Jul. 18—Third-seeded Smith Transport jumped out to an early four-run lead over second-seeded Martella’s Pharmacy in Saturday’s Johnstown Collegiate Baseball League best-of-5 semifinal playoff series opener, but Martella’s overcame a plethora of previously missed opportunities to erase that deficit with a furious five-run rally in the bottom of the ninth capped off by Jake Felton’s two-out, two-run walk-off single that completed a 6-5 comeback victory at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point.
“We have 20 guys in this dugout who are competitors,” said Martella’s manager Kerry Pfeil. “With the depth that we have, we feel that we’re never out of a game no matter what the situation is.”
Martella’s loaded the bases for four consecutive innings from the fifth through the eighth, but managed to plate just one run while stranding 11 runners over that stretch. That lack of timely hitting changed dramatically in the ninth inning.
Ryan Wallace drew a leadoff walk, then Bryce McCleester blasted a two-run homer over the left-field screen to pull Martella’s within 5-3.
“McCleester completely energized our team with one swing of the bat,” said Pfeil.
Brent Morris and Zach Ramach followed with consecutive singles, then Garrett Grecko reached safely after dropping down a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt attempt to load the bases with nobody out.
Smith Transport reliever Josh Ulery subsequently retired Jake Ansel on an infield popup and struck out Phillip Dull to nearly work his way out of the jam, but Omar Ward then lined a single to left that plated Morris and pulled Martella’s within one.
Felton lined a 3-2 pitch up the middle for his second hit and third RBI of the day to bring home the tying and winning runs, sending his teammates pouring out of the dugout to join in the celebration.
“We were only down one, so I wasn’t looking to do too much,” said Felton, a Richland graduate and member of Pitt-Johnstown’s baseball team. “I got ahead in the count 3-0, and then after taking a couple to make it 3-2, I got a good pitch over the plate and was able to drive it into center field.”
“When you play baseball, at times it’s a game of failure,” Pfeil said. “You have to put those failures behind you and move forward, and that’s why we had success in that last inning.”
Smith Transport had all the momentum in the early going. Joe Olsavsky singled with one out in the top of the first and later came home on Chase Vargo’s single to right that opened the scoring.
Smith added to that advantage with three more runs in the second. J.T. Turcovsky’s leadoff double was followed one out later by Aidan Shepard’s RBI single.
Sullivan Schueltz then reached on an error, and Shepard subsequently came around on an errant pickoff throw. Olsavsky’s second hit of the game, a liner off the left-field screen, then plated Schueltz to make it 4-0 in favor of Smith Transport.
Martella’s got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Three walks loaded the bases with two outs, chasing Smith’s Transportation starter Rodney Schultz. Reliever Zach Slis came on and proceeded to walk Felton, forcing in Grecko with the first Martella’s run. Slis then fanned Wallace to get out of the jam and keep his team ahead by three.
Smith Transport got one back in the top of the sixth, as Shepard drew a leadoff walk and later came in on Ulery’s two-out, run-scoring single.
Ansel lined into a 1-6 double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the frame to keep Martella’s off the board, and the next two innings saw Martella’s leave the sacks jammed with no runs scored.
Smith Transport missed out on an opportunity to add what would have been a critical insurance run in the top of the eighth when Alex Glumac was gunned down at the plate with two outs trying to score on Olsavsky’s third hit of the game.
Jordan Ford picked up the win in relief for Martella’s after pitching one scoreless inning in the top of the ninth.
The teams will resume the series following the conclusion of the Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors vs. O semifinal game around 7 p.m. Sunday at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point.