Selinsgrove rallies

By Matt Corbett
The Daily Item

May 06, 2008 08:29 am

— SELINSGROVE -- There were two recurring themes in play during Monday's game between Selinsgrove and Central Columbia: the Seals' propensity to fall behind early, and the Blue Jays' tendency to give up the big inning.
Both themes held true, to the benefit of Selinsgrove. The Seals faced an early four-run deficit, then stormed back with a nine-run fourth inning en route to a 13-5 Susquehanna Valley League victory.
"We've just been late-comers here lately," Selinsgrove coach Brent Beiler said, referring to last week's 9-8 loss to Danville, in which the Seals trailed 8-1 before rallying to tie it late before losing. "It was nice to see the guys come back earlier this time."
It turned out to be a huge win for the Seals, who came into Monday trailing SVL leader Jersey Shore by a game. But coupled with Mifflinburg's 3-2 upset of Jersey Shore on Monday, the Seals (13-2 overall and SVL) and Bulldogs are now tied heading into Wednesday's showdown at Jersey Shore for the league lead.
Selinsgrove trailed 4-0 after the top of the third, then roared back with two runs in the bottom and nine more in the fourth to take control and make a winner of Nick Gaugler, who earned the win despite struggling with his control. Gaugler gave up five hits and five walks in four innings of work, but did his part at the plate as the Seals rallied. He reached base in all four at-bats, doubling and walking twice before blasting a two-run home run in the fifth. He drove in three runs and scored three runs as the Seals found their stroke against Central starter Adam Diltz after being shut down initially. Two runs in the third and the nine-run outburst turned a 4-0 deficit into an 11-5 lead as Selinsgrove pulled away.
But Beiler admitted there were some anxious moments during the first three innings.
"I felt a little pressure. I wouldn't say we hit the panic button, but there was some slight urgency there," Beiler said. "It was good to see (our response)."
Central (4-12, 4-12) took a 3-0 lead in the second on RBI singles by Noah Martz and Chris O'Neill and a run-scoring error. The Blue Jays made it 4-0 in the third on Andrew Yacina's second consecutive double.
The Seals' comeback began in the bottom of the third on Paul Eyster's one-out single and steal, Gaugler's double and an RBI single by Brad Billings. The floodgates opened in the fourth when the Seals sent 12 batters to the plate and took advantage of three walks. Ryan Keiser had an RBI triple and Derek Moyer a sacrifice fly before two-run singles by Ryan Boyer and Kevin Robinson, followed by Seth Lauver's RBI hit. Keiser capped the rally with his second hit of the inning, a two-run single.
"That's been a recurring theme for us. We give up the big inning, and it's hard to bounce back from that," said Central coach Brett Sarnoski, whose club lost to the Seals 4-3 in their first meeting. "We felt coming in that if we put together a whole game, we could play with them. We've been hitting the ball decently. It's just a matter of avoiding that one monstrous inning."
Gaugler blasted his two-run homer to deep center an inning later to pad the lead. Jordan Tressler threw the final three innings to close out the win.
Keiser finished with two hits and three RBIs. Robinson and Lauver added two hits apiece as Selinsgrove banged out 12 hits on the day.
"This has happened before, where we finish strong (after falling behind), Beiler said. "It just seems that it takes us time to get through the lineup once or twice before we start hitting."

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.