KULPMONT - A day after being blown out by Loyalsock by 14 runs, Mount Carmel's young team came back to face another of the Pennsylvania Heartland Conference's toughest programs, Central Columbia, and while the Red Tornadoes lost this game too, they gained some respect.
The Blue Jays (2-1) needed three unearned runs in the top of the seventh inning to put the pesky Red Tornadoes (1-5) away, 8-5, and Mount Carmel coach Ray Bettleyon was pleased with his team's showing.
"We played hard and battled after getting blown out yesterday," Bettleyon said. "We showed some mental toughness after that blowout and that's a good thing to see. We also got a full seven-inning game. We've been lacking that."
Central had a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning, but Mount Carmel chased Central starting pitcher Derrick Schleich in that inning. Jayson Stellar led off with a double and Zach Tocyloski walked. Michael Pupo loaded the bases with an infield single off reliever Cody Bowman. Colin Bettleyon grounded into a forceout at second but a wild throw by shortstop Adam Novak to first allowed Stellar to score. Dan Lesko grounded out to second but drove in Tocyloski, and a towering infield fly by Anthony Pennypacker was taken by the wind and landed between third, short and the pitcher's mound, scoring Pupo with the tying run.
Garratt Barratt's RBI single gave Central the lead back in the sixth, but Kyle Karycki led off Mount Carmel's half of the inning with a booming triple he scored the tying run on a grounder to first by Stellar.
Up to that point, Mount Carmel had committed just one error, in the sixth. Jake Coombe led off Central's seventh with a single and went to second on a sacrifice. The Tornadoes looked like they could see their way out of the inning when Lewis Williams flied out to center, but behind the plate Lesko let a passed ball get by him against Novak, then threw wild to third, letting the runner score after taking third on the passed ball. Novak drew a walk, another error let Conner Poirier on base, and singles by Bowman and Jordan Thivierge provided Central with some insurance runs.
Pennypacker had a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh but Bowman retired the final batter for the win.
"We usually don't play well over here for some reason," said Central coach Brett Sarnoski. "We ran ourselves out of some runs. But I told their coach that they really battled."
"They had some timely hits," Bettleyon said.
Thivierge had three hits for Central, Schleich was 2-for-2 with two doubles, Jake Klinger was 3-for-3 and drove in three runs.
Pennypacker was 3-for-4 and Pupo 2-for-4 for Mount Carmel.
Game Summary
CENTRAL COLUMBIAR(AB-R-H-BI) - Novak 1-1-0-0, Poirier 4-2-1-0, Bowman 4-0-1-0, Thivierge 5-1-3-1, Barratt 3-0-1-1, Schleich 2-0-2-1, Ball 0-2-0-0, Coombe 3-0-2-1, Flick 0-0-0-0, Klinger 3-0-3-3, Williams 3-0-1-0. Totals 29-8-14-7.
MOUNT CARMEL (AB-R-H-BI) - Pupo 4-1-2-0, Bettleyon 4-0-0-0, Lesko 4-0-1-1, Thompson 0-1-0-0, Wasilewski 2-0-0-0, Karycki 3-1-1-0, Bregensir 1-0-0-1, Jones 1-0-0-0, Stellar 3-1-1-1, Tocyloski 1-1-1-0.. Totals 27-8-9-4.
Extra-base hits: 2B - Schleich 2, Tocyloski, Stellar. 3B - Karycki.
IP H R ER BB K
Central
Schleich 4 5 3 2 4 7
Bowman (W) 3 4 2 2 1 2
Mount Carmel
Wasilewski 4 6 2 2 5 2
Tocyloski (L) 3 8 6 3 2 2