Girasole outduels Savoldelli in 4-1 win

The Challengers finally managed to get a win against the Embrach Mustangs with Roger Savoldelli on the mound.

It took a gutty effort from Andrea Girasole to realize that 4-1 win, and he did so by tossing 8 1-3 inning in which he gave up a single unearned run on only five hits and two walks, while also striking out five.

Eidrys Reyes had two hits, an RBI and a stolen base, and both Bryan Shemley and Saentis Zeller added two hits apiece in an 11-hit attack.

But just like past seasons, the Challengers had trouble timing Savoldelli as he cruised through the first five innings, allowing only one baserunner to get into scoring position.

That came in the third inning when Reyes singled and stole second, and two batters later tried to score on second baseman Christian Klarer's errant throw to first base. He was bailed out by right fielder Tim Jones who backed up first base, picked up the ball and nailed Reyes with a perfet throw at home plate.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Mustangs profited from a dropped fly ball by left fielder Jesus Martinez with two outs to extend the inning, and score their first run.

The Challengers got to Savoldelli in the sixth inning on four consecutive singles by Zeller, Francisco Colindres, Robert Sedin and Tobias Siegrist to score twice for a 2-1 lead.

Girasole kept cruising and used a mix of fastballs, curves and change ups to keep the Mustangs' bat off balance.

Josh Crouse had the most success as he reached base three times with three singles, but was left stranded each time as the bottom five of the Mustangs' lineup went 1-for-17.

From the sixth through the ninth innings, Girasole retired 10 batters in a row at one point, finishing with a career-high Game Score of 74.

After striking out Klarer to start the ninth, Scott Chiusano reached on a single, and sent Girasole to the showers.

Thomas Burger relieved and picked up his first win of the season by getting the final two outs.

Game notes
Harry Bregy tied the late Manny Marchant for eighth place on the all-time list for hits with 213 as he singled in the ninth inning. ...The Challengers were 0-4 against Savoldelli since their last win on July 10, 2010. ...The Challengers have a 5-5 record in Embrach over the last five seasons.