Rotary Moves To 3-0 With Win On Tuesday (05/01/14)

(Article submitted by Rotary)

Rotary moved to 3-0 on the season with a 6-2 victory over Lions, Tuesday night, in Clarion Little League action.

Curvin Goheen got the win on the mound for Rotary, pitching 4 1/3 innings, allowing 1 run on 1 hit, striking out 8 while allowing 2 walks.

Lions, the visiting team, wasted no time scoring. Calvin German started on the mound for Rotary and retired the first batter he faced, before allowing a walk to Ryan Hummel. Hummel scored the game’s first run on a Logan Lerch RBI single. German settled in after that and struck out the next 2 Lions hitters on 7 pitches.

Nick Fredderick got the start for Lions. Following a German leadoff single, Fredderick retired the next 3 hitters in order.

German struck out the first 2 batters he faced in the 2nd, before giving way to Goheen due to pitch count restrictions. Goheen then recorded a strikeout to end the inning.

Fredderick was on fire again in the 2nd, striking out 3 batters in the Rotary half of the inning and after 2 complete, the score was Lions 1-0.

Lions struck again in the 3rd when Ben Smith drew a leadoff walk. He advanced to third on passed balls and scored on a 1 out RBI groundout by Donny Cunningham. Goheen then struck out the next batter to end the inning but Lions held a 2-0 lead.

Rotary finally cracked the scoreboard in the top of the 3rd. Following a strikeout, German collected a single for his 2nd hit of the game, Goheen and Greg Kalinowski walked to load the bases. Cam LaPinto then hit a comebacker to Fredderick to get the force out at home. It appeared as if Fredderick would escape trouble, but Goheen was able to score on a 2 strike passed ball to cut the Lions lead in half. Fredderick struck out the next hitter and Lions clung to a 2-1 lead at the game’s midpoint.

Goheen collected 2 more strikeouts and a weak grounder to quickly end the Lions half of the 4th.

Rotary then tied the game at 2 in the home half of the 4th. Matt Terwilliger drew a 2 out walk and was lifted for special pinch runner Braden Rankin. Rankin took 2nd on a passed ball and scored a pitch later, when he stole third and the Lions’ throw went into left field. Fredderick collected his 7th strikeout to end the inning.

Lions went scoreless again in the 5th. Smith singled with 2 outs but advanced no further before Goheen induced a weak grounder to end the inning.

Rotary blew the game open in the bottom of the 5th. German reached first on an error. Then Goheen clobbered a 2 strike pitch over the left field fence to give Rotary a 4-2 lead. Fredderick was then lifted due to the pitch count. He pitched well in defeat, allowing only 4 runs in 4+ innings. Rotary continued to score after the Goheen homerun. Kalinowski, LaPinto, and Travis Devey all drew walks in succession. Following a fielder’s choice at home, LaPinto scored on an error and Devey was forced in on a RBI walk by Hayden Siegel. Rotary could muster no more but they went into the 6th with a 6-2 lead.

Goheen worked an uneventful 6th retiring the side in order while collecting 2 more strikeouts.

(Thanks to Rotary for this article.)