Lancer Bats Keep Crowd on Toes, Take Down Kenston 8-2

By Bill Schneider '95 Gates Mills, OH-- Two years ago, one batted ball in the infield cost Gilmour three runs and the Regional Semifinal vs. Kenston. Gilmour made sure it would not come down to something like that again as the offense joined in on the pitching's fun en route to a 8-2 victory over Kenston Wednesday at Figgie Field at Sharnsky Stadium. CJ Santagata (1-0) started things off with a perfect 1st inning on the mound. In the bottom half, the Lancer bats started their attack. Brady Olsen led off with a single and cruised around the bases when Sean Pitrone doubled him home with the first of his three hits on the day. Pitrone later scored on a wild pitch to give GA a 2-0 lead after 1. That is pretty much all Santagata would need. CJ sailed through the 1st four innings, giving up no hits. The Lancer bats kept the pressure on in the 4th. After Brayden Benisek walked, he stole 2nd and 3rd, and when the throw went into left field Benisek trotted home to make it 4-0. After an Olsen walk and a Pitrone single (3rd hit of game) Zac Titas hit a two run double down the left field line to make it 6-0. Santagata finally ran into some trouble in the 5th, loading the bases. But CJ induced a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the jam, only surrendering one run. Santagata finally ran out of gas in the 6th, giving up his 1st hit before a double steal scored Kenston's second run to cut the lead to 6-2. Santagata walked his final man and John Murphy went to his bullpen. With two on and one out, Sean Pitrone came in and calmly struck out the two men he faced. In the bottom of the 6th the bats answered one more time. After two quick outs, Titas and Joey Salerno both singled. Tyler Hall lined a 3-1 pitch to left and when the fielder could not get to the do or die drive, the ball went all the way to the wall for a double and cleared the bases. It was Hall's 1st big league hit. In the 7th, Pitrone struck out the first two men he faced with ease before giving up a single and a hot grounder down the line that Tyler Pozsgai got his glove on, but could not corral. It went for a double to put men on second and third. After a walk loaded the bases, Pitrone buckled down and struck out the next man to end the game and earn his first save of the year. The Lancers finished with ten hits, led by Pitrone's three hits and two RBI. Titas chipped in with two hits and two RBI of his own. Pozsgai, Hall and Christian Kerner all recorded their first career hits. Santagata went 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on two hits, striking out six and walking three. Pitrone went the final 1.2 innings, giving up no runs on two hits and five strike outs. The 2-0 Big Blue Machine hosts Bay Village on Friday.