[Alsfastball] D&M knock off Midland and Quad City to take championship

[Al Doran]

Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 17:49:18 GMT
To: fastball at pmihrm.com
Subject: D&M knock off Midland and Quad City to take championship



Please list as anon

Gutesha's homers help Dolan & Murphy chalk up championship


By Bill Kindt SPORTS EDITOR



AURORA ­ If there is such a thing as a hitter's groove, Jarod Gutesha 
should forget about looking for it.

He's already all over it.

All Gutesha did Sunday while helping Dolan & Murphy to the Aurora Fastpitch 
Softball Association Classic championship, was go 5-for-8 with two 
three-run homers.

They helped the Shamrocks edge Quad Cities, 3-2, in the semifinals and bomb 
the Midland (Mich.) Explorers in the championship game.

His first three-run blast came in the top of the sixth inning with the 
Shamrocks trailing Quad Cities, 2-0. The shot to dead center not only sent 
the Shamrocks to the title game but made a winner of D&M pitcher Jason Iuli.

And, it came against a Quad Cities pitcher (Al Rebling) who had allowed D&M 
just two puny singles while fanning eight in the first five innings.

"The previous (pitch) he threw me a rise ball and he came back with the 
same pitch," Gutesha said. "It was one of those weekends. I felt good and I 
was seeing the ball really good."

Gutesha's homer scored David Yates (bunt single) and avid Perkins (double) 
in front of him for a 3-2 lead. Iuli did the rest.

After giving up an RBI triple to Jeremy Schaeffer and an RBI single to Bill 
Kranz in the third inning, Iuli held Quad Cities (44-8) to no hits and only 
two runners the rest of the way.

"Iuli mixed in his change with the drop and we made all the plays (behind 
him)," D&M manager Robin Reder said.

The championship game became a test of survival. Gutesha keyed a seven-run 
Shamrock first with another three-run blast, this one came on a two-strike 
pitch and he sent it high over the fence in left.

"Anything that came close," Gutesha said. "I'm trying to protect (the 
plate). I wasn't trying to hit it out but the ball just flew."

Adam Perkins (2-for-3) followed Gutesha's homer with a two-run triple and 
things looked bright for the Shamrocks. Only D&M needed every hit and every 
run before the title was safely tucked away.

Midland bounced back with three runs in their half of the opening inning on 
homers by Jeff Serwinski and Steve Roberts then scored five runs in the 
fifth against an obviously gassed Iuli to cut the deficit to a workable 9-8.

Yet the Shamrocks were far from finished. They plated four runs in the top 
of the sixth with Jon Puklin, Adam Perkins and Ron McCue getting RBIs and 
added three more in the seventh with ageless Mike Drew hitting a long 
lead-off homer.

Those six runs finally took the spark away from the Explorers, leaving 
Reder with a 24-22 record heading into this week's Amateur Softball 
Association National Tournament in South Bend, Ind.

"(The championship) is a big highlight. Beating Quad Cities was a big win," 
Reder said. "Obviously, they (the Explorers) didn't throw their best 
pitcher but we still had to hit the ball and make the plays."

Dave Gillis, Midland's ace, blanked Bloomington, 3-0, in the second 
semifinal game and was held out of the nightcap to be fresh for the ASA 
tournament.

The Shamrocks took it out on Midland's Pete Volk, knocking out 15 hits and 
scoring in every inning but the second and fourth. All of it was welcome to 
Reder, who has suffered through a rebuilding season with a young lineup 
that includes Gutesha, the Perkins twins (Adam and Dave) and David Yates.

"It's starting to come together," Reder said. "They are moving the ball 
(offensively) and they are learning to play the game of fastpitch."

When Iuli was finally lifted with two outs in the fifth, he was replaced by 
Tim Murphy and Murphy worked the final two innings, allowing Midland only 
one run.

That had to figure. Who else but a Murphy to save a game for the Shamrocks?



08/02/04


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