By Scott Huff
We Are Family.
Upper Dublin will be on a plane to Myrtle Beach South Carolina right after the Flying Cardinals’ game with Plymouth Whitemarsh this Friday. The 18 players on the team will return from its spring break excursion to the Cal Ripken Experience on April 8.
“This trip always is a great way to build a family feeling on a team,” said Upper Dublin head coach Ed Wall. “The kids have a blast, and both the coaches and parents have a lot of fun.
“It is a total baseball trip with unlimited access to fields and batting cages,” added Wall. “But the best thing about the trip is that the kids live together for a few days and really bond with each other.”
Upper Dublin will also play three non-conference games under the warm Carolina sunshine.
“We fund raise for the trip all year long,” said Wall. “And most of the fund raising activities are also a lot of fun. It is a great experience.”
The Flying Cardinals had a great hitting experience in a recent 16-5 non-league win over Central Bucks West.
“This group of seniors have been together for a while and have some varsity experience,” said Wall. “The possibilities are there to have a good season.
“Wissahickon and Plymouth Whitemarsh have some good pitching and should be tough,” continued Wall. “And I’m sure the Cheltenham will be in the mix somewhere.”
Some of the hitting stars in the win over West included senior Rob Swartz who went 3-4 with two triples, two runs scored and four RBI; senior Corey Meyer went 2-3 with a homerun and two RBI; Derek Giannetti hit a three-run homerun; and senior Tyler Gregg scored four runs.
“We just had a great day at the plate,” said Wall as the Cards scored seven runs in the fourth inning to break open the game. “But after the game we stressed to the kids that this was just one game and not to be satisfied.”
Senior Jake Kohler – who had a 2-run double – was the winning pitcher.
“Jake threw well,” said Wall of his veteran right hander. “He got us through the first four innings, and the bats did the rest.
“We have that tough game with PW right before the trip,” added Wall. “We have a lot to look forward to this week.”
Early Season Showdown
Harry S Truman will have an early season confrontation with the new team in the conference – Council Rock South – in the conference opener for both teams.
“From everything I read about, Council Rock South is the team to beat,” said Truman coach Jeff Vitale. “Pennsbury and Neshaminy are always tough, but I would have to put us right up there in the top four.”
The pitching match-up for the Tiger-Hawk contest will be Frank Morris for Truman and Shane Petrellis for Rock South.
“This is going to be a real early test for us,” said Vitale as the Tigers have already tamed North Catholic (7-1) and CB West (12-4) so far this season. “I hear this kid can throw, but I would really be surprised if he can shut our offense down.
“Our three, four, and five hitters in the lineup are all going to hit the ball,” added Vitale. “Brian Beyer, Chris Bechter, and Bob Monahan are all going to be tough outs.
“We are going to run pretty much an old school offense, at times,” added the coach. “We will get a runner on – move him over – and get him in. We will be aggressive on the bases and do a lot of hit and run. Our offense may have to carry us in some of the games.”
Truman graduated ace James Brown - who is now attending Gwynedd Mercy College – and has lost returning southpaw Josh Patman for the season to a knee injury.
“Morris is going to be the big key to our season,” said Vitale. “He may throw between 40 and 50 percent of our games, and we need him to stay healthy.
“Tyler Erhardt and Ed Connolly will have to pick up the remainder of the games,” said Vitale. “I’m sure they will step up and do the job.”
Rather Lucky Than Good
North Penn may have played good in its 3-2 loss to highly regarded Germantown Academy last week, but the Knights were anything but lucky.
“It was just one of those days where nothing went our way,” said North Penn coach Bob McCreary. “It was a tough way to lose a game.”
Consider.
North Penn senior Justin Davey hit a ball over the fence with two runners of base in the sixth inning with the Knights trailing 3-2 – however, the outfielder reached over the fence to catch the ball for the final out.
“I thought it was out,” said McCreary. “Their outfielder just made a good play on it.”
Consider.
North Penn had runners on first and second when Robbie Zinsmeister drilled a ball that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. Jake Dunn scored on the play, but Mark Fuse was forced to stay at third due to the ground rule. Fuse scored moments later on a suicide squeeze bunt by Davey, but Zinsmeister was stranded at third when the inning ended.
“Robbie has an easy triple without the ground rule,” said McCreary. “And that would have been a three run inning instead of a two run inning.”
Consider.
Pitcher Mike Bradstreet pitched a terrific game but was victimized by three North Penn errors in the fifth inning that led to all three GA runs.
“We had two double play balls in that inning that we didn’t turn,” said McCreary. “Mike was really what you would call a tough luck loser.”
Consider.
North Penn left 10 men on base but was unable to come up with the key hit at the key moment. And luck played its part there as well.
“We hit four or five line drives right at people,” said McCreary. “A couple of feet either way, and we score a lot of runs.”
Sometimes you really would rather be lucky than good.
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