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Back-to-back wins
La Plata Legion beats county rival Chaney
Friday, July 3, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by EMILY BARNES
La Plata pitcher Eric Devinney struck out a batter and walked one in five innings of work on Tuesday against Lusby.
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In one of the most intense American Legion baseball rivalries in Southern Maryland, La Plata Post 82 and Chaney Enterprises clashed in a battle of the top two teams in the Frank Riley League at Thomas Stone High School on Wednesday evening.
Coming off a home victory against a young Lusby squad on the previous day and a tough loss two days to the same team two day prior, La Plata came out firing on all cylinders at the plate, exploding for nine runs in the first two innings and held on for an 11-5 win.
La Plata (12-4-1, 11-4 Frank Riley League) collected 12 hits, five of them extra-base knocks. Both of these teams squared off again on Thursday at La Plata, which was too late for inclusion into this edition.
Though the visitors earned the win, the contest was called in the top of the seventh with La Plata up at bat because of rains and thunderstorms.
Before the game, La Plata head coach Dan DeVitis talked with Chaney coach and longtime friend Ed Glaeser about the hitting aspect of his team, which turned out to be the eventual difference on this day.
"What we've been trying to get in the kids heads all summer is that when you put pressure on other teams and score runs, along with good pitching and defense, you're going to win games," DeVitis said. "Finally tonight we got some breaks, hit some balls and that's what took care of the game for us."
Leading the offense for La Plata was first baseman Ricky Huber, who went 2 for 3 with two doubles, drove in four runs, three of which came in the second inning while also scoring a run.
"Chaney is one of our biggest rivals," Huber said. "They brought in a new pitcher when I came up to bat [in the second] and on the first pitch I tried to put it opposite field, drove in a couple and the rest of the team kept hitting all day."
Chaney starting pitcher Riki Cusic struggled early, walking four batters in the top of the first.
In that inning, La Plata's Mark Anderson knocked in a RBI single to score Jordan McGraner, Kyle Beckett then scored on Cusic's wild pitch and Huber followed things up with an RBI double that gave La Plata a 3-0 lead.
"Ricky was very aggressive at the plate tonight, he pulled one to left, he went with the pitch, hit it down the right field line. He did a super job," DeVitis said. "That's what we've been trying to get through to the young men, you have to be aggressive when you go up there, but tonight we reacted and it helped us."
La Plata starting ace Ryan Neeley provided the defensive spark against a talented Chaney (8-5-1, 8-4) offense with five strikeouts, four of them coming in the first two innings.
Neeley pitched five innings before being replaced by closer Nate Ryon.
"We knew this was a big game since now we're tied for first," said Neeley on the importance of the match-up. "We have about nine veterans, it's a solid team and we have a few young players with pure athletes, so it gets in the mix. I definitely wasn't on my ‘A' game today; I have to locate a lot better."
After Brent Poullard scored on an unearned run in the bottom of the first on Neeley's wild pitch, La Plata came back in the top of the second with a six-run explosion to take a 9-1 lead.
Anderson and Brandon Thomas had RBI singles in that inning and Huber had a three-run double to help increase the lead. Huber also had an unearned run on one of Chaney's two errors of the game.
After Cusic came out in 1 1/3 innings of work, Chaney used three other pitchers to finish out the game –– Trevor Franklin, Alex Hedlesky and Brandon Remalia.
"We didn't get any starting pitching, the whole game was starting pitching," said Glaeser on his team's pitching woes. "We haven't had starting pitching all year long and that's the key to the game. Our games are usually close, but we were limited in pitching. We were just lobbing the ball up and they were getting base hits."
Glaeser added: "You have to throw someone against them. [La Plata] says their Achilles' heel is hitting, but if you don't throw a good game, they become very good hitters."
La Plata scored one run each in the third and fifth innings and Chaney scored four more runs in the fourth and sixth innings, helped from a Brad Hardos two-run homer. Rick Brady and Remalia scored the other two runs.
