduated high school. Then, you have another three or four that are one year out of high school,鈥� said Krause. 鈥淓ight of our top 12 guys are under 19 and you鈥檙e playing against Vecchiolla and Marra. Zimcosky has won more titles than they鈥檝e been in high school.
鈥淭hat蘑菇视频 a tough deal for us. We know we are going to get better and to catch them we have to add a couple pieces.鈥�
鈥淭his is not the result we wanted today, but we had a great year,鈥� continued Krause. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 realize we made the finals last year with a record of 12-10. We were 18-6 this year and lost to nobody else but them. So, 18-6 is a great improvement.
鈥淭hese kids are going to get better and get a year more experience playing college baseball.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to come back, go out and get a couple more pieces, and do everything we can to catch them next year.鈥