By MIKE MASTOVICH
The Tribune-Democrat
August 08, 2008 09:42 pm
—
Rick Roberts solidified his outfield, added some pop to his lineup and strengthened an already deep pitching staff with two more quality arms.
The first-year Delweld manager used his four pickup selections to enhance a lineup that finished the AAABA League season strong and used that momentum to roll through the league playoffs.
Delweld will represent Johnstown in the 64th AAABA Tournament that begins Monday at Point Stadium and various outlying fields.
Immediately after Delweld’s three-game sweep of Principle Development in the best-of-5 local championship series, Roberts picked up Martella’s Pharmacy outfielder Jake Oswalt, GMI Renegades outfielder Tom Burkett, Martella’s pitcher Andrew DiNardo and Principle Development pitcher Gregg Bandzuh.
“The Burkett boy is a Division I player from Charleston Southern (S.C.) University,” Roberts said. “He brings a powerful right-handed bat with speed. He batted .301 at Charleston Southern against Division I pitching, so he will be familiar with the type of pitching he’ll see in the tournament.
“Oswalt is a powerful left-handed batter,” Roberts added. “He played at Slippery Rock. He also has speed. They’re both big kids. The main thing is we added a solid left-handed bat and right-handed bat. They will complement Jon Kirby and Drew Westover in the outfield.”
Oswalt batted .308 with five doubles, a triple and a home run this season. He scored 26 runs, had 26 RBI’s, and stole 14 bases.
Roberts said Burkett will play center field. The Renegades standout batted .329 (27-of-82) to rank eighth in the league during the regular season and had a .545 average in the playoffs (6-for-11). As a freshman at Charleston Southern, Burkett started 48 of 50 games he appeared in and batted .301 with eight homers. In center, he had a .970 fielding percentage with four errors in 134 chances.
“Burkett is one of the best center fielders I’ve seen in a long time, the way he tracks the ball and with his arm,” said Roberts, noting Burkett had no errors and threw out a pair of runners at the plate and two more at third base during the season. “He took away a lot of extra-base hits from us all year.”
The manager said Oswalt, Kirby and Westover will be in the starting lineup, with two of them in their familiar outfield spots and one as the designated hitter.
“This makes our lineup so much more dynamic,” said Roberts, whose team batted a cumulative .278 (322-for-1,158) with 46 doubles, three triples and seven homers. “We added two veterans.”
DiNardo went 4-1 with three saves and a 0.85 ERA in 492⁄3 innings this season. The right-hander struck out 29 and walked 16. He pitches for Seton Hill in the NCAA Division II WVIAC.
“DiNardo has a great arm. He can close and he can start. He throws a lot of strikes,” Roberts said.
Portage’s Bandzuh went 8-2 with one save this season. The righty won the 2007 Bill Jenkins Award as the top rookie pitcher.
“Bandzuh’s ball moves a ton,” said Roberts, a former left-handed pitcher who played in the Dodgers and Tigers systems before a career-ending arm injury. “It’s like a ‘slurve.’ It’s not a true curve. It’s hard to pick up. He doesn’t throw anything straight. He’s got good composure. I’ve seen him play from the Colt League on up.”
The pick-up pitchers will bolster a staff that also includes opening-night starter Jake Rougeaux (8-1), league MVP Matt Staub (4-2), Matt Skoner (4-1), Mike McDermott (3-1, one save), Brett Vescovi (3-1), Joe Novotny (1-2), Kelbi Berg (1-3, one save), Kody Reighard (2-2, one save) and George Roberts (0-2, one save).
Manager Roberts said Westover might resume pitching after rehabilitating a shoulder injury.
“I have nine or 10 really good pitchers on my staff too,” Roberts said. “With the pickups we’re going into the tournament with 11 or 12 quality arms.”
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.