Rochester Blues rip 19 hits against Austin/Hayfield
By Guy N. Limbeck
glimbeck@postbulletin.com
Joe Serratore threw a 19-hitter on Friday night and just about won.
The 42-year-old right-hander was pressed into duty at Marcusen Park in Austin when Chris Pack came up with a bad shoulder. Serratore allowed 18 singles, one triple and no walks. But it was a trio of errors helped lead to his demise as the Austin-Hayfield Athletics suffered a 7-6 loss to the Rochester Blues.
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With the Twin Rivers League amateur baseball win, the Blues (13-4) pulled within a game of the Athletics (10-3) in league play.
Because of the three errors, five of the seven runs Serratore allowed were unearned.
"My buddies let me down," Serratore said.
"We gave it to them tonight," Athletics outfielder Troy Tigner said.
The Blues overcame a 2-0 deficit with five runs in the sixth inning. Serratore allowed six hits in the inning, but appeared to be on the verge of escaping with the Athletics still leading 2-1. With runners on second and third and two outs, Serratore got Bob Klein to ground to second. But the ball skipped through Joe Ciola's legs and two runs scored.
"It took that big hop up and the next hop stayed flat as a pancake," Ciola said.
The Athletics added two more runs in the inning to take a 5-2 lead.
"That error at second, if that didn't happen, things would have been different," Blues manager Nate Matti said.
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The Athletics rallied to tie the game at 6-6 with two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. Luke Fischer had a two-run single in the sixth. Tigner, who had an RBI single in the first, hit a run-scoring grounder in the seventh and Al Dahlen drove in the tying run with a two-out single.
The tie was short-lived, however, as the Blues won the game with an unearned run in the top of the eighth. Jim Strain singled and stole second to start the inning. Then with two outs, Josh Matti singled up the middle. Fischer, the shortstop, made a diving stop of the ball. But he got up and then threw it away and Strain scored on the play.
"He made a nice play, but should have just held it," Serratore said.
Strain worked the final two innings of relief for the save. He retired the Athletics in order in the ninth, an inning Serratore was not too pleased with.
"We didn't give ourselves a chance in the ninth to win," Serratore said as Strain needed about five pitches to get out of the inning.
Serratore, a player/manager, was critical of himself as he opened the ninth with a pop out on the second pitch he saw.
"I get up there and take a (swing at a) pitch because I think I'm Harmon Killebrew," Serratore said. "And I haven't hit in a month."
The Athletics (14-14 overall) finished with seven hits by seven different players. Ciola had the only extra-base hit with an RBI double in the fifth.
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The Athletics will play Shakopee in the Jordan Tournament today at 6 p.m. They will conclude play in the tourney on Sunday.
ROCHETER BLUES (7) ATHLETICS; (6)
ab r h bi ab r h bi
; Strain p 6 2 3 1 Johnson; cf 3 0 1 0
; Lawler ss 5 0 3 0 Ciola; 2b 3 2 1 1
; Rink 1b 5 0 1 1 Serratore; p 4 0 1 0
; J.Matti c 5 1 2 0 Walerak; cr 0 1 0 0
; Smarzyk 2b 5 0 2 0 Kunze; c 4 0 1 0
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; Sikkink p 0 0 0 0 Bowe; cr 0 0 0 0
; Huey cf 5 2 2 0 Tigner; rf 5 0 1 2
; Baudoin rf 5 1 4 0 Dahlen; 3b 2 1 1 1
; Ellerbusch lf 4 0 1 1 Schmeling; lf 3 1 0 0
; Klein 3b 5 1 1 0 Juncker; 1b 4 0 0 0
; Fischer; ss 3 1 1 2
; Totals 45 7 19 3 Totals 31 6 7 6
; Blues 000 005 110 -- 7 19 3
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; Athletics 100 012 200 -- 6 7 3
; E -- J.Matti 2, Lawler, Ciola, Tigner, Fischer. DP -- None. LOB -- Rochester 12, Austin-Hayfield 8. 2B -- Ciola. 3B -- J.Matti. SB -- Strain, Klein, Johnson.
IP H R ER BB SO
; Rochester
Sikkink, W6-2 7 6 6 6 5 7
; Strain, Sv 4 2 1 0 0 0 1
; Austin-Hayfield
Serratore, L 9 19 7 2 0 3;
