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Andy Lytle, Philipsburg shut down Lewistown, 10-0
Friday, July 13, 2012
By Rich Murawski Assistant Sports Editor
PHILIPSBURG - The Philipsburg Pirates got a pair of wake-up calls early in the season, and have been pretty much unbeatable ever since.
Lewistown - one of only two teams to beat the Pirates this season invaded the Don Womer Baseball Complex Thursday night, needing a win to clinch the number two seed in the upcoming playoffs.
Instead, top-seeded Philipsburg avenged the early season loss with a convincing 10-0 win in a game that lasted just six innings due to the 10-run rule.
"They put one on us the first time we played," Philipsburg left fielder Scott Winters said. "I believe it was 12-6. And if they would have won this game, they would have been the two-seed.
"But since that Howard loss during the first third of the season, we've really come back and played some great ball."
Ryan Mostyn and Matt McCamley continued a recent power surge, each belting solo home runs, while combining to go 4-for-6 with five runs scored and two RBIs, while A.J. Robinson went 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs as the Pirates offense continued running on all cylinders.
"Ryan and Matt have just been killing the ball," Winters said. "They have seven home runs between them in the last two games. We've just been killing the ball, putting up lots of runs and playing good defense."
The 10 runs on 12 hits was more than enough offense for pitcher Andy Lytle, who was in complete control of Lewistown from the first pitch.
Lytle needed just 65 pitches to notch the win in a very efficient outing. He allowed just four hits, while striking out five batters.
He didn't issue a walk and only had a count of two balls on three batters.
"He had an amazing curve ball today," Winters said of Lytle. "It was breaking hard, and he was throwing lots of strikes. He didn't even come close to having a walk.
"Andy pitched unbelievable tonight. Between him and Josh (Potter), they're our aces. We're going to be pretty tough to beat with Andy and Josh pitching."
Philipsburg got out to a quick, 2-0, lead in the first inning thanks to McCamley's solo home run and a Robinson double that plated Mostyn, who reached on a double two batters earlier.
The Pirates tacked on four more in the bottom of the third.
McCamley walked to get things started and Mostyn followed with a single to right field.
John Shaffer scored McCamley with a base hit to left, and Robinson knocked him and Mostyn in with a double to the gap in left-center field.
J.D. Mason, who also had two two-baggers in the game, chased home Robinson with his own double to the gap.
Mostyn's solo shot upped Philipsburg's advantage to 7-0 in the fourth.
And the Pirates put three more on the board in the bottom of the fifth, getting run-scoring doubles from Mason and Matt Curtis and an RBI on a fielder's choice off the bat of Lytle.
Philipsburg made the most of its scoring opportunities, letting only four runners on base and never stranding more than one in any inning.
"The first half of the season, that was a problem," Winters said. "We were leaving a lot of guys on base. That Howard game and losing as bad as we did might have been the best thing for us. We realized that we could be beaten, and beat bad.
"Since then, we have not been leaving guys on base. We're moving guys, bunting if we have to."
Lytle and his very capable defense did the rest.
Lewistown's first hit - an infield single - didn't happen until the fourth inning, and the Predators never got two runners on base in any inning until the sixth when they produced back-to-back singles with two outs.
Pirates second baseman Curtis recorded seven assists and two putouts to lead a flawless defensive efforts from Philipsburg.
"The middle infield has just been awesome," Winters said. "Matt Curtis has been playing a superb second base. He doesn't miss a ball out there."
The Pirates ended the regular season with a record of 20-2.
Philipsburg is back in action Sunday at 2 p.m., playing host to Mifflin County in the first round of the Centre County League playoffs.
PINCH HITS: Eight teams made the CCL playoffs. Each series is best-of-5. The other first round series are Lemont vs. Blanchard, Lewistown vs. Spring Mills and Howard vs. Clarence ... Mostyn went the entire regular season - a span of over 70 at-bats - without being struck out at the plate.
Lewistown-0
Georgesen rf 3020, Hartman cf 3010, Batista ss 3000, Keefer 3b 2000, Abner dh 2010, Moist p 0000, Kibe 2b 2000, Regal 1b 2000, Rosesky c 2000, Heckert lf 2000. Totals: 21-0-4-0.
Philipsburg-10
Curtis 2b 3011, McCamley cf 3211, Mostyn ss 3331, Shaffer 3b 3111, Robinson rf 3133, Good 1b 3100, Daye dh 1000, Jo. Potter lf 0000, Winters lf 1110, Mason c 3022, Lytle p 3101. Totals: 26-10-12-10.
Score by Innings
Lewistown 000 000-0 4 1
Philipsburg 204 13x-10 12 0
Error-Georgesen. LOB-Lewistown 3, Philipsburg 4. DP-Philipsburg. 2B-Mostyn, Robinson 2, Mason 2, Curtis. HR-McCamley (solo, 1st). Mostyn (solo, 4th).
Pitching
Lewistown: Moist-5 IP, 12 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO.
Philipsburg: Lytle-6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO.
WP-Lytle. LP-Moist.
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