Fiaush finishes fabulous comeback, Titans win
5-4
By Joe Pritchett
Chatham Editor
There are a lot of stars on the 2010 Glenwood Titans baseball team. Names like Ingold, Sablotny,
Maton, Reese, Turner, Fulks and on and on roll off your tongue with ease. But after Monday's scintillating
5-4 victory over Troy Triad in eight innings, there's another name to add to the list in Michael Fiaush.
Fiaush, a part-time starter in the outfield, had three hits, including a game-tying two-run homer to right
in the sixth, along with a walk before he scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth as the Titans
claimed the Class 3A Sauget Super-Sectional title.
Glenwood (30-4) advances to the 3A state tournament in Joliet, where they will play Joliet Catholic or
Chicago Kenwood at 10 a.m. Friday (see related story). Triad, which lost 4-1 to GHS in this very same
game a year ago, finished 23-17.
Playing at the home of the Gateway Grizzlies at GCS Ballpark, the Titans and dominant starter Phil
Maton were greeted rudely, as the top of the Triad lineup got an immediate jump-start and continued
hitting Maton hard into the fourth inning, when Jake Ingold was brought on in relief.
Ingold pitched 4 1/3 innings of shutout baseball, but things still looked bleak for the Titans until the
bottom of the sixth when, with their rally caps on in the dugout, Fiaush stepped to the plate and sent an
opposite-field shot to right. The ball cleared RF Donnie Fuhrhop and somehow climbed over the short
porch fence for a two-run homer to tie the score at 4-4.
Then, in the eighth, Fiaush walked and was on first with two outs when Jake Fulks sent a fly to short
center. CF Zach Hall came a very long way in to try and make the catch, but he bobbled and dropped it.
Meanwhile, Fiaush just kept running, and with head coach Pat Moomey waving him in from third base
and the Knights not executing the relay throw cleanly, he scored the winning run by eluding the tag of
catcher Dylan Johnson, who was forced up the line toward third by the throw home. Fiaush ducked toward
the fair side of the foul line to avoid the tag and the celebration was on in earnest.
However, amidst the celebration, Triad head coach Jesse Bugger argued the call with home plate
umpire Bob Engel, and after some confusion, it was determined that the game was indeed over as the
umpires hustled to the outfield in heading for their quarters.
"I think Jesse might have thought he was out of the baseline," Moomey stated. "But he (Fiaush) was in
foul territory, and the throw was up the line. So when he avoided the tag, he was still in the dirt path there.
He might have been a step to the inside of the foul line, but in my view, he was in the baseline."
"I was safe," Fiaush added. "I was in the baseline and I saw the ball going a little wide, so I went over
to the inside. Coach was waving me in. It's the best feeling of my life."
"I thought the ball was a little farther away, but when in doubt, you have to send him there," Moomey
explained. "Of course, if the throw is on the plate, he's out by 10 or 15 feet, and that wouldn't have looked
real good. I just felt we had to do it in that spot."
•Glenwood finished with 12 hits in the contest, as Fulks' bloop at the end was ruled a single. Dallas
Henderson and Fiaush had three hits apiece, while Fulks had two. Maton had a solo home run, and
Ingold, Jacob Reese and Jake Lance each had one hit.
Triad finished with 11 hits, including seven off Maton. Hall and Johnson, the top two hitters in the
order, combined for five hits, with Johnson notching an RBI single in the first and two-run homer in the
third.
Travis Felax (9-6) went the distance for the Knights. He struck out four and walked four. Maton struck
out four and walked one while allowing three earned runs, while Ingold (4-1) scattered four hits while
striking out six and walking none. The Titans committed two errors.
•In the top of the first, the Knights started off with three consecutive hits off Maton and led 1-0.
Glenwood tied things up in the second, as Maton led off with a solo home run to right, the ball just clearing
the same very short wall that Fiaush's ball cleared.
Singles by Lance, Hend-erson and Fiaush loaded the bases with no outs, but it was Glenwood's turn
to be on the wrong end of a controversial call first. Chris Sekardi sent a comebacker to the mound, with
Felax throwing home for one out. The throw to first hit Sekardi, and as the ball got away and two
Glenwood runners scored, Engel was waving everything off, ruling that Sekardi was out of the baseline.
All runners were ordered back to their bases, and Fulks flied out to end the inning.
Interestingly, Moomey shook up his batting order for the game, moving Fulks to leadoff and Turner up
to second while dropping Reese to third, Ingold fourth, Maton fifth and Lance sixth. Turner has been hot
lately, and getting his speed at the top of the lineup is a plus.
In the top of the third, Johnson's two-run homer to right-center put Triad up 3-1, and after a double off
the wall by Felax, an error by second baseman Connor Bryant allowed him to score to make it 4-1.
In the fourth inning, a booming double to the leftfield wall by Johnson chased Maton in favor of third
baseman Ingold, who, while not throwing as hard as Maton, was able to contain the Knights and keep
them off balance the rest of the way.
