The Record Blogs: Off the Record: Athletics win in Texas; Kandath advances to USTA semis

Athletics win in Texas; Kandath advances to USTA semis

HOUSTON, Texas -- The Albany Athletics made quite the debut in their first-ever American Amateur Baseball Congress Stan Musial World Series tournament.

The Athletics defeated the Dallas Royals, the South Plains regional champions, 13-5 in an opening around game Wednesday by scoring eight runs in the sixth inning and pounding out 19 hits in the victory.

Albany's Jason Martin sparked the big inning with a three-run home run that turned a one-run lead into a four-run edge. Mike Zgorzelski immediately followed with a solo homer and Joe DeMarco finished the scoring with a three-run double.

Earlier in the game, Martin hit a two-run single in the first inning to erase a two-run deficit. Then, Albany's Justin Meagher erased a second two-run deficit in the second inning with a two-run double to tie the game.

A's righthander Casey Walsh settled in after two earned runs in the fist inning then two unearned runs in the second inning. Walsh retired 22 straight batters starting at the end of the second inning heading into the ninth.

Albany (36-8), the North Atlantic regional champions, faces the Bayamon Vaqueros of Puerto Rico today at the Baseball USA Complex. Puerto Rico is the defending World Series champion and defeated the Lombard Orioles, 6-1, in its first round game.

ALBANY 13, DALLAS 5

Dallas Royals (28-9) 220 000 001 - 5 5 2
Albany Athletics (36-8) 220 018 00x - 13 19 1
Carlson, Flasik (6) and Smith Walsh and Mastroianni, DeMarco (6).

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USTA National Tennis Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich.: Albany Academy grad Matt Kandath (pictured below), who now attends Stanford University, has advanced to the semifinals of the 18-and-under tournament along with doubles partner Jack Sock.