SOL Carpenter Cup Wrap (6-19-15)

The SOL National/BAL advanced to Monday’s Carpenter Cup semifinal with a 12-8 win over Delaware North. The SOL American/Continental fell to Delaware County 6-5.

By Scott Huff

“It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame…Let’s Play Two!” * Ernie Banks – Chicago Cub Hall of Famer

It was indeed a beautiful day for a ballgame Friday at F.D.R. Park in South Philadelphia at the pristine Urban Youth Academy Showcase Field. 

And players from the Suburban One League were involved in a pair of Carpenter Cup quarterfinal contests as the SOL National/Bicentennial team defeated the Delaware North team by a 12-8 margin, while the SOL American/Continental Conference team dropped a tough 6-5 contest to Delaware County.

The victory will catapult the SOL National/Bicentennial League team into the Carpenter Cup semifinals.  That squad will play Berks County in that contest at Citizen’s Bank Park – home of the Phillies – with a scheduled 9:30 a.m. start on Monday (6/22/15).  Berks County advanced to the semifinals with a 7-4 victory over the Philadelphia Catholic League and will be the SOL/Bicentennial opponent.

“It is always fun to get to play at Citizen’s Bank Park,” said SOL National/Bicentennial League co-coach Joe Pesci (Pennsbury).  “We got to that (semifinal) game last year and lost 6-5 to Burlington, and hopefully we can get to the final this year.

“We got down today 4-0 and came back to take a 7-4 lead.  And then we lost the lead again at 8-7 - that can be heart breaking,” added Pesci.  “But we refused to pack it in - scored five more runs – and we win the game by four.”

The pride that Pesci had in his winning SOL National/Bicentennial League team was matched by SOL American/Continental head coach Ed Wall.

“I was happy with the way we played - even though we lost,” said Wall (Upper Dublin).   “Little things here and there can cost you a game – and we had some tough calls go against us.  But we came back from 6-2 to make it a one-run game – and that speaks volumes about the character of our players.”

Suburban One League National/Bicentennial League 12 – Delaware North 8

The roller coaster ride in this game came in the first five innings with three lead changes and a tie.  The final three and one-half innings were scoreless as the pitching staffs from both teams assumed total control of the game.

“All I can say is that it was a weird game,” said Pesci.  “The first few innings were filled with bloop hits and errors.  It seemed that all you had to do was put the ball in play to get on base.

“And then the final innings had some good pitching on both sides,” added Pesci.  “We picked a couple of kids off first base, and that really helped keep them from scoring.”

The rifle arm of SOL National/Bicentennial League catcher Connor Macaulay (Council Rock South) was showcased on both key pickoff attempts that short-circuited late Delaware North rallies.

“I was able to do that a few times during the year,” said Macaulay.  “It’s just something that the first baseman (Brian Kaelin) and I saw about how they were taking leads.  I have been catching since I have been eight years old – and it’s just something that I have been able to do – and we took advantage of it.”

Another important thing that Macaulay did over the final four innings was to expertly handle a trio of SOL National Conference pitchers.  The threesome of Greg Troyer (Abington), Andrew Alvino (Neshaminy), and T.J. Arnao (Neshaminy) shut the door with four scoreless innings to preserve the win.  Troyer was awarded the win throwing two shutout frames.

“Greg Troyer was really hitting his spots with a great curve,” said Macaulay.  “And it was great to be able to be on the receiving end of the pitches thrown by both Alvino and Arnao.  It was nice to have those three guys as teammates today.”

The SOL/Bicentennial saw Delaware North score a pair of runs in both the first and second innings to take a 4-0 lead.  The SOL/Bicentennial erased that lead with a four-run third inning to forge a 4-4 tie – and all four runs were scored with two outs.

With one out, Julian Turner (Holy Ghost Prep) singled and advanced to second base on a single by Brendan Gallagher (Abington).  With two outs, Sean Phelan (Devon Prep) singled to left to score Turner and moved Gallagher to second base.  D.J. Endler (Pennsbury) doubled to score Gallagher.  Ryan Malloy (Holy Ghost Prep) singled to score both Phelan and Endler.

The SOL/Bicentennial League took a 7-4 lead with a three run fourth inning. 

Nick Mulvey (Bensalem) singled up the middle to open the inning and advanced to second on a single by Jack Larini (Abington).  Tim DiLoreto (Christopher Dock) walked to load the bases.  Gallagher collected an RBI on a groundout.  Zach Szumigala (Pennsbury) singled to right to score Larini.  Phelan hit a sacrifice fly to score DiLoreto.

Delaware North rallied back to take an 8-7 lead with a four-run fifth inning.  However, the lead did not last long as the SOL/Bicentennial squad scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to assume a 12-8 advantage.

