RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesJOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A little confidence can bring big impact; at least that’s the story for the Butler Allegheny Athletics.
Butler overcame an early three-run deficit, scoring five unanswered runs as they took down Johnstown-2 Martella’s Pharmacy 6-5 Monday afternoon at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point.
Butler, now 1-0 in Pool A of the 81st All American Amateur Baseball Association tournament, avenged a 14-0 loss to Martella’s Pharmacy in the 2025 tournament.
PHOTO GALLERY | Johnstown Martella's Pharmacy vs. Butler | AAABA Tournament
“It was huge. It was huge,” Butler manager Dan Helgert said. “It takes pressure off, especially beating a team like (Martella’s Pharmacy). It gives us confidence. Again, that’s a (heck) of a baseball team. They always do well in this tournament. They’re not out of it yet.”
Also keying the Athletics’ turnaround from 2025 was pitcher Jimmy Kunst, who logged eight innings with four strikeouts and four runs allowed on seven hits.
“Jimmy pitched ridiculous,” Helgert said. “He was really good. He kept their team off-balance. That’s a good hitting team.”
Logan Bauer pitched the ninth for Butler, allowing a run with two walks issued.
Martella’s Pharmacy, after going up 4-1 in the third inning, mustered one hit over the final six innings. The vanishing attack was one of a few maladies affecting Martella’s Pharmacy per its manager.
“If we wrote a book on how to lose a game, we exceeded that here (Monday),” Martella’s Pharmacy manager Kerry Pfeil said. “We did not play. We did not have good approaches at the plate, couldn’t make routine plays, that got us in a hole. We were consistently fighting back on the mound, getting behind counts – all aspects of the game.
“It was our poorest performance out of 37 games this year.”
Martella’s Pharmacy broke a 1-all tie in the third with Cainen Atherton scoring on a double steal, with Lucas Oleksa and Jack Messina each singling in a run.
Butler replied with two runs in the bottom of the third when Tyler Danko singled in a run, with another following when an error was committed in right on the same play. Levi Laser’s fly ball to center in the fourth resulted in an outfield collision and a run batted in a batter before Brandon Godleski chased in Laser with a single to center.
Tate Minich’s sacrifice fly in the sixth added insurance for Butler.
Martella’s Pharmacy starting pitcher Garrett Emerick tossed six innings, giving up seven hits and walking four with a trio of strikeouts. Five of the six runs he allowed were earned.
Reliever Mason Pfeil pitched two shutout frames, striking out four.
Oleksa and Messina had two hits apiece in the loss.
Martella’s Pharmacy set the final in the ninth on Owen McDermott’s RBI groundout. Atherton’s infield pop-fly out brought an end to Martella’s Pharmacy’s comeback bid.
“It’s a wake-up call,” Kerry Pfeil said. “Our backs are against the wall. We know in this tournament, if you drop another game, we’re most likely packing up and not playing Thursday. We need to come out with a whole different attitude, a whole different approach and get back to the baseball that we played before this date.”
Martella’s Pharmacy, the Johnstown-2 squad, faces Altoona-2 team Cumming Motors Tuesday at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point. Butler is scheduled to take on Brooklyn at Roxbury Park in its second Pool A contest.
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