Amherst Baseball Classic: Avon bats stay hot in win over Amherst

AMHERST — For the second night in a row, Avon put up double-digit runs and hits to beat Amherst 10-3 in the Adrian Abrahamowicz Summer Classic on Wednesday night at Sliman Diamond. On Tuesday Avon had 11 hits in an 11-10 win at Elyria. The Eagles followed Wednesday with 10 hits. Center fielder Dario Gomez led the way with three hits, including an RBI double. Landon McQuality tripled to lead off the three-run fifth inning and Ryan Pesta was credited with a pair of RBIs. "Feels good to be back with my friends," Gomez said of the opportunity presented by the Summer Classic. "Feels nice to succeed and come out here and just win." Ryan Pesta had two hits, while Charlie Brunner, Owen Murphy, Austin Wolfe, Luka Predovich and Elliott Brooks also had hits. Avon got good pitching performances. Starter Phil Gigliotti worked four innings, allowing just two runs and four hits. Lefty Cameron Ocepek and right-hander Lucas Pintar finished up for the Eagles. "Phil's a great guy, a team guy first," said Avon coach Pat Scholla. "He works his tail off in the offseason and did a great job to start the game. "At the plate, they're just seeing it well and doing what they need to do, executing. Sometimes it just takes a sac fly to extend the lead and our guys did a good job of that." Owen Sultzer provided a highlight for the Comets with a leadoff home run in the sixth inning. "This week and last week practicing are my two favorite weeks of the summer," Amherst coach Matt Rositano said. "I get to see the guys and see if they've gotten bigger, stronger, faster, learned anything new and developed a little bit more with their summer stuff. We're playing a lot of guys on the roster and some of them played freshman baseball last year. They're getting that little bit of varsity experience." Isaiah Valentin had a double and a single for the Comets, while Larry Polonkey, Jon Kucbel, Chael Schneider and Michael Frey had hits. The tournament continues through Saturday. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.