(Schenectady, NY) 9/4/24 - An autumnal feel on the first nite of September baseball at the A- Diamond, as the Pirates nipped the Americans 3-2, in a very well pitched, well played contest, that went in a tidy 1 hour and :35 minutes!
Pirates Ace, Eric Westfall toed the slab for the home standing Swashbucklers, matched up against Barry Jackson, and his good Uncle Charlie, for the Americans. Both starters went the distance and proved to be tough from the get go, and only got better, as all the scoring occurred in the first three stanzas.
Amerks broke on top aided by an error, followed by a Vince Koster single, and Fred Muller's rbi ground out. Buccos answered right back with a Jim Jasiewicz lead off knock, a swipe of 2nd, and scored on John Haff's single to right.
Jackson helped his own cause to start the 2nd, reaching on an error, and then pilfering the middle bag, and nabbing 3rd as the Pirates executed a 1-3-4 pickoff after a hit had runners at 1st and 2nd, with no outs. Jackson would score on a 5-3 put-out, and Westfall escaped further damage, 2-1 Americans. Pirates again responded, with a Dane Dostie shot into the left field corner for a stand-up 2-bagger, and was moved around on a set of ground outs, tallying the 2nd Bucs run on a Jim Ansel rbi, play going 4-3.
Westfall, the big southpaw, then found a groove, and did not allow another American past 2nd base, over the final five frames.
Difference maker in the game for the Black and Gold came in the bottom of the third, with some station to station small ball. After Jose Moreno was hit by a pitch, Ken Shaw reached on a force play. Another Jasiewicz barrel to ball base knock, set the table for a clutch 2-out Paul Peters' run scoring single, and a 3-2 advantage, Pirates.
It was fortunate the Pirates struck when they did, as Jackson was lights out the rest of the way, allowing only an infield single the rest of the way, with 4 scoreless.
Great job flashing the leather by Dostie, Peters, Moreno and Jerry Foti at 1B, around the horn, making every play to back up the outstanding outing from Westfall, surrendering only 4 singles after the second inning!
Pirates tapped into a new lucky charm, as long time Bucco, Jim Denney, out for the season with a double knee replacement, brought good karma to the dugout in his first appearance back!
The game was a reversal of the previous meeting, where the Americans nicked the Pirates' Westfall for a couple runs that proved to be the margin in a tight game, as Jackson, came on in the final frame for the save in the Americans 11-8 win last week.
The same two teams meet again in the regular season finale on Monday at the A- Diamond. Conceivable that the Pirates and Americans (who hold a 2-1 season's edge) could meet again two days later in the opening round of th playoffs. The run differential in the previous 3-games is 1 run, so more nail biters on tap!
Great game and great game report, but missed in this account is a game-saving managerial move. Mid-game, the Americans had some good at bats, got runners on, and Westfall was looking mortal as was the defense. Manager Dalton told Ansel to get loose. Realizing the stakes, Westfall and the defense turned a double play, then executed perfectly for the remainder as Ansel warmed up on the side. Brilliant!
