In a very exciting game that went down to the wire with time running out at Bob Moore Field before the lights got turned off, The Shaskys held off the Pirates 6-5 Monday night.
It started as a tight pitching duel. The score was 1-0 with the Shaskys in the lead until the bottom of the 4th when the Pirates plated 2 unearned runs on a dropped fly ball with two out and two on. Mike Clary for the Pirates and Francisco Rosello for the Shaskys were both pitching really well.
The Shaskys tied the score at 2 in the top of the 6th after first having one run that scored taken away because of the new slide rule which was enforced correctly at the plate.
The Pirates came back strong in the bottom of the 6th to plate 3 runs and take a 5-2 lead. Mike Kane and Wander knocked in 2 of those runs with a sac fly and a hit respectively.
Then in the top of the 7th inning, The Shaskys got things going, with Artie Gianakos driving in the first run with a hit-and-run single. With two outs and the bases loaded, Tony Melendez stroked a clean single to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs.
At 10:25 or 10:30, depend upon which clock you looked at, The Shaskys took the field with 10 -15 minutes left to get 3 outs, or else the score would have reverted back to 5-2 Pirates.
Pitcher Scott Lawson shut down the Bucs, inducing 3 comebackers to himself to ice the first Shasky victory of the 2010 campaign.
It was a great game, with great pitching, and then some back and forth dramatic lead changes in the last 2 innings.
Hats off to the Pirates for a great game on a cool and breezy night - perfect for baseball - at Bob Moore Field.
