FINAL: Plainedge 2 Bethpage 1
WP: Frank Whitenack pic.twitter.com/Be3LCpJNSM
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 9, 2019
Avenging yesterday’s 8-2 loss, Plainedge came through when it mattered most on Tuesday afternoon as they defeated Bethpage, 2-1.
The beginning of the game opposed to the end of the game were two completely different story lines.
In the bottom of the first inning, Chris McGuggart launched a solo shot to put Bethpage out in front to an early 1-0 lead. Considering Nick Wendling struck out the side in the top half of the inning, it seemed as if it was going to be a long ballgame for Plainedge. Through the first three innings, Wendling had eight punch outs.
Then came the fourth inning.
After surrendering just one base runner the first time through the lineup, Wendling walked DJ Kregeloh to lead off the top half of the 4th. Judging by the energy on the 1st base side, there was no doubt in Plainedge’s mind this was their chance of getting to Wendling. Sure enough, Donovan Pepe drove in Kregloh with an RBI single up the middle to tie the game up at 1-1.
With the Plainedge offense finally waking up, Frank Whitenack settled in on the mound. After surrendering a lead off home run, he wouldn’t allow another hit until the 7th inning. He went the distance allowing three hits, one earned run, four walks and five strike outs.
“Losing the first game I knew I had to come up big the second game of the series, I felt good on the mound with my team behind me and they got the hits that needed to be done,” said Whitenack. “To lead off the game, a kid hit a home run I just wiped it off though, no big deal. Nick Incalcaterra showed me the ropes, yesterday he didn’t pitch that good, he gave me a talk and motivated me to pitch today,” he added.
Riding the momentum of the 4th inning, Plainedge continued to put the pressure on Bethpage in the 5th. With two outs and Anthony Labita on third, an E7 on a routine pop-up put Plainedge in front 2-1.
With the Plainedge offense capping out at two runs, their pitching and defense did the rest of the talking. Whitenack continued to work out of tough situations, especially in the 7th inning.
To lead off the bottom of the 7th, Whitenack walked the lead off batter.
With a man on second and one out, Anthony Vega lined a single up the middle. From center field, Doug Elsesser came up firing, throwing the tying run out at home, ultimately securing the Plainedge victory. Whitenack got the final batter to ground out to end the game.
“I just did what I was told, I started catching this year, my coach taught me everything I know so all credit goes to him and I just stayed calm back there,” said Plainedge catcher Logan Gersbeck when describing the intense play at the plate in the 7th inning. “It was awesome, Doug made a great throw out there, I put a great tag on him and it was a lot of fun,” he added.
With the victory, Plainedge forces a rubber match on Thursday as they head back to Plainedge High School. Expect a great match-up once again between the top two contenders in Conference A3.
