Paints Split Series

Chillicothe Paints 6, North Coast Knights 1

The second game at the Pipe Yard in Lorain, Ohio was played well by the visiting team. The Chillicothe Paints executed some big plays when they had to and they put up enough runs on the scoreboard to get them the victory. Of course, you gotta score runs, and if you score six runs, then you have a good chance of winning ballgames. You talk about any bumps in the road going into this game, and you could point out the fact that the Paints entered this game with a short-handed supply of pitching, and that was because of some pressing injury issues.

Tony Bertucci, who also plays at Cornell University, made the start for the Paints. He pitched a good game, going 5 2/3 innings deep in his start, and in that time he gave up five hits, a walk, and a run, but he recorded five strikeouts, and most importantly, limited the damage that the North Coast Knights could muster. Bertucci had many things going for him in this game. He was prepared to do his job, and he did his job very well. Whenever he did get into trouble with Knights runners on the basepaths, he found a way out of the tricky situations.

Mark Williams was available to pitch for the Paints, and he also had a good game on the mound, as he pitched a pair of innings in relief and was solid. He only gave up one hit. He struck out a batter and gave up no runs. The only pitcher who was kinda wild on the mound for the Paints was Chadd Steinborn, as he pitched 1 and 1/3 innings of relief. He only gave up a walk and a hit, but made sure to keep the opposing offense at bay by striking out a batter and just getting guys out. The pitching did a good job overall. There's nothing of concern. This was just another day at work here.

For the offense, the fire power was mostly featured in the explosive fifth inning for the Paints. Tim Krofcheck had a single. Klye Galbraith had an RBI single. Matt Abro, who also plays at Western Michigan University, had a single, a double, and got an RBI off a sacrifice. Eian Banks had a single. Brandon White, who has double duty as a catcher and as an outfielder, started this game in center field, and he had two singles, with one of them breaking open the game for his team. His second single in the fifth inning drove in two runs. The Paints offense adjusted well to the natural grass surface of the Pipe Yard. There was nothing worth of big note on the baserunning or hitting approaches. Things just seemed to click for the team in this game.

It's always good to get a win on the road. All teams have to do when they go away from their home ballpark is to adjust. You have to make numerous adjustments through the baseball season. You make tweaks here and tweaks there just to get thinsg right. The new Paints are getting used to swinging wooden bats, for example. It will take time, but overall, these guys will be just fine. I also want to note that Paints manager Brian Mannino got somewhat steamed at the umpiring during a bases loaded rally by the Paints. There was a play that resulted in a double play due to the fact that the batted ball hit the runner on first base. Of course, that had to sting, but then again, the Paints still ended up getting their runs, and six was plenty to get this win.

The Chillicothe Paints will return to their home ballpark, at V.A. Memorial Stadium, to face these same North Coast Knights for a two game set. This is the Paints blog correspondent, Steven Vitte, reporting and wishing for you to be there!