Walking Off In Style

Chillicothe 3, Butler 2

"What a game!"

That should be the reaction from the crowd that watched all nine innings of a game that could have gone either way. It was a back and forth game, and the runs scored were so well timed if you think about it. This was a game that featured good plays, shaky plays, and plays that hovered around both areas. Overall, this was a game that had a little bit of everything for everybody watching. This is what baseball is all about, giving the people what they want to see at certain times. On this occasion, a walk-off winning hit will do just the thing.

Tony Bertucci made the start for the Chillicothe Paints. Bertucci had been pitching under rough situations the past couple times he took the mound, but for this one, he did a pretty good job even though he eventually gave up two runs to get the Butler Blue Sox back in the game. In his outing, Bertucci went 7 innings deep, and he would give up two runs on four hits allowed and one walk allowed.

Tony would record five strikeouts on the day. I do take into account the pair of runs that he gave up late in his start, but still, I believe he had a much more solid start this time. This was good for Tony, and this is something for him to take in as a positive thing. When you need horses on the mound to make up your starting rotation, you're gonna need guys who can find a way to battle through any mess that's handed to them. For the most part, Tony did a good job when he was dealt with any problems here.

Eric Heckaman would come in relief of Bertucci, and he would pitch the last two innings of the ballgame. Heckaman has not made many appearances ever since that hiccup back at Richmond where he gave up three runs to the Riverrats in the ninth inning. Today was a much different story for Eric Heckaman. He got on a roll during his appearance, and he managed to strike out four batters. He gave up three hits and a walk. Tight games like this require tightened arms in the bullpen, and relievers need to be there to pick up the team when things are getting a bit too interesting. I was glad to see Eric pick himself up in this game.

Now for the offense. There have been a couple of late inning heroics made by the teams that the Paints have played, but for once, for this game, the Paints played the roles of the late inning heroes. Shortstop Ben Allen had two singles, a double, and an RBI. Second baseman Kyle Gendron had two singles and an RBI. Left fielder Andy Brouse had a single.

DH Cory Maguire only had a single, but this was a big single. The single Maguire had came at the bottom of the ninth inning to start the rally for the Paints. The hit came off an 0-2 pitch count. Zach Frentsos bunted the ball, and the Butler defense made a hiccup. The ball got away from Butler's first baseman, and that allowed both Frentsos and Tim Krofcheck, pinch running for Maguire, to get to second and third. Catcher Andrew Marshall was intentionally walked to load the bases, seemingly to give Butler a chance at the double play. Zach Leonard pinch hit for Matt Abro, and he mashed the game-winning single to left field to score Krofcheck.

For those of you wondering, I did get the chance to talk to Jason Wuerfel, manager of the Blue Sox before the game, and it was a good, short chat we had. I offered him a suggestion about one of the features for the Blue Sox, and we talked about other things. I won the Autographed Bat and the chance to get my picture taken with a Paints player. I chose Ben Allen to be the Paints player to be in the picture with me. Ben is a good guy, and he was nice to me when we had a short talk. Ben Allen is slowly becoming my favorite player on the Paints because of the way he's handling things right now in the trenches for the team. The Paints now will play the Slippery Rock Sliders, who are still in the area of the Eastern Division lead conversation.