Makoti nips Titans at sectionals
Makoti nips Titans at sectionals
By STU MERRY
The storied past of hard-fought, down-to-the-wire Legion baseball games between the Makoti Mavericks and Garrison-Max-Central McLean Titans added another chapter Tuesday in Lansford. It was the opening game of the sectional tournament.
This round went to the Mavericks who edged the Titans 6-5. The victor – Makoti – came in as the No. 5 seed. The Titans were No. 4.
Orville Drosdal, the coach of the Mavericks, said the game could have gone either way.
“Both teams played pretty good baseball,” he said. “It was nice we could put a good game together. I’m happy we played some pretty steady baseball.”
Titans Co-coach Jake Hultberg agreed, saying the two teams are mirror images of each other.
“We both have some pretty good pitchers but not a whole lot of depth at that position, talented hitters, and solid fielding,” he said. “In the tournament game, we both committed quite a few errors and we were both able to capitalize by stealing some runs.”
Caleb Karna went the distance for the Mavs, throwing 122 pitches. Drosdal said he was concerned about Karna’s endurance late in the game, but Caleb told him he wanted to go the distance, so Drosdal obliged.
“He threw very well, bearing down in the last two innings to get the job done,” Drosdal said. “I let him finish, and he pitched a heck of a ballgame.”
