DONALDSON – Ancilla’s Chargers were able to recover from a game one 6-2 loss to MCCAA foe Grand Rapids to post a game two 6-3 win to avoid the sweep.
Raider pitching kept Charger bats in check for most of the day, with game one starter Garrett Veihl taking a one hitter into the fifth and scattering just three hits to take the win. Ancilla was able to rally in the bottom of the seventh to plate a pair of runs on a Marvin Montgomery (Avon High School) single and three straight hit batters but Veihl recovered to close the door.
Montgomery had two of the three Charger hits in game one including a double. Starter Evan Vangordon (Blackford High School) took a no hitter of his own into the fourth but surrendered two runs in that framed and three more in the fifth. Chase Smith (Frankton High School) struck out two in two innings of relief.
Grand Rapids game two starter Tim Redder held the Chargers in check with five shut out innings, but Ancilla broke through to plate six runs in the bottom of the sixth off reliever Collin Lay to pick up the win.
A two run double by Luke Gaboury (Mishawaka Marian High School) tied the game and a single by Francis Silfa (LaPorte High School) plated Jason Ferguson (Warsaw High School) with what would prove to be the game winner.
Starter Clayton Adamson (Tippecaone Valley High School) walked just one in six innings of work to take the win. Dalton Clark (Rockville High School) came on to record the save.
“We really needed this,” said Ancilla head coach Joe Yonto. “We’ve got a lot of young guys out there and they really needed a taste of what it’s like to get a big conference win. It was a total team win – everybody contributed something – and that makes it even bigger.”
The Chargers (3-9) hit the road to take on Indiana Tech on Thursday and head to Detroit on Saturday for a conference date with Henry Ford Community College.
