Emporium Legion Season Comes To A Close
By Mike Bauer

Emporium had a shot to win the Tri-County League if it could knock off Bradford and then win a make-up with Smethport. That "if" was made bigger because of the Little League playoffs and the fact that a couple of the legion pitchers would not be available to Coach Bolin as long as they were still alive in the playoffs.

Thursday evening in Emporium Paul Baker was the only pitcher with any kind of experience at the legion level available and having already pitched four innings the night before at Galeton he would get the nod against Bradford.

Baker walked two of the first three batters he faced and after two doubles and a single later and a 4-0 lead for Bradford, Baker would have to leave the game with a sore bicep. With relief help from Garrett Hornung, Cory Reed, Cash Grimone and Joey Songer it wasn't enough for Emporium to overcome the hot Bradford bats and in the end a 14-6 loss.

The five guys combined to give up thirteen hits, nine walks and seven strikeouts. "Our backs were up against the wall tonight but we didn't give in," commented Head skipper Ed Bolin. "We played hard for seven innings and I'm proud of the guys for their effort not only tonight but for the season." .

Zach Foster started and was the winner with relief help from Nick Foster and Ryan Labrozzi. Together they gave up five hits, ten strikeouts and eight walks.

At the plate for Emporium, Baker hit a three run homer in the seventh inning in his very last plate appearance at the legion level. Sean McManigle hit a two run homer in the fourth inning and Grimone stole home to account for Emporium's runs.

The Emporium legion team beat Galeton twice on Wednesday evening in a rare double header. Having to make up two games due to the extended high school season and a rainout, Emporium traveled to Galeton and came home with a 17-2 rout in the opener and a 92 win in the nightcap.

Abram Zoschg got the start in game one and picked up his first win of the season. Pitching only 3 innings in the scheduled five inning game Zoschg gave up two hits, three walks and whiffed six. (American Legion Baseball doesn't have a mercy rule but teams have the option to call the game if it gets out of hand).Emporium scored three runs in the first inning on two walks and an RBI single by Paul Baker and an error on the Galeton shortstop.

In the next two innings, Garrett Hornung and David Lyon both ripped singles and Cash Grimone reached on another Galeton error. Baker doubled and a couple wild pitches gave Emporium four more runs and a 7-2 lead.

Zoschg settled down and retired Galeton in order and set the stage for Emporium to put the game out of reach.

Sending fifteen batters to the plate Emporium scored ten runs in the top of the third inning on seven hits, three walks and two hit batsman. Lyon doubled twice in the inning and had five RBI's and Zoschg also doubled in the inning.

Leading the attack for Emporium at the plate was Lyon going 3-3 with two doubles and 5 RBI's. Hornung was 2-3 and Baker was 2-3 with a double. Grimone and Zoschg both added doubles to help the eleven hit effort.

Game two

Paul Baker was the winning pitcher, hurling four scoreless innings with relief help from Zoschg. Between the two they gave up only one hit while walking one and fanning eight.

Tom Brander was the losing pitcher giving up eight hits and only one walk. He struck out six Emporium hitters.

Leading Emporium at the plate was Hornung and Baker with their two run homers. Hornung and Lyon both had three hits, Lyon with two doubles, and Hornung with his dinger and a double.