"They're a hot team, and Phil has been a hot pitcher," Moomey stated. "We've kind of extended Phil a
little bit here, as our rotation got out of whack with Bryce (Sablotny) and the blister injury. It's the third time
Phil has pitched in 10 days. They were hitting some shots everywhere so we had to make a change.
"It doesn't matter if Jake has his stuff or not, he's such a battler out there," Moomey continued. "We
really needed him to come in and get outs and he did that. He's a fighter. We've had a lot of great
competitors at Glenwood, and none rank ahead of Jake Ingold."
"It seemed like everything I was throwing, they were taking it the other way and hitting it hard," Maton
said. "I was just trying to mix it up. I didn't feel like I had my best stuff today and they were just hitting
everything. Jake did a phenomenal job coming in from third base, and he hadn't pitched in a while."
"I think I last pitched two weeks ago," Ingold laughed. "I've been ready to go, but Maton and Sablotny
have been shutting everybody down.
"We didn't have any more room," he added. "We couldn't give up any more runs and I was just trying to
get as many people out as I could."
Ingold said he threw a four-seam fastball instead of his usual two-seamer, and "it seemed to work."
"Nothing else is possible if Jake doesn't shut the door there," Moomey added. "We'd given them all we
could give, obviously, the way it turned out. He did a great job holding us there and changing the
momentum."
Ingold stranded two Triad runners in the top of the sixth before Henderson led off the bottom of the
inning with a single to center. Fiaush followed with his two-run homer to right to tie the score at 4-4.
"That was huge," Ingold said. "It got us all going, and got us pumped for the later innings."
"I'm sure Triad isn't feeling real good about having a kid hit his first home run of the year to tie the game
up," Moomey stated. "But those things happen, and it was a byproduct of Michael trying to go the other way
and hitting it hard. It snuck out and it was a huge hit.
"In the eighth, he was running hard all the way and he just made a super athletic play to get by the
catcher like he did and get to the plate."
The Titans may get a shot at revenge against Joliet Catholic, the team that beat them 3-2 in the 3A
state title game a year ago. Sablotny will get the call on the mound in Friday's first semifinal, and Maton
should be ready for Saturday's game. Ingold will be ready in relief and even Maton could be available for
an inning on Friday, Moomey said.
"We might get to face Joliet Catholic in the first round, and we will definitely be pumped up for that,"
Ingold said. "We feel we can beat them."
5-4
By Joe Pritchett
Chatham Editor
There are a lot of stars on the 2010 Glenwood Titans baseball team. Names like Ingold, Sablotny,
Maton, Reese, Turner, Fulks and on and on roll off your tongue with ease. But after Monday's scintillating
5-4 victory over Troy Triad in eight innings, there's another name to add to the list in Michael Fiaush.
Fiaush, a part-time starter in the outfield, had three hits, including a game-tying two-run homer to right
in the sixth, along with a walk before he scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth as the Titans
claimed the Class 3A Sauget Super-Sectional title.
Glenwood (30-4) advances to the 3A state tournament in Joliet, where they will play Joliet Catholic or
Chicago Kenwood at 10 a.m. Friday (see related story). Triad, which lost 4-1 to GHS in this very same
game a year ago, finished 23-17.
Playing at the home of the Gateway Grizzlies at GCS Ballpark, the Titans and dominant starter Phil
Maton were greeted rudely, as the top of the Triad lineup got an immediate jump-start and continued
hitting Maton hard into the fourth inning, when Jake Ingold was brought on in relief.
Ingold pitched 4 1/3 innings of shutout baseball, but things still looked bleak for the Titans until the
bottom of the sixth when, with their rally caps on in the dugout, Fiaush stepped to the plate and sent an
opposite-field shot to right. The ball cleared RF Donnie Fuhrhop and somehow climbed over the short
porch fence for a two-run homer to tie the score at 4-4.
Then, in the eighth, Fiaush walked and was on first with two outs when Jake Fulks sent a fly to short
center. CF Zach Hall came a very long way in to try and make the catch, but he bobbled and dropped it.
Meanwhile, Fiaush just kept running, and with head coach Pat Moomey waving him in from third base
and the Knights not executing the relay throw cleanly, he scored the winning run by eluding the tag of
catcher Dylan Johnson, who was forced up the line toward third by the throw home. Fiaush ducked toward
the fair side of the foul line to avoid the tag and the celebration was on in earnest.
However, amidst the celebration, Triad head coach Jesse Bugger argued the call with home plate
umpire Bob Engel, and after some confusion, it was determined that the game was indeed over as the
umpires hustled to the outfield in heading for their quarters.
"I think Jesse might have thought he was out of the baseline," Moomey stated. "But he (Fiaush) was in
foul territory, and the throw was up the line. So when he avoided the tag, he was still in the dirt path there.
He might have been a step to the inside of the foul line, but in my view, he was in the baseline."
