The Orchard Park Sox were defeated by West Herr 3 to 2 in the National Amateur Baseball Federation Buffalo Regional championship on Sunday, August 7.

After finishing the AAA Muny regular season with a disappointing13-14 mark, the Sox got hot at the right time. The team compiled a 7-2 post-season mark.

The Sox went 4-2 in the four-day NABF Buffalo regional tournament. Here are some of the team’s top regional tournament performers:

The Orchard Park Sox won its first game of the NABF (National Amateur Baseball Federation) regional tournament Thursday afternoon by defeating St. John’s (Pittsburgh), 2-1.

St. John’s scored the game’s first run on a double steal in the top of the fourth inning. OP answered with a run in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI single by Chris Warner that scored Jeff Pierce.

The game went scoreless for five more innings until the Sox scored the winning run on a bases loaded single by John Cicero in the bottom of the tenth inning.

The winning score was set up by a leadoff walk by John Ticco which was followed by an error from the St. John’s pitcher, who threw a sac bunt by Charlie Karstedt over the first baseman’s head. Joe Haak bunted the runners to second and third. St. John’s intentionally walked Jeff Pierce to create a force play. It was then that Cicero came through with the game-winning hit.

Starting pitcher Joe Hill went the distance on the mound throwing 10 innings, allowing just six hits and one walk while striking out 11 batters.

Photos from the Sox win over St. John’s:

In the nightcap, the Sox fell to local squad West Herr, 6-2. After leading late 2-1, the Sox bullpen allowed five late inning runs.

Orchard Park will play the winner of Fairview OH Marlins and Utica NY Oriskany Blazers at ECC North on Friday at 2 p.m.

A loss will eliminate the Sox from the double elimination tournament while a win will schedule the Sox for a 12:30 p.m. contest on Saturday, August 6 at either ECC North or Northtown.

Three consecutive wins earned the Orchard Park Sox the right to play in this weekend’s National Amateur Baseball Federation regional tournament.

Despite a 13-14 regular season mark, the Sox won the NABF preliminary tournament to earn the final bid to the regional tournament.

Mike Mariano

Here’s how they got there:

OP Sox 7, Lancaster 1 – Wed., July 27
OP Sox 4, Swingers 0 – Fri., July 29
OP Sox 6, The Aud 5 – Sat., July 30

The top four teams in AAA Muny, Pignataro’s, Murray’s Diesel, Lockport Buslines and West Herr; earned automatic bids. Diesel will travel to Connecticut while the others play in the Buffalo regional with the Sox.

The regional begins Thursday. More details to come.

Here are some interesting facts about the OP Sox this season:

During the regular season, the Sox were 10-8 at Green Lake and 3-6 away from their home field.

Friday seems to be the best night for the Sox. The squad was 6-2 on Fridays. They won their only Saturday game and were just 4-6 on Sundays and a dismal 2-6 in Wednesday games.

The Sox are a combined 2-5 against the local teams playing in the regional tournament: Lockport (1-1), Pignataro’s (0-2), West Herr (1-2). Of those seven games, the Sox started 2-0 with wins over West Herr and Lockport, but lost the next five.

The three consecutive wins in the preliminary tournament was only the second time this season the Sox won three in a row. They beat Lockport, Leib’s and Swingers between June 3 and June 10.

During the regular season, the Sox scored an average 4.7 runs per game and allowed 4.85 per contest. In their three post-season games, they have scored 5.7 per game and allowed just 2.0 runs.

Mark Gampietro pitched six innings allowing just three hits and striking out nine while Joe Mariano was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a triple and double for the Orchard Park Sox in a 7-1 win over Lancaster in the NABF preliminary regional tournament Wednesday evening. Chris Warner went 2-4 with a double. Rick Foit and Marty Foit each hit a double.

Orchard Park will play Swingers at the Northtown Center in Amherst on Friday evening at 6 p.m.

Mark Gampietro

Despite finishing in sixth place (13-14) in the AAA Muny standings and outside of the top four teams earning automatic bids to National Amateur Baseball Federation regional tournaments, the Orchard Park Sox have one more chance to earn a bid to the regional tournament in Buffalo by competing in the preliminary tournament among the league’s remaining teams to determine a fifth qualifier.

The preliminary tournament begins tonight with the Sox needing three consecutive wins to advance.

The quest begins with the Sox slated to host Lancaster at Orchard Park High School for a 6 p.m. start.

Orchard Park won the season series over Lancaster, 2-1.

Mark Gampietro is expected to start with Joe Hill taking the mound on Friday at the Northown Center in Amherst if the Sox win.

