Published: July 17, 2008 11:33 pm            

Westmont claims first game of championship series

SIDMAN — Westmont manager Dave Price was delighted his team didn’t have a day off after defeating Claysburg in the Cambria County American Legion semifinals on Wednesday night.

Third-seeded Westmont rode the momentum of that historic road victory, downing top-seeded St. Michael 16-9 in Game 1 of the best-of-3 championship series on Thursday.

“I was a little concerned about the mental part of it, because we had such a high (Wednesday) and didn’t get back until late,” Price said. “I actually wished we weren’t going to play (Thursday). But now I’m glad we played. The kids were focused. I was a little concerned about that.”

Westmont will host Game 2 today at 5:30 p.m.

St. Michael starter Kody Reighard got roughed up for six runs in the top of the first, as Westmont sent 12 batters to the plate. And before the Saints (23-6) could counter, Westmont (21-9) added three more runs in the third.

“That 9-0 hole put us back and we just could never find our way out of that,” St. Michael manager Denny Gramling said. “They hit the ball well early. They hit the ball very well early.”

Price realized nine runs might not be enough to get past the Saints.

“You can’t have too many runs for this team,” he said. “St. Michael’s didn’t finish as the No. 1 seed for nothing. They hit the ball and score a lot of runs. They probably average 10 to 15 runs a game. So, you never have enough, even after that first inning.”

St. Michael cut the lead to 9-5 after four, but Westmont answered with two runs in the fifth on two hits and a pair of St. Michael errors, stealing the momentum. Westmont outscored St. Michael 5-4 over the last four innings.

The Saints had an uncharacteristic seven errors.

“A real good hitting team like that, you can’t give them those extra at-bats,” Gramling said. “When you get the outs, you’ve got to make those outs because they’re going to get their hits, we know that. We’ve got to limit our miscues.”

Three Westmont pitchers held St. Michael to nine hits in the nine-inning game.

Max Smeal kept the Saints off balance with a knuckler for the first four innings before giving way to T.J. Keklak, who threw three strong innings of middle relief.

Right-hander Andy Godish closed the win, pitching the last two innings.

“That was another concern for us because our starters were burned out,” Price said. “We had to get them another day or two of rest.”

Casey Theys (3-for-3) supplied most of the Saints’ run production, hitting a two-run homer to right field in the fourth inning and doubling in a pair in the sixth. Reighard went 2-for-3, Matt Skoner had two RBIs and scored three times, and Colin Gdula had two base hits.

Westmont left fielder Brennan Becker had a big offensive night. Becker was 3-for-4, scored four runs, had three RBIs and stole four bases.

“Our offense is hot,” Becker said. “We didn’t let up throughout the whole game.”

Keklak was on base four times while going 3-for-4, Zak Boyd had two hits and a pair of RBIs, and Dave McKolosky collected three hits, including a run-scoring double to shallow left in the first. Matt Ziance recorded two hits and catcher Sean McDonald had a sacrifice fly.

Price conveyed he’s got nothing special planned for Game 2.

“We have to be on our bellies and ready to go,” he said. “They’re going to be fired up. They’re not going to give up. We’ve got to be ready.”

Gramling expects his team to show its fortitude.

“I expect us to bounce back,” he said. “But it will be a good test for us to see what happens. We got beat fairly good.”

        

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