Marinchak, Martella's Pharmacy clinch JCBL regular-season crown
Jul. 11—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Ligonier Valley High School graduate Michael Marinchak began thinking about Monday's Johnstown Collegiate Baseball League game a couple nights prior to his taking the mound at Sargent's Stadium at the Point.
The Martella's Pharmacy right-hander made a case to his manager, Kerry Pfeil, that he should have the ball with an opportunity for his team to clinch the JCBL regular-season title at stake.
"I called him and said, 'We need to clinch this. It'd be big.' We haven't done that since 2018 and that year obviously led to great things for Johnstown with us winning the whole thing," Marinchak said after he tossed four scoreless frames in Martella's Pharmacy 12-2 victory over The Hill Group in five innings.
Martella's Pharmacy won its sixth straight game and ninth in its past 11 contests.
"That's our goal. Our first goal now is to get the night game and pack this place and get back to that championship," said Marinchak, who was part of Seton Hill University's 48-win team that captured the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crown and reached the NCAA Division II Super Regional.
Martella's Pharmacy took a 17-9 record into Monday's late game at the Point against Laurel Auto Group.
Martella's Pharmacy holds tiebreakers over both second-place Mainline Pharmacy and third-place O heading into Tuesday's final date of the regular season.
"It's really big," Pfeil said of Martella's Pharmacy earning the top seed entering Friday's semifinal round game against the No. 4 seed at Forest Hills High School.
The second and third seeds will play on Friday at Mount Aloysius College in another best-of-5 semifinal round. Friday's games begin at 5:15 p.m., with action returning to Sargent's Stadium on Saturday (4 p.m./7 p.m.) and Sunday. The standings are tight and the order might not be determined until Tuesday.
"This is what happened in 2018 and we had a good result at the end of the 2018 season," Pfeil said, referring to Martella's Pharmacy winning Johnstown's first and only AAABA Tournament championship five years ago, the most recent time the team won the league's regular-season title.
Since then, Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors won the JCBL regular season championship from 2019 through 2022, reaching the tournament as Johnstown's night game top seed in 2021 and 2022. COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 tournament.
"After starting this season 0-3, we didn't hit the panic button," Pfeil said. "We focused on getting better.
"We got better with a good core of returning guys but also with a lot of good, young players.
"We're jelling. We have the potential to be a very dangerous team."
Marinchak struck out five and walked one while allowing two hits and no runs in four innings. He threw 52 pitches, with 31 of those for strikes. Logan Bradish tossed the fifth inning, allowing two runs, two hits and two walks.
"Location, fastball location," Marinchak said of his strength on Monday. "I trust (catcher) Zach (Ramach) back there calling pitches. He does a great job mixing locations. Whatever he calls, I trust. That's what we go with."
Ramach also plays at Seton Hill with Marinchak.
Martella's Pharmacy collected eight hits by eight different players. Konnor Pittman, Jared Dowey and Ramach each hit doubles.
Ramach drove in three runs, while Dowey, Pittman, Matt Frazetta, Jack Messina and Nick Flemming each plated two runs.
"It's good to see us finally get going in that department," Marinchak said. "We've been hot lately.
"It's a great time of the year to get hot and stay hot."
Tyler Anderson had a hit and drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth for The Hill Group. Ian Amaranto had a single, and Carson Modrak and Connor Lindsey each walked and scored a run in the fifth.
Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.
