Mustangs’ bats get hot against Panthers

Updated: May 23, 2011 9:58PM

Oswego starting pitcher Parker Meek’s three pickoff attempts were just a split second too late to get Metea Valley centerfielder Ryan Solomon in the second inning of Monday afternoon’s 3A playoff opener at Metea.

Meek, well aware of Solomon’s speed, made a slide step to home and threw the pitch he wanted.

And Mustangs’ five-hole hitter Mike Fitzgerald made him pay for the hanging curveball, depositing a two-run homerun over the left centerfield fence, sparking a 17-hit day for Metea and an 11-7 victory.

“I was trying to get something over the middle of the plate, trying to drive something to the right side or up the middle,” Fitzgerald said. “It was a good day for everyone to start the tournament.”

Fitzgerald wasn’t done, smacking a two-run double in his next at-bat in the third and an RBI single in the fourth.

In all, the 3-4-5 hitters for Metea combined to go 9 for 11, score nine runs and drive in eight.

“All year, when Kenny Obendorf, Ryan Solomon and Mike Fitzgerald hit that’s when we’re really good,” Mustangs coach Craig Tomczak said. “We have to be better than that from top to bottom if we want to be consistent.”

Solomon went 4-for 4-with two singles, an RBI double and a huge two-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth after Oswego (16-16) pulled within two with five-run top half of the inning.

“I knew they’d had a big inning right before and we were trying to get a couple runs on the board,” Solomon said. “I saw he was struggling the batter before me with throwing strikes. I was hoping for a first-pitch fastball and I got it and got a good swing on it.”

The Panthers picked up an RBI single from Meeks, RBI single from Nick Gerber and RBI’s from Tim Wodzisz, Bryce Holm and John Hugunin in their big inning, but stranded two more runners after batting around and failed to score a run the previous inning despite consecutive doubles by Nick Wernke and Wodzisz.

Solomon’s homerun especially loomed large when the Panthers loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but could not push across a run or get leadoff hitter Hugunin, who was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI and nearly had a homerun to center but was robbed by a leaping catch from Solomon, back up to the plate.

“We knew coming in they were a good fastball hitting team,” Oswego coach Chris Neitzel said. “We tried to mix it up and later in the game we did a better job of it. But then kid gets in a fastball count and hits it out. We dug a hole, but I’m really happy with how we battled. We were one batter away from getting John up with the bases loaded, which I’d have felt good about. It’s tough any time you lose the last game.”

Billy Sheeren picked up the win for the Mustangs with five innings of work, while also going 2-for-2 and driving in two runs during the Mustangs five-run third inning.

Will Doiron went 3-for-3, Obendorf 2-for-3 and Andrew Fox 2-for-4 for Metea, which now turns its attention to Wednesday’s game against No. 2 seed Providence.

“We’ve had some big wins this year,” Tomczak said. “Hopefully we’re over this idea now that we’re just sophomores and juniors and we just come play baseball. Providence, their record speaks for itself, their ranking speaks for itself. They’re an outstanding team, but you never know what’s going to happen.”

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