The Orchard Park Sox lost a must-win contest to first place Pignataro’s on Wednesday at Dawson Field in Depew. The loss drops the Sox to a 12-13 mark and puts the club in an improbable position to earn an automatic bid to the National Amateur Baseball Federation regional tournament.

Pignataro’s invoked the league’s ten-run mercy rule by scoring two batters into the fifth inning.

Jeff Pierce went 3-for-3 with three singles. Joe Mariano hit a triple and a single. Rick Foit and John Ticco each had a double.

Game Notes:

The Tax Men reached base with their leadoff hitter in every inning, including the first two batters in each of the first three innings.

The Sox committed four errors and had two batters strike out looking with a runner on third base with less than two outs.

Here are the top seven teams in the AAA Muny Standings. The top four earn automatic bids to the regional tournament.

Check out full AAA Muny coverage at SwingersBaseball.com

Joe Hill

The Orchard Park Sox improved to a 10-10 mark with a 6-1 win over Swingers (9-10) at Green Lake on Friday night.

Joe Hill earned the victory on the mound allowing one run and scattering eight hits.

Jeff Pierce had two hits and three runs batted in.

Game note: Seven of 13 leadoff hitters reached base (Swingers, 3 of 7; Sox, 4 of 6)

The Orchard Park Sox, currently in seventh place in the AAA Muny standings with a 9-10 record, will host the Swingers (5th, 9-9) Friday evening at Green Lake.

The Sox have struggled since starting the season with a 6-2 mark and have won just once in their last six contests.

Marty Foit (left) and Pete LaCongo are looking to move back to a .500 record with a win over Swngers.

Orchard Park’s offense has averaged just 2.3 runs per game in its last six games while it has allowed 5.7 runs per contest in that same span. Take away the 14 runs allowed to Diesel on June 29 and the Sox are still giving up 4.8 runs a contest.

The Swingers have won six of their last seven.

Orchard Park won the first meeting between the two teams on June 10, 3-2.

First pitch tonight is scheduled for 6:17 pm.

The Orchard Park Sox split an afternoon and evening doubleheader with Lancaster on Sunday, June 26. The split moves the Sox to a 9-7 record and into a third place tie in the AAA Muny baseball standings.

Lancaster won the first game, 6-5. The Sox lead 1-0, but allowed 6 sixth inning runs. Orchard Park batted around the order in the seventh inning and scored four runs before being closed out with the bases loaded.

Rick Foit, Chris Warner and Rohn Pierce had two hits each.

In the second game, the Sox scored two runs on two RBI singles by Chris Warner. Starting pitcher Mark Gampietro went six innings while striking out five and allowing just one run and one hit. Tyler Balentine retired three straight batters in the seventh inning to earn the save.

OP Sox shortstop Joe Mariano

The Orchard Park Sox lost their fourth game in the last six with a 3-1 loss to The Aud Friday evening.

The game was originally scheduled to be played at Dawson Field, but due to poor field conditions was moved to Green Lake.

OP’s Mike Mariano singled in the top of the third inning and moved to second base on a sacrifice. Joe Mariano followed with a double to score his brother and take the lead, 1-0.

The Aud answered with three runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning that lead to the win.

Joe Mariano finished with two hits. Marty Foit was 2 of 3 with two singles.

The loss drops the Sox to 8-6 while The Aud improved to a 5-5 mark.

The Sox will host a doubleheader at Green Lake versus Lancaster on Sunday beginning at 4 p.m.

The Orchard Park Sox lost at home to West Herr on Father’s Day Sunday at Green Lake.

I’m a little late on this, but here are some photos from the game and an inning by inning account of the action.

The Sox fell to 7-5 (third place) while West Herr improved to 5-7 (10th place) in the AAA Muny baseball league.

