READING — When Pine Grove’s Austin Fick, Southern Area’s Danny Blugis and Valley View’s Conrad Opozda have suited up in their Legion uniforms this summer, they’ve typically been in for a grueling day.
That wasn’t the case Monday, however, at the American Legion All-Star Game between the Schuylkill-Berks and Lehigh Valley leagues at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Fick pitched two innings — the third and the ninth — Blugis caught for two innings and Opozda delivered the game’s final run in what finished as a 5-5 tie in 10 innings.
The past couple weeks have seen game after game for area Legion teams trying to catch up after long high school playoff runs and poor
weather conditions wreaked havoc on the schedule.
“Yesterday, we had a doubleheader,” Blugis said. “We used a lot of pitchers, but my arm’s a little sore. It’s a really nice thing to do here and it was fun.”
Blugis singled home Tamaqua’s Pete Baddick in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at 4-4. Blugis also walked and scored a run in the Schuylkill-Berks stars’ three-run second inning.
“I just didn’t want to get walked again,” Blugis said of his RBI single. “That pitch was a little high in the zone. I just got on top of it and was able to put it on the ground through the hole.”
Otherwise, getting on base proved difficult against Lehigh Valley’s pitching. Only one Schuylkill-Berks batter reached base between the second and seventh innings, and that was a walk issued to Tulpehocken’s Aaron Schneck.
“In this game, everyone is changing positions constantly, so you’re not seeing consistency at all,” Opozda said. “It’s tough, but we’re good hitters in our league. We adjusted and got the job done.”
Opozda’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning scored Oley/Topton’s Damian Mace, who reached on an error and advanced to third on Nate MacDonald’s double to right field.
“I saw a guy on third and second and just did what I needed to do,” Opozda said.
Fick also doubled for Schuylkill-Berks in his only at-bat in the bottom of the seventh. The batting order for both teams went straight through the roster, so only a few batters got two plate appearances.
The Pine Grove pitcher drilled a pitch by West Allentown’s Justin Kratz to the left-field wall. Another 5 feet, and it would’ve been a home run.
“At first, I thought it was (going out),” Fick said. “But all I was hoping for was to get it on the ground.”
Fick was one of four Schuylkill County pitchers to take the mound Tuesday. Tamaqua’s Matt Roberts started the game on the hill, Southern Area’s Nick Behm pitched the seventh and Pine Grove’s Kobe D’Agostino tossed the ninth.
Roberts, Behm and D’Agostino pitched perfect innings, with Behm striking out North Parkland’s Justin Afflerbach and Emmaus’ Charlie Barebo both looking.
“All we did was go out there on the mound and throw our best,” Fick said.
Fick allowed an infield single to Tamaqua graduate Brett Kosciolek, who plays his Legion ball for Lehigh Valley’s North Parkland, in the third. Kosciolek was stranded there, though, after Fick struck out West Allentown’s Ian Michaels and got Coplay’s Matt Miller to ground out to second.
Fick allowed an unearned run in the top of the 10th after two Schuylkill-Berks errors in the infield.
The biggest damage done to a Schuylkill-Berks pitcher was in the eighth to Wyomissing’s Sean Smith. After a leadoff walk to Lower Macungie’s Joel Bartoni, Salisbury’s Jonathan Benitez hit an RBI double into the left-field corner. West Allentown’s Zach Blose then drove in Benitez with a single to right-center to give Lehigh Valley a brief 4-3 lead before Blugis’ RBI single in the bottom of the inning tied it.
Now it’s back to work for both leagues to finish the regular-season schedule before the playoff qualifier round begins Sunday.
NOTES: Baddick had the game’s only double play, tagging out Fullerton’s Matt Melosky at third and retiring Salisbury’s Noah Adams at first. ... D’Agostino went 1-for-2, scoring a run in the second inning after getting the first hit of the game on an infield single between short and third. ... Pine Grove manager Frank D’Agostino was co-head coach for the Schuylkill-Berks All-Stars after tying in the voting with Muhlenberg’s Phil Raccuglia. ... This was the fifth time the Lehigh Valley and Schuylkill-Berks All-Stars have played. Proceeds from the game benefited the Lebanon VA Medical Center.