Published: August 10, 2009 11:41 pm      

Wahl, small ball power Martella’s win

Landon Wahl got hot at the right time.

On the warmest day of the baseball season, and the opening of the AAABA Tournament, Wahl pitched a complete game in Martella’s Pharmacy’s 8-4 victory over Philadelphia in the early game at Point Stadium.

Wahl felt right at home with temperatures in the upper 80s and heat radiating off of the turf field.

“I’d much rather pitch in hot weather than cold weather,” the Somerset graduate said. “It helps you keep loose. Obviously, staying cool is a problem. I drank lots of fluids, but other than that, it helped me as the game went on.”

Wahl allowed three earned runs - all in the first - on seven hits, throwing 130 pitches in nine innings.

“When I first came out I wasn’t feeling the best,” he said. “They scored a 3-spot on me right away. The longer the game went on, the better I felt, the more velocity I got on my fastball. I got better placement on my curveball and changeup, and my defense was making great plays behind me.”

Martella’s, which wasn’t supposed to be in the tournament until Washington dropped out on Saturday, took advantage of its opportunity. Sam Watkins had three hits while Mike LeViseur and Mike Pelekanos each drove in a pair of runs to help the local team rally from its early deficit.

Watkins, Pelekanos and Pat Kohl delivered RBI singles to tie the game in the third.

Chris Rasky gave Martella’s the lead in the fifth, scoring on Pelekanos’ RBI double, and Watkins scored on a wild pitch by Philadelphia starter Kyle Mullen to make it 5-3.

Philadelphia, which got a two-run single from Derreck Etsell and a bases-loaded walk by Steve Shelinsky in the first, added an unearned run in the sixth. After Wahl walked Steve Harrington, Shelinsky’s one-out single to center bounced over the head of Rasky in center field, allowing Harrington to score.

Martella’s got two runs in the eighth off reliever Kevin Gillen on just one hit. Tom Burkett doubled to lead off the inning and Gillen hit Steve Bills with a pitch. Jordan Kaufman bunted the runners over and Colin Harrington brought Burkett home with a suicide squeeze bunt.

“The key to the run outburst was the small ball,” Martella’s manager Chris Pfeil said. “We got guys on, and we moved them up. When you execute the fundamentals of the game you put yourself in a good situation. Then we got the big hits to clean it up.”

Martella’s pounded out 11 hits, including an RBI single by Pelekanos in the ninth.

“I’m going to be honest with you - offense was a concern,” Pfeil said. “We hadn’t seen live pitching in a week. Our batting practice (Sunday) was less than impressive. But the guys hit real well.”

That offense allowed Wahl to finish what he started.

“I talked to him after the eighth inning and he said ‘There’s no way you’re taking the ball off of me,’ ” Pfeil said. “And you’ve got to love that competitive spirit.”

Martella’s will face Livonia, which beat Toledo 14-4 in seven innings on Monday, today in the upper bracket of the tournament.

Wahl thinks Martella’s performance on Monday might have opened some eyes.

“It makes an opening statement,” he said.

“We’re really lucky to be here. We got eliminated by Delweld, but winning against such a good team (Philadelphia), it lets everybody know that we’re a threat in this tournament. We can put a major dent - maybe perhaps win it all. But we have to take it day by day. Each win puts us one win closer.”

Philadelphia, which had seven hits by seven different players on Monday, falls into the loser’s bracket against Toledo.

“We’ve been here before,” Philly Bandits manager Mike Gossner said. “It’s not our first time. Coming out of that bracket, every inning and every game will mean something. That’s OK. That’s why we’re here.”