Vero Beach Fl- In day two of their Spring Training trip, the Greater Allegheny baseball team earned their second straight split, shutting out Rochester College (MI) 7-0 in game 1, then followed it up with a 6-3 loss against Hagerstown CC (MD).
In game 1, the 7-run GA offensive onslaught was overshadowed by Freshman pitcher Eddie Emes' (New Brighton) first career start. Emes (1-0) tossed a complete game shutout, striking out 4 Rochester hitters while allowing just 4 hits. Emes would also walk 3.
GA got the offense going in the second, when Sophomore first baseman Adam Wehr (Northwestern) reached on a catcher's interference call, and then stole second. Sophomore designated hitter Sam Weightman (Penn Trafford) followed Wehr with an RBI single up the middle, giving GA the 1-0 lead.
Up in the home half of the third, GA would tack on three more runs when Weightman drilled a bases-loaded double to deep center, that cleared the bases. Weightman would again figure into the Greater Allegheny offense, by doubling to lead off the bottom of the sixth. A single from Freshman Oliver Girman (Serra Catholic) moved the runner over, and Girman then stole second. Junior catcher Josh Kubisz (Goose Creek) lined a single to center, knocking in two more runs. Kubisz would later score on an error, as GA cruised to a 7-0 victory.
Sam Weightman led GA on offense in game 1, going 3-3 with 4 RBI's. Oliver Girman and Josh Kubisz both also had strong days at the plate, going 2-3 with 1 run a each. Kubisz was stellar behind the dish as well, gunning down two Rochester runners attempting to steal second.
Game 2 started out rough for GA, as the Hagerstown lead-off man reached on an error, and then advanced to second when the next batter was hit by a Teddy Fricke (Carrick) pitch. Hagerstown would muster 3 runs in the inning, and tacked on 3 more in the top of the third.
GA battled back with 2 runs in fourth, when Freshman catcher Clay Groff (Allderdice) knocked in 2 with a single. A sacrifice fly by Sam Weightman in the fifth drove in Sophomore outfielder Zak Schmidt (Moon) to bring GA to within 3, at 6-3. Greater Allegheny could find no more runs after that, and fell by the same score.
Senior Teddy Fricke (0-1) suffered the loss, giving up 6 runs- 4 earned- on 7 hits, while walking 2. Oliver Girman pitched the remaining 3, striking out 5 and scattering 3 hits. GA accumulated just 3 hits on the day, 1 from each Adam Wehr (1-1), Clay Groff (1-3), and Sophomore second baseman Kevin Quinn (West Mifflin) (1-3).
With the split, Greater Allegheny now owns a 2-3 overall record. They return to the field tomorrow at 12 PM when they face Miami Hamilton.
