Paul Carpenter rides Layton's arm, 11-hit attack to JCBL series lead

Mike Mastovich, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·4 min read

Jul. 25—Bryan Layton did his part on the mound, and his Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors teammates produced more than enough offense on Saturday night to put the Johnstown Collegiate Baseball League regular-season champions on the verge of making history.

Layton tossed a complete game and Paul Carpenter pounded 11 hits, including two home runs, in a 12-1 victory over second-seeded Martella's Pharmacy in front of an estimated 200 fans at Sargent's Stadium at the Point. The game was shortened to seven innings by the 10-run mercy rule.

"Can't ask for better pitching," Paul Carpenter manager Dave Sheriff said after Layton scattered five hits, struck out seven and walked two. "Pitching is this league. We gave up one triple to Omar (Ward), but you go in there and shut them down. And we finally squared up the ball."

The Game 3 victory put Paul Carpenter up 2-1 in the best-of-5 series.

Paul Carpenter, the defending playoff champion, has never advanced to the AAABA Tournament as the league playoff champion because the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 tournament. One more win would make PCCA the night game host.

Both Paul Carpenter and Martella's have clinched a spot in the 76th AAABA Tournament, which opens on Aug. 2. It's a matter of who will be playing at night and who will host during the day games at the Point.

"PC can't take those 12 runs with them. What they can take with them is a win," Martella's manager Kerry Pfeil said. "It's a best-of-5 series. We have plenty of life. We will worry about Game 4."

Game 4 will begin at 7 p.m. on Sunday at Sargent's Stadium at the Point. Game 5, if necessary, would be on Monday at the Point.

"What impressed me about them tonight was they squared up the ball in three or four innings," Pfeil said. "They put up big numbers. They thrive off of that type of offense. Layton threw strikes. Unfortunately, when we did square up the ball, we hit it straight up in the air. They outhit us. That's the end of the story."

Layton said he wasn't getting fancy on the mound. He threw 91 pitches, with 64 for strikes. Omar Ward tripled and scored Martella's lone run against him.

"Fastballs," Layton said. "I was really struggling again with that curveball. I haven't thrown it much, so I'm not really relying on it much. I'm relying on spotting up fastballs inside and low and going with whatever the umpire's strike zone is for the day."

His catcher, league MVP Sam Contacos, smashed a two-run homer to give Layton early support in the bottom of the first. Contacos had two hits, scored three times and drove in two runs.

"We all had a little chip on our shoulder after the defeat because our bats were really hot in the first game, but not in the second game," Contacos said of a 7-3 loss on Friday in which PCCA stranded 12 baserunners. "We all came back and just pounded the ball. I always say hitting is contagious. Once one guy hits, everyone wants to hit."

Leadoff hitter Jordan Sabol had two hits, including a three-run homer, in Paul Carpenter's six-run sixth inning. Brandon Lane continued his hot hitting with a pair of doubles and two runs batted in to improve to 9-for-13 with 10 RBIs in the series.

Zach Seaman had two hits and two RBIs from the No. 9 spot. Jace Cappellini had a double.

"Incredible," Layton said. "The bats were hot tonight. They were going crazy."

"We had energy from the get-go and that was the key," Sheriff added. "You get that line moving, that gets the energy going and the line keeps moving."

Pfeil initially filed a protest in the bottom of the third after a wild pitch created an unusual situation. Paul Carpenter's Contacos scored from third on the wild pitch and, initially, Lane scored from second. But the ball went under one of the chairs the Paul Carpenter coaches sit on in front of the dugout. The ball quickly bounced back into play.

The umpires ruled that Lane must return to third base, and Contacos' run stood. After a lengthy discussion, Pfeil protested, but after the game he said the umpires made the correct call.

"The protest will be dropped," Pfeil said. "The one reason I did protest is I was unsure of the rule. We researched the rule and the umpires absolutely got it right. This has been a fantastic crew of umpires in this championship series. They nailed it and the protest will be withdrawn.

"A coach was sitting on a chair. The chair was in play," Pfeil continued. "The way the rule reads is, as long as they didn't intentionally interfere with the ball, the umpires can move runners at their discretion. Obviously, that runner would have scored from third. The umpires got it right."