Top of First Inning
West Herr could not capitalize of a single and a pair of walks as Sox starter Eric Kelly held the Herr scoreless despite runners on second and third with one out.
Bottom of First Inning
A pair of infield singles from John Cicero and John Ticco did not lead to any runs for the Sox.
Top of Second Inning
West Herr went down one-two-three.
Bottom of Second Inning
Mike Mariano reached base to start the inning. Two outs followed then Frank Nycz walked. Joe Mariano singled, but Dave Crowley was thrown out at home by Pat Knauth.
Top of Third Inning
Chris Favorite singled in the game’s first run with two outs.
West Herr, 1-0
Bottom of Third Inning
John Cicero led off with a broken bat single. John Ticco was hit by a pitch. After two outs, Mike Mariano knocked in two runs. Jeff Piece then singled and Mariano was thrown out at home.
OP Sox, 2-1
Top of Fourth Inning
West Herr was set down one-two-three with the help of a rare 9-3 putout from John Cicero to John Ticco.
Bottom of Fourth Inning
Joe Mariano singled with two outs. No runs for the home team.
Top of Fifth Inning
Don Bell and Wade Rosolowski reached base to start the inning. OP first baseman John Ticco cut down Bell at home on an infield grounder. With runners on second and third and no outs, Eric Kelly kept West Herr scoreless but getting the last two outs.
Bottom of Fifth Inning
John Ticco was hit by a pitch for the second time. Marty Foit subsequently doubled off the left field fence. Rick Foit followed with a single to score both.
OP Sox, 4-1
Top of Sixth Inning
Dan Conrad doubled down the right field line that scored a run. Steve Spillman singled to score two more to tie the game. Mike Brosius singled to take the lead.
West Herr, 5-4
Bottom of Sixth Inning
Joe Mariano reached base and stole second, but did not score.
Top of Seventh Inning
West Herr held scoreless by Anthony Fistola.
Bottom of Seventh Inning
Mark Messina relieves Marc Muoio on the mound for West Herr.
Marty Foit walks with one out then Rick Foit reaches on an error. With the tying run on second base with two outs, Jeff Pierce lined a shot up the middle. West Herr second baseman Chris Favorite dove to his right and threw to first. Steve Spillman made the scoop the seal the victory.
Win: Marc Muoio
Save: Mark Messina
Loss: Eric Kelly

Sox highlights: Joe Mariano, 2-3, BB, 2 SB; John Ticco, 1-2, 2 HBP, 2 R; John Cicero, 2-4, 2 1B

Parker Galvin

A bloop single off the bat of Rick Foit made the difference in Orchard Park’s 3-2 victory over Swingers at Green Lake Friday evening.

Tied 2-2 going in the bottom of the fifth inning, Marty Foit was on second base after an earlier double and scored the go-ahead run on a ball that skied above short center field and managed to find grass between Swinger outfielders.

Orchard Park’s first two runs came by way of a sacrifice fly by Joe Haak and a single by John Ticco.

All of the game’s runs were scored with two outs.

Marty Foit went 3-for-3 with two singles and a double. John Cicero picked up two singles.

Joe Hill earned his first career win in an Orchard Park uniform by scattering 7 hits over six innings. Tyler Balentine pitched the seventh inning to pick up the save.

The win improves the Sox to a mark of 6 wins and two losses. The Swingers fall to 3-7.

Sox manager Shawn Gavigan made some big moves for the 2011 season

The Orchard Park Sox of the AAA Muny baseball league have made four major acquisitions for the 2011 season.

According to manager Shawn Gavigan, the Sox have acquired pitcher Joe Hill, shortstop Joe Mariano, catcher Mike Mariano and first baseman/designated hitter Hank Nix from Leib’s, the league’s regular season champions in 2010.

“We acquired probably the best shortstop in the league and the best pitcher in the league,” Gavigan said by telephone late Thursday night.

Gavigan said that Ron Leib, manager of Leib’s, wants to play with a younger team this summer, which left the four veterans open to play for another organization.

Picking up Joe Hill gives the Sox the most dominate pitching rotation in the league which now includes Hill, Jeremy Dracup, Eric Kelly and Anthony Fistola.

Word around the league was that Gavigan had a plan in the works to make some noise, but the 1987 Orchard Park graduate did not want to make an official announcement until he talked with members of his team.

At a team meeting held at the Big Tree Inn on Thursday evening, Gavigan met with current Sox players to discuss any impending roster changes. Gavigan said he received no opposition to the idea of bringing in the four big names.

“I was a nervous wreck at the meeting,” the Sox manager said.

Gavigan hopes the new players will help earn his team another trip to the National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF) championship tournament held in Louisville each summer. Orchard Park, which plays its home games at Green Lake, won the national title in 2005.

To advance to Louisville, a team needs to win a NABF regional tournament. Last summer, the Sox finished with a 16-11 regular season record and failed to advance to the post-season regional tournament for the first time since 2003.

“We decided we want to make one more run at it,” said Gavigan. “I think with these acquisitions we are, by far, the team to beat. It’s going to be a pretty exciting summer.”

Pitcher John Catanzaro (right) and second baseman Jason Radwan collide while trying to make a play in Friday evening.

Nothing went right for the Orchard Park Sox Friday evening. As the top seed in the preliminary tournament to decide the fifth team in AAA Muny to advance to the National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF) regional tournament, the Sox unexpectedly lost to Pignataro’s, 8-2.

