RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesPORTAGE, Pa. – The Buffalo East Coast Pipeline's offense put together a strong performance from top to bottom to take down Altoona-1 Imler's Poultry 7-3 Tuesday at Pete Haschak Memorial Field, advancing to 2-0 in Pool D of the 81st All American Amateur Baseball Tournament.
Most of Buffalo's lineup contributed as seven different hitters batted in a run. The well-rounded offense was difficult for Altoona to slow down, putting Buffalo in great standing entering Day 3 of pool play.
"When someone comes up to the plate, it doesn't really matter if it's one, nine or eight, whatever." Buffalo manager John Haynes stated. "I know that every one of them can produce, and we have two guys on the bench that can produce also. It's a well-rounded team. We're really excited about the opportunity ahead of us."
Buffalo's offense was led by Brendan Buccello as he went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and a run driven in. That consistency at the plate helped navigate multiple scoring opportunities for his squad, giving it plenty of momentum into their third game Wednesday against Zanesville.
"I felt like I was seeing it well today," Buccello said. "I think having the team behind me the whole time, just everyone's really into it the whole game. A lot of energy, and that just kind of turned up for us."
"This is the deepest our team has been in the past three years. Everyone top to bottom can all contribute in every type of way."
After a scoreless top half of the first, Imler's Poultry got its first two runners on, forcing pressure on Buffalo. After an error in center field loaded the bases, Michael Powell opened the scoring with an infield single.
Buffalo answered in the second. East Coast Pipeline got its first two runners on through an error and a double, putting two runners on with no outs. With a 1-1 count, Buffalo ran a suicide squeeze, getting the bunt down with the runner dashing for home. It worked twofold as the play tied the game and resulted in a single.
Buffalo attempted it again, but failed to get the bunt down and the runner was thrown out at the plate, keeping the game tied at 1-all.
In the third inning, Joey Haynes drove a triple to right to give Buffalo the lead, and Buccello followed with a run-scoring double. Buffalo scored another run in the fourth before a big fifth inning, started by a solo home run from Victor Mazzara. A Bryce Mucica RBI double and a run-producing single from Mike Zacher made it a 7-1 game.
Imler's Poultry battled back in the bottom half of the fifth. After two singles to lead off the inning, a groundout to second allowed a runner to score.
Then Altoona had runners on the corners with two outs for its cleanup hitter, but on a stolen-base attempt, Buffalo's catcher pump-faked to second and caught the runner on third in a rundown, ending the threat.
"It was just a misread going in a rundown in that situation," Imler's Poultry manager Adam Plummer said. "It happens, it's part of the game. We just got to regroup at this point."
Imler's Poultry scored another run in the eighth on a groundout to set the final. Imler's Poultry fell to 1-1 and will likely need to win tomorrow to advance to the next round.
"We're just going to play our baseball," Plummer stated. "We've made it all year. Nothing changes. We worry about ourselves and worry about what we control. Go out there, have fun, play baseball, and the results will speak in the end. I believe in these guys."
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