FARWELL - If the Bucktail baseball team never sees Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech's Devin Fry again, you likely won't hear a single complaint come from any of the Bucks.
Bucktail entered the game 5-5 on the season as the Bucks enter a crunch time to stay at the .500 mark to qualify for the postseason.
It's been nearly two weeks since the ballteam was able to take to the field because of the recent rain storms, and one of the last two teams that they played was CMVT. In that contest, Bucktail pitchers combined to throw a one-hitter, but took a 3-0 loss at the right hand of Fry, who did not allow a run in the seven-inning game.
Article Photos
PHOTOS?BY KEVIN?RAUCH
Bucktail’s A.J. Morgan applies a tag to Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech’s Brett Schuectally yesterday in Farwell. CMVT?picked up a 6-4 victory.
Fry took the mound in Farwell yesterday where it was much of the same. The only exception coming off a bases-loaded triple in the fifth.
The Bucks actually threatened in the bottom of the first when Ryan Bratton, batting in the second spot, reached third base with one out. Trent Risley reached first, and with clean-up hitter A.J. Morgan at the plate, Bucktail started the game aggressive on the bases.
Risley attempted to steal second, but was caught for the second out of the inning. Morgan also took first base, and with Tony Saltsman at the plate, Bucktail again tried to steal second. Again, CMVT would have none of it, and Bratton ended the first inning stranded on third.
After that scare, Bucktail's Chuck Probst started a pitching duel with Fry, which would end in the third after Fry scored on a Brett Schuectally bunt. Probst was pulled after three innings as Bucktail looked toward a Saturday double header, with his team trailing 1-0.
CMVT wasted little time making the Bucktail decision to pull Probst look questionable, as it scored three in the top of the fourth off of reliever Tony Saltsman. Saltsman had the bases loaded with no outs before almost getting out of the jam by striking out a pair of batters, but a walk and an infield error put the Rams up 4-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, Morgan found the answer for Fry as the senior ripped a liner into the gap in left-center, scoring three runners with a bases-loaded triple and chasing Fry from the game.
The game would eventually be tied at 4 going into the final inning when the Buck hunter himself strode to the plate with one out.
Morgan was on the hill and threw an inside fastball, which Fry yanked down the left-field line for a home run. The pitch was out of the strike zone, the hit ball was just fair and barely cleared the fence, almost making the fact that it was the same player to throw 11 scoreless innings against Bucktail even more painful.
Dropping to 5-6 on the season, Bucktail now has little margin for error as it next hosts Sullivan County on Saturday afternoon for a double header.
