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By Scott Huff
HILLTOWN – Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang.
Central Bucks East blasted five homeruns – three in the sixth inning – and needed every one as the Patriots held off host Pennridge, 14-12, in a wild Suburban One League Continental Conference game.
“We’ve been putting up runs all year,” said CB East head coach Kyle Dennis. “And today we hit the long ball in some key situations.
“But give Pennridge credit – they didn’t quit,” added Dennis as the Rams rallied from an 11-6 deficit to cut the lead to 11-10 in the sixth inning. “Games at this level aren’t over until they’re over.”
The game was played at the Deep Run Complex in Hilltown – not the Second Street Park in Perkasie where the dirt infield was unplayable. And the fences that circled the Deep Run field were cozy.
“They hit five homeruns, but we played on the same field and didn’t hit any,” said Pennridge coach Tom Nunneviller. “We gave away a couple of runs with mental errors, and that was what beat us.”
The winning pitcher for the Patriots was Tim Wessel; however, it was Wessel the clean-up hitter that was extremely impressive. Wessel cranked a pair of monster homeruns to spark the East offensive power surge.
“The last time I played on this field was in a junior varsity game – and I hit a homer over the same part of the fence in center,” said Wessel. “I never hit two homers in a high school game before – one was on a fastball and one was on a curveball.
“All I’m trying to do is hit line drives,” added Wessel. “We’ve been down early in all four of the conference games that we have won. So when we fell behind, I wasn’t too worried.”
Pennridge scored an unearned run in the first inning and added three runs in the second inning to snatch a 4-0 lead. Dylan Tice contributed an RBI single, while Brad Herrmann scorched a two-run double.
CB East posted five runs in the fourth inning to assume a 5-4 lead. Matt Tenaglia led off the frame with a homer – East scored on a costly Pennridge error – Ryan Pater roped a two-run double – and Mike Damm lofted a sacrifice fly.
The Rams regained the lead, 6-5, in last of the fourth on an unearned run and an RBI single off the bat of Ryan Metzger.
The Patriots posted a single run in the fifth inning to tie the score. Wessel hit the first of his two homeruns over the 365-foot sign on the centerfield wall.
CB East seemingly put the game away with another five-run outburst in the sixth inning. The Pats smoked three homers in the inning by Damm, Wessel, and Chris Zikmund to grab an 11-6 lead.
Pennridge, though, refused to go away and posted four runs in the last of the sixth frame to close to within 11-10. RBI singles by Dan Wolfe and Ray Puskar – plus a two-run single by pinch hitter Tim Eversole made it a one-run game.
The Patriots scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning without the benefit of a hit. Three walks – a hit batter – and an error pushed the lead to 14-10.
Again, the Rams refused to quit. An RBI groundout by Metzger and another unearned run closed the gap to 14-12. But Patriot closer Brian Davis finished the deal with the tying run at the plate.
“This was a great win for us,” said Dennis as the Patriots improved to 6-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference. “Pennridge was unbeaten (in the conference) coming into this game, and they are a solid team.”
Pennridge played the game without its number four hitter – Eric Kammler. Kammler missed the game due to illness.
“It’s tough because he is one of our best hitters and an excellent shortstop,” said Nunneviller. “But that’s all part of baseball.
“We had our opportunities to win the game,” added Nunneviller as the Rams fell to 4-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference. “But we didn’t take advantage of all of them.”
CB East 0 0 0 5 1 5 3 - 14 12 3
Pennridge 1 3 0 2 0 4 2 - 12 13 2
CB East: Mike Damm ss 2 2 1 2; Ryan Sparks 2b 5 0 0 0; Matt Tenaglia 3b 4 2 2 2; Tim Wessel p 3 3 2 3; Brian Davis p 1 0 0 1; Chris Zikmund 1b 4 2 2 1; Mike DiVona c 4 1 2 0; Joe Hoy dh 3 2 0 0; Dave Davenport lf 3 1 2 0; Ryan Pater cf 2 1 1 2. Totals 31 14 12 11.
Pennridge: Dylan Tice ss-p 5 2 2 1; Ryan Metzger lf 4 2 2 1; Brad Herrmann cf-p 2 2 1 2; Dan Wolfe c 5 1 2 1; Ray Puskar 3b 4 1 1 1; Cody Zickler 3b 3 0 0 0; Tim Eversole ph 1 0 1 2; Jared Schaffer p 0 0 0 0; Nick Raymond dh 4 1 1 0; Pete Leatherman rf 3 2 2 0; Ryan Trauger ph 1 1 1 0; Kyle Peters 1b 3 0 0 0. Totals 35 12 13 8.
E- [CBE] – 3. [P] – 2. LOB- [CBE] – 6. [P] – 7. SB – [CBE] – Damm 2B – [CBE] – Pater [P] – Herrmann, Leatherman. HR – [CBE] – Wessel (2), Tenaglia, Damm, Zikmund.
INN H R ER BB K
CB East
Wessel (W) 5.2 11 10 8 3 5
Davis (s) 1.1 2 2 0 0 1
Pennridge
Schaffer 4.1 7 6 5 3 2
Tice (L) 1.1 5 5 5 1 0
Trauger 0.1 0 0 0 0 1
Herrmann 1.0 0 3 2 4 0
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