Fallston pitches its way to 3A Regional Finals with 3-0 victory over Atholton

by Jim Bach

The 3A Regional Semifinals pitted ace against ace in a pitcher's duel between Fallston and Atholton. While neither side gave a strong offensive showing, the Cougars bested the Raiders with their timely hitting to claim a 3-0 win and a bid to play in the Regional Finals.

Fallston got it's first run on the board in the second inning when the line-up's bottom half put together a two-out rally. After left fielder Ryan Ziolkowski got to second by way of errors, teammate Brandon Del Pilar beat out a groundball in the infield for a single.

With a man at third, right fielder Eric Henrickson hit a ball to shallow center for a hit and an RBI. The score was 1-0 at the end of the second.

The game continued on as a showdown of deft pitching between Atholton's Kory Britton and Fallston's Jordan Lozzi, but the Cougars put another run on the board in the fourth when designated hitter Taylor Nelson hit a triple and scored on a double play.

While the hitters had been stifled on both sides for the most part, Fallston led off the fifth with two straight hits. The Raiders then stiffened on defense, allowing only one run on second baseman Grant Kelly's sacrifice fly.

The Raiders were staring down the losing end of a 3-0 deficit in the final inning, and were searching for a repeat of their come-from-behind victory over Northeast in their last playoff victory.

However, Lozzi squelched any chances of late inning heroics when he settled down the Raider line-up and collected the playoff win. Fallston ups their record to 18-1, winning four in a row.

"I think our ball club played outstanding today," said Fallston head coach Joe Connelly. "Great performance from Jordan Lozzi, he kept them off balance, he mixed speeds well, and our defense played outstanding. Overall good performance, and good momentum going into the next game."

Lozzi had tossed a complete game shutout, striking out five and surrendering four hits in seven innings.

"I was throwing my fastball for strikes, my curveball was working pretty well today, and I threw my changeup in there to keep them off balance," said Lozzi of the performance, the pitcher also pointed to the team's defensive prowess as a key to the win.

"Grant Kelly was stellar today, my first baseman Cory Taylor just did great, and I have to thank my catcher Kevin Bailey, he's a wall back there."

On the other hand, Kory Britton also threw a complete game, his third of the year. In his outing, the sophomore struck out six, walking only one batter over six frames. Unfortunately, the Raider bats couldn’t pick up where the pitching left off as he took the loss.

"I thought I pitched pretty well, can't really blame it on the defense but we didn't really bring our gloves," said Britton. "[Lozzi] was just dominating us, threw his curveball very well, and they made all the routine plays."

On offense, Del Pilar and Henrickson each had two hits, with Henrickson, Kelly, and Ziolkowski each collecting RBIs. The Raiders only managed four hits, with Corey Stirmer, Jonathan Thews, Jake Yasenka, and Matt Collier each hitting singles.

Fallston will host Centennial this Friday to determine the Regional Finalists. Atholton will, on the other hand, need to regroup for next season, where they will return a strong roster and look to make another run at the states in 2010.

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