Post 45 gets another Friday night win in the Gem City
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TORONTO -- Friday night plans? For Follansbee Post 45 of late, those have been win a ballgame in Toronto.
For a second consecutive Friday night Post 45 crossed the river and traveled north and went back south with a win, taking an 11-7 victory in a back-and-forth battle with Toronto's Summer Knights team at the Knights Baseball Complex.
"It was a good contest, (Toronto) has a great program and is always great competition for us," Post 45 coach Joe Campinelli said. "They're really competitive and never quit. Our kids played hard, they battled, they hit the ball pretty well. We had a couple hiccups but we will take the win, especially against (the Knights)."
Each team had the lead in the game twice, each team had a five-run inning, but in the end it was Follansbee who came through when it mattered.
With the Knights having erased a four-run hole and tied the game in the top of the sixth at 7-all, Follansbee plated four runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead for good.
"We responded when we needed to," Campinelli said. "A couple guys had some big hits. It was just a good, team win."
After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the third, Follansbee exploded for five runs in the bottom of the inning to jump ahead 5-1. The Knights took their first lead with a five-run explosion in the top of the fifth, but again Follansbee answered with two in the bottom half to go ahead 7-6.
With a doubleheader set for Sunday against Parkersburg, Follansbee used five pitchers due to keeping their arms on a strict pitch count. Charlie Fuscardo fired the first two scoreless with three punchouts. The fourth Post 45 arm to take the hill, Zach Davis, got the win and Logan Fedak worked out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh to close things out.
"We were trying keep everyone under 35 or 40 with the doubleheader coming up Sunday," Campinelli said. "Our starter, Charlie Fuscardo, was throwing really well, it's a shame we had to take him out. Normal circumstances we let him go there but we're going to need every arm we've got Sunday.
"I think that kind of played into (the game being high-scoring)."
Fuscardo and Owen Petrella each had a double and a single, Hunter Rhoades went 4 for 4, and Caleb Stephen and Garrett Hornick each drove in a pair of runs.
For Toronto, four pitchers took the hill, the loss getting charged to Michael Henry. He and Nate Brownfield each had a pair of punchouts, while Tanner Ensell drove in two runs with two hits and Chase Heckathorn doubled in a run.
CHANGE OF VENUE
The game was originally set to be played at Brooke, but was shifted to Toronto to utilize the turf infield following rain throughout the day.
"We're really thankful they agreed to let us come up and play," Campinelli said. "We really appreciate them having us and getting the game in."
BUSINESS PICKING UP
The game was Post 45's only of the week and just its third of the season, but that's about to change.
"Things are going to pick up for us now, our schedule gets a lot fuller now," Campinelli said. "We've got the doubleheader Sunday, we've got a couple games next week. We picked up a doubleheader with Post 33 on July 5 and we're trying to get another game with them … We're going to get a little bit more active the next couple weeks."
Follansbee 11, Toronto 7
Toronto 0-0-1 0-5-1 0 – 7 8 2
Follansbee 0-0-5 0-2-4 x – 11 13 0
TORONTO (5-4): Ensell (2IP, 3R, 3ER, 3H, 0K, 3BB), Dickinson (1/3IP, 2R, 2ER, 1H, 0K, 1BB), Brownfield (1 2/3IP, 0R, 3H, 2K, 0BB), Henry (LP, 2IP, 6R, 6ER, 6H, 2K, 4BB) and McGrath. McGrath S; Heckathorn D, RBI; Ensell 2S, 2RBI; Dickinson RBI; Henry RBI; T. Newbold S; Dickinson S; G. Newbold 2S, RBI.
FOLLANSBEE (2-1): Fuscardo (2IP, 0R, 2H, 3K, 0BB), Stephen (2IP, 1R, 1ER, 2H, 2K, 0BB), Petrella (1/3IP, 5R, 5ER, 3H, 0K, 3BB), Davis (WP, 1 2/3IP, 1R, 1ER, 1H, 4K, 1BB), Fedak (1IP, 0R, 0H, 1K, 3BB) and Rhoades and Decapio. Fuscardo D, S; Petrella D, S, RBI; Stephen 2RBI; Hornick S, 2RBI; Rhoades 4S, RBI; Fedak 2S, RBI; Davis S, RBI; Campinelli S, RBI.