"I was safe," Fiaush added. "I was in the baseline and I saw the ball going a little wide, so I went over
to the inside. Coach was waving me in. It's the best feeling of my life."
"I thought the ball was a little farther away, but when in doubt, you have to send him there," Moomey
explained. "Of course, if the throw is on the plate, he's out by 10 or 15 feet, and that wouldn't have looked
real good. I just felt we had to do it in that spot."
•Glenwood finished with 12 hits in the contest, as Fulks' bloop at the end was ruled a single. Dallas
Henderson and Fiaush had three hits apiece, while Fulks had two. Maton had a solo home run, and
Ingold, Jacob Reese and Jake Lance each had one hit.
Triad finished with 11 hits, including seven off Maton. Hall and Johnson, the top two hitters in the
order, combined for five hits, with Johnson notching an RBI single in the first and two-run homer in the
third.
Travis Felax (9-6) went the distance for the Knights. He struck out four and walked four. Maton struck
out four and walked one while allowing three earned runs, while Ingold (4-1) scattered four hits while
striking out six and walking none. The Titans committed two errors.
•In the top of the first, the Knights started off with three consecutive hits off Maton and led 1-0.
Glenwood tied things up in the second, as Maton led off with a solo home run to right, the ball just clearing
the same very short wall that Fiaush's ball cleared.
Singles by Lance, Hend-erson and Fiaush loaded the bases with no outs, but it was Glenwood's turn
to be on the wrong end of a controversial call first. Chris Sekardi sent a comebacker to the mound, with
Felax throwing home for one out. The throw to first hit Sekardi, and as the ball got away and two
Glenwood runners scored, Engel was waving everything off, ruling that Sekardi was out of the baseline.
All runners were ordered back to their bases, and Fulks flied out to end the inning.
Interestingly, Moomey shook up his batting order for the game, moving Fulks to leadoff and Turner up
to second while dropping Reese to third, Ingold fourth, Maton fifth and Lance sixth. Turner has been hot
lately, and getting his speed at the top of the lineup is a plus.
In the top of the third, Johnson's two-run homer to right-center put Triad up 3-1, and after a double off
the wall by Felax, an error by second baseman Connor Bryant allowed him to score to make it 4-1.
In the fourth inning, a booming double to the leftfield wall by Johnson chased Maton in favor of third
baseman Ingold, who, while not throwing as hard as Maton, was able to contain the Knights and keep
them off balance the rest of the way.
"They're a hot team, and Phil has been a hot pitcher," Moomey stated. "We've kind of extended Phil a
little bit here, as our rotation got out of whack with Bryce (Sablotny) and the blister injury. It's the third time
Phil has pitched in 10 days. They were hitting some shots everywhere so we had to make a change.
"It doesn't matter if Jake has his stuff or not, he's such a battler out there," Moomey continued. "We
really needed him to come in and get outs and he did that. He's a fighter. We've had a lot of great
competitors at Glenwood, and none rank ahead of Jake Ingold."
"It seemed like everything I was throwing, they were taking it the other way and hitting it hard," Maton
said. "I was just trying to mix it up. I didn't feel like I had my best stuff today and they were just hitting
everything. Jake did a phenomenal job coming in from third base, and he hadn't pitched in a while."
"I think I last pitched two weeks ago," Ingold laughed. "I've been ready to go, but Maton and Sablotny
have been shutting everybody down.
"We didn't have any more room," he added. "We couldn't give up any more runs and I was just trying to
get as many people out as I could."
Ingold said he threw a four-seam fastball instead of his usual two-seamer, and "it seemed to work."
"Nothing else is possible if Jake doesn't shut the door there," Moomey added. "We'd given them all we
could give, obviously, the way it turned out. He did a great job holding us there and changing the
momentum."
Ingold stranded two Triad runners in the top of the sixth before Henderson led off the bottom of the
inning with a single to center. Fiaush followed with his two-run homer to right to tie the score at 4-4.
"That was huge," Ingold said. "It got us all going, and got us pumped for the later innings."
"I'm sure Triad isn't feeling real good about having a kid hit his first home run of the year to tie the game
up," Moomey stated. "But those things happen, and it was a byproduct of Michael trying to go the other way
and hitting it hard. It snuck out and it was a huge hit.
"In the eighth, he was running hard all the way and he just made a super athletic play to get by the
catcher like he did and get to the plate."
The Titans may get a shot at revenge against Joliet Catholic, the team that beat them 3-2 in the 3A
state title game a year ago. Sablotny will get the call on the mound in Friday's first semifinal, and Maton
should be ready for Saturday's game. Ingold will be ready in relief and even Maton could be available for
an inning on Friday, Moomey said.
"We might get to face Joliet Catholic in the first round, and we will definitely be pumped up for that,"
Ingold said. "We feel we can beat them."
Chatham Clarion
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Issue Date: June 10, 2010