With one out, Malloy walked.  Jared Schram (Council Rock North) doubled to score Malloy.  Mulvey walked putting runners on first and second.  Both runners moved up on a wild pitch – and Schram would score on a second wild pitch.  DiLoreto walked – Shaun Stackhouse (Council Rock South) was safe on an error, which allowed Mulvey to score.  Szumigala tripled to score Stackhouse.

“We made some mistakes, but we were able to overcome those mistakes,” said Pesci.  “We came back twice against a good team, and that says a lot about how we can play the game.”

“It will be very exciting to be able to play at Citizen’s Bank Park,” said Macaulay – a senior who did not play on the Carpenter Cup team last year.  “We knew we were a good team – and now we get to play in that park.  It has to be every kid’s dream to play there.”

And dreams can come true.

Delaware County 6 – Suburban One League American/Continental Conference 5

The SOL American/Continental Conference team did not go down quietly as it was jettisoned from the Carpenter Cup in the quarterfinals.

“Delaware County had a different philosophy on how they played the game,” said Wall.  “They had a veteran team with a lot of seniors – they threw three veteran pitchers against us – and they were some big dudes.  We pitched our entire staff that included some younger kids, but that was just the way that we wanted to handle our roster.

“We really had trouble in only one inning, but it might have cost us the game,” added Wall as Delaware County scored three times in the seventh inning.  “We were down only 3-2 going into the seventh inning, but we made some errors and gave them extra outs.  You can’t do that against good teams.”

Despite the 6-2 deficit, the SOL American/Continental rallied back with three runs of its own in the seventh inning to close to within 6-5.  However, the team would remain scoreless over the final two innings without getting a single runner on base.

The SOL American/Continental Conference took a 1-0 lead in the first inning.  With one out, Alex Peterson (North Penn) singled and moved to second on a groundout.  With two outs, Conor McFadden (Upper Dublin) singled and collected an RBI as Peterson scored the lead run.

Delaware County scored a single run in the second inning and would score two more runs in the third inning to assume a 3-1 lead.  However, the SOL American/Continental Conference scored a single run to close the gap to 3-2 after three innings.

In the third, Gabe Hofferman (Cheltenham) walked to open the inning.  Hofferman advanced to third base on a failed pick off attempt – and scored an unearned run on a wild pitch.

Delaware County scored three runs – only one earned run – in the seventh inning to take a 6-2 advantage.  However, the SOL American/Continental responded with three runs to close the gap to 6-5 after seven innings.

Kevin Barron (Hatboro-Horsham) opened the inning with a single.  Matt Peralta (Central Bucks West) doubled as Barron advanced to third base.  Dutch Reardon (Plymouth Whitemarsh) singled to right field to score both Barron and Peralta.  Reardon stole second base and advanced to third base on a groundout.  Reardon scored what proved to be the final run of the game on a wild pitch.

“Dan Long (Pennridge) hit the ball hard both of his at-bats and had two hits,” said Wall.  “He can really barrel up the ball and is an outstanding player.

“We played a lot of underclassmen – Matt Shilling (Wissahickon), Justin Horn (Upper Dublin), Collin Sheehan (Central Bucks East), Collin Kennedy (Hatboro-Horsham), and Andrew Mayhew (Pennridge) are only sophomores,” added Wall.  “Plus we had a lot of juniors.”

That impressive list includes Long, Peterson, Reardon, Peralta, McFadden, Steven Bell (Upper Dublin), Eric Chase (Central Bucks East), Andrew Collins (CB East), Blake Gular (Souderton), Thomas Juelke (Upper Dublin), Mason Nadeau (North Penn), and Cole Swiger (Upper Dublin).

“It really was a great group of kids to work with,” said Wall as the roster also included seniors Barron, Evan Bischoff (PW), Christian Huckfelt (Upper Dublin), Nate Luscombe (Souderton), Tyler Mathe (Souderton), Zach Metz (PW), Joe Molettiere (Pennridge), and Dylan Morrissette (Souderton).  “If it wasn’t for a seeing eye hit here – or a flare to the outfield there – or a number of other little things - we would be playing another game.”

Delaware County                 012 000 300   6-11-1    

SOL American-Continental   101 000 300   5-7-4      

E-Del Co 1, SOL Amer-Cont 3. LOB-Del Co 8, SOL Am-Cont 3. 2B-Peralta. SB-Reardon.      

Delaware North        220 040 000   8-14-1

SOL National/BAL     004 350 00x   12-11-4

E-Del North 1, SOL Nat/BAL 4. LOB-Del North 8, SOL Nat/BAL 4. 2B-Miller, Endler, Schram. 3B-Szumiigala.

SB-Baker, McAllister, Alexander, Willett, Simpson, Malloy 2.