Pirates Surpress Rage in ABA Playoffs

Hopatcong Pirates ace Frank Gibney overcame a rocky first inning on the mound to finish with a three-hitter and 15 strikeouts over eight innings as the Pirates trounced the New Jersey Rage, 11-1, to advance to the semifinal round of the Amateur Baseball Association's A Wood Summer League Playoff Tournament.

 "The first inning was rough," Gibney said. "I was a little frustrated and out of rhythm. But I just kept trying to throw as many strikes as I could."

Gibney gave up a walk to the Rage's leadoff man, Lance Babiar, to start the game. Babiar stole second, and advanced to third as Pirates' second baseman Alex Marinoni lost his footing while covering second, which allowed catcher Ricky Gathen's throw to sail into centerfield. Babiar scored the Rage's only run of the day two batters later on Tim Low's single to right.

Gibney would go on to walk the leadoff hitter in both the second and third innings, but left them stranded as he began to find his rhythm. Gibney finished in dominant fashion, striking out five of the final six batters he faced.

 "The more I throw, the better I feel on the mound," Gibney said. "I can't explain why, but I feel stronger in the later innings than I do in the first."

'Frank started a little slow," Gathen added. "But he just bore down and made his adjustments. It was lights out from there on. He was awesome."

The Pirates bats mirrored Gibney's arm with a slow start, but they also poured it on late in the game with seven runs in the final two innings off of Rage pitcher Luke Herget.

Hopatcong tied the game in the bottom of the first when Steve Serocke singled, stole second, and scored on a two-out single by Gathen. The Pirates took the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Lakicevic singled with two out, moved to second on a wild pitch by Herget, and scored on Matt Wenneis' single.

After tacking on two more runs in the fifth on singles by Serocke and Bill Lounsbery, another wild pitch by Herget, and some poor fielding by the Rage outfield, the Pirates' lineup began to tear up Herget in the seventh as Gathan doubled in Serocke and Lounsbery with one out. After Lakicevic singled Gibney, pinch-running for Gathen, scored on Wenneis' sacrifice fly to center to put the Pirates ahead by six.

"We always seem to take awhile to get things going," said Lounsbery, who had two hits on the day.

Hopatcong continued its tear in the eighth when Gathen's bases-loaded double with two out cleared the bases, giving him six RBIs on the day to lead the team.

"I had just been waiting all game for a good pitch to drive," Gathen said. "He finally gave them to me late in the game. Both of my doubles came when he had three balls in the count, so I was able to just sit on my pitch."

Lakicevic followed with another double that brought home Gathen to put the Pirates up by ten and seal the win.

"It took us a couple of turns through the lineup to come around to his [Herget] pitches," Lakicevic said. "Once we got familiar with what he was doing, we started tearing it up."

The Pirates are pleased with their overall performance to start the playoff tournament.

"It was a great start," Gibney said. "We hit well. We played the field well. I thought we had a great game all the way around."

"I was glad that we were able to play them tough all the way through," Lakicevic said.

Rage             1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0—1     3    2

Pirates             1  0  0  1  2  0  3  4—11   14  1

2B: Pirates- Rick Gathen 2, Casey Lakicevic, Matt Wenneis Rage- Luke Herget, Mark Balbach

WP: Frank Gibney LP: Herget