The Sox allowed three runs to the Tax Men in the top of the first inning, but came back in the bottom of the frame with two of their own. The Sox did not score again as they mustered just one hit in the remaining six innings.

“Our team has been like that all year long,” Sox manager Shawn Gavigan said after the loss. “When we get down early it seems like we can never recover. We always have to get up in the game.”

Sox pitchers allowed of total of thirteen hits in the loss. Jeff Pierce had two of Orchard Park’s four hits.

Orchard Park finishes the season with an overall record of 17 wins and twelve losses.

Pignataro’s will play Grand Island Dugout tonight (8:45 p.m.) at the Amherst Center to determine who will advance to the NABF regional tournament.

Joe Haak and the OP Sox need two more wins to qualify for the NABF regional tournament.

While the top four teams in AAA Muny sit home this weekend after earning automatic bids to the National Amateur Baseball Federation regional tournament to be held in Buffalo August 5-8, the Orchard Park Sox are trying to earn the fifth and final spot by winning the preliminary tournament between the league’s remaining eight teams.

In the opening round, Orchard Park took a 5-0 lead over Kandefer’s Wednesday evening at Green Lake before the game was postponed due to rain. On Thursday, the game was moved over to Orchard Park High School where Kandefer’s threatened with two runs in the top of the sixth inning. The Sox came back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning and went on to win, 7-2.

Catcher John Cicero went 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs while Marty Foit had two hits including a triple. Joe Haak added two hits. Ron Pierce of Newfane earned the win on the mound relieving Jeremy Dracup, who pitched 3 2/3 innings before leaving the game early with an injury.

Orchard Park is hoping it will have little trouble winning the preliminary tournament since they have fared quite well this season against AAA Muny’s lower-seeded teams. Including the most recent win against Kandefer’s, the Sox have earned a 15-4 mark against the seven teams below them in the standings. Only the Swingers had a winning record (2-0) against the Sox this season.

Cicero likes his team’s chances of winning the preliminary tournament.

“I think it will come down to pitching and experience,” he said after Thursday’s win. “We have a core of veterans who have played in these types of games before and can come through in pressure situations.”

Orchard Park will play Pignataro’s on Friday, July 30 at the Amherst Center. Game time is set for 6 p.m. The Sox won both regular season contests against the Tax Men. Rohn Pierce will get the start on the mound for Orchard Park.

The other semi-final will feature Swingers and Grand Island Dugout to be played at 8:45 p.m.

Frank Nycz, the oldest active player in AAA Muny at 57 years of age, enjoys a moment on the bench during a recent Orchard Park Sox baseball game.

With a 10-3 win over Kandefer’s Sunday afternoon, the Orchard Park Sox moved to 15-10 and have matched their longest winning streak of the season at four straight.

The Sox opened the season with four consecutive wins.

Jeremy Dracup picked up the win on the mound Sunday afternoon.

Orchard Park is 5-1 in its last six contests averaging 6.5 runs a game over that span.

The team has moved into fourth place in the AAA Muny standings, two games ahead of Kenmore for the final automatic bid to the NABF regional tournament.

Charlie Karstedt went two of four at the plate Friday evening with a double, triple and stolen base.

A five-hit five-run fifth inning helped the Orchard Park Sox get past the host Pignataro’s Tax Men at Dawson Field in Depew Friday night, 8-4.

Trailing by one run heading into the top half of the fifth, Sox left fielder Charlie Karstedt opened with a triple to spark the big inning.

Jeff Pierce had a key two-run double to keep the rally alive. Chris Warner had two singles in the win.

A.J. Witkowski, a 2010 graduate of OP, started on the mound. Pat Hayes, Greg Radwan and Tyler Balentine combined for four innings of scoreless relief.

Orchard Park has won three games in a row to improve its record to 14 wins and ten losses. The team will play Kandefer’s at Centennial Park in West Seneca Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Three games remain in the 27-game schedule. The Sox will host the regular season finale at Green Lake against The Aud on Sunday, July 25 at 1 p.m.

Starting pitcher Eric Kelly allowed six hits and no walks in the Sox' 1-0 win Sunday.

The Orchard Park Sox of the AAA Muny Baseball League improved their record to 10 wins and eight losses with a 1-0 win in eight innings over Lancaster Sunday evening at Coca-Cola Field.

Starting pitcher Eric Kelly went the distance on the hill allowing six hits and no walks.

Second baseman Jason Radwan had the game-winning two-out single in the bottom of the eighth to clinch the victory.

2004 Orchard Park graduate Chris Warner hit three singles.