Late surge lifts Bath
BY SHAWN VARGO THE LEADER

ERIC WENSEL/THE LEADER Bath pitcher Montana Yast remski fires a pitch in against Addison Thursday, April 26.

BATH - Bath Haverling's bats erased a costly balk by Montana Yastremski with a threerun sixth inning to give the sophomore a 5-2 victory Thursday, April 26.

The Rams pounded out four singles against Addison reliever Barrett Brewster shortly after Addison tied the game in its half of the sixth. Yastremski then got the Knights in order in the seventh to cap off the win as he scattered four hits and struck out seven to impress Bath head coach Bob Buckley.

"He's young, but I could see that he was more conscious of his placement," Buckley said. "This season, I've seen him go from just throwing the ball to making pitches."

Bath (5-3) got on the scoreboard in the first inning as Irven Pragle drove in Justin Brown with a single. A strong throw from Addison center fielder Mike Strong to the plate caught Mike Rossi to end the inning.

For the next three innings, Yastremski dueled with Addison starter Jamie Martin. Martin settled down after allowing four singles in the first inning and only gave up an one more single through four innings.

Bath added a run in the fifth as Rossi and Yastremski singled to put runners on the corners. The Rams tried the double steal, but Addison catcher Bryan Dann threw the ball back to Mart in on the mound and he snapped a throw to third which went in to left field - allowing Rossi to trot home with Bath's second run.

A two-out balk in the top of the sixth by Yastremski moved Strong and Martin into scoring position, allowing Doug Lovell to plate them two pitches later with a line-drive single to leftcenter field. Lovell, who tried to advance to second on the throw, nearly scored on the play when Bath's cutoff man threw the ball back into the outfield. But an attentive Bryce Cody backed up the play from right field and gunned Lovell out at the plate.

"We had the guy at second with the cutoff," Buckley said. "I was happy Cody was backing up the play. He had a nice threehopper to the plate."

Fazzary didn't try to squeeze any more out of Martin, as Addison's starter reached his pitch count after five innings.