By Scott Huff
UPPER MERION – The collective gaze etched on the faces of those involved with the Council Rock North baseball program was one of disbelief.
Lower Dauphin knocked the District One champion Indians out of the first round of the PIAA Quad-A state playoffs with a 5-3 win – and nobody really seemed to know why.
“There is no question that we have faced better pitching than what we saw today,” said Council Rock senior Tim Filer, who had one of only four Indian hits and an RBI. “But he kept us off balance the whole game, and we needed to make quicker adjustments.”
‘He’ was diminutive Falcon lefty Casey Kalina. Kalina struck out nine Rock North hitters and issued just a pair of bases on balls.
“We have faced better pitching this season, but we took far too many first-pitch strikes,” said Council Rock head coach Dan Kusters. “And when you let a pitcher get ahead in the count, it gives the pitcher an advantage.
“We talk to the players all the time about playing all seven innings,” added Kusters. “We fell behind, but we did make a game of it.”
Lower Dauphin – the No. 3 seed from District 3 – appeared to blow the game wide open with a four-run fourth inning.
The Falcons banged CR North ace Jared Weed for a pair of two-run homers that caught the jet stream and carried over the fence in left center field. Both Zee Crawford and Tyler Staufer hit dingers for the Falcons.
“Jared got both of those pitches up – and that isn’t like Jared,” said Kusters. “I think he was a little tender – a little stiff - after beating Owen J Roberts in districts. But he is such a competitor, and he wasn’t about to miss throwing today.”
Council Rock North cut the lead in half with a pair of runs in the fourth inning.
Jesse Goldberg, who led off the inning, was safe at first base on an error and scurried to third on a blistering double off the bat of Mike Tentilucci.
Goldberg scored the first Indian run – and Tentilucci took third base – on a sacrifice fly to right field off the bat on Ryan Hartley. Tentilucci scored moments later on still another SAC-fly off the bat of Filer.
Lower Dauphin scored its final run in the fifth inning off Indian reliever Darren Lauer. It would be the only run the hard throwing right-hander would surrender the entire game.
The quiet Rock North bats finally began to awake from their slumber in the sixth inning.
With one out, Tentilucci roped a homerun for the Indians to close the gap to 5-3. Both Filer and Dave Pine singled in the inning to fan the rally, but the tying runs were stranded as Kalina pitched his way out of the inning.
“I just tried to get some solid metal on the ball,” said Tentilucci who had the only multiple hit game for the Indians. “We haven’t seen too many lefties this year, and it took some getting used to.
“This year was a great learning experience for the players coming back next season,” added Tentilucci. “We won the league title, we won districts, and we got to states.
“Next year we have to come back with the idea of moving on in the state playoffs,” continued Tentilucci. “We want to continue to move to that next level.”
“Winning the districts was a great accomplishment,” said Filer. “We definitely have improved from last year, and I expect the group coming back to continue to improve.”
“It is so hard to win districts because all the teams are very competitive,” said Kusters. “We were so excited to win the district championship, but we were excited to be playing in states.
“We have had so many comebacks this year, and we always play with a lot of confidence,” added Kusters. “I’m not too sure what happened today.”
And neither do his players.
Extra Innings – There were five teams from District One that made the state tournament – all but champion CR North were winners … West Chester Henderson blasted Central, 11-1 … Owen J Roberts clocked Pleasant Valley, 16-0 … Downingtown East bested Cedar Crest, 4-3 … and Great Valley eliminated Bonner, 3-1.
Lower Dauphin – Council Rock North box score
Lower Dauphin 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 - 5
Rock North 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 - 3
Lower Dauphin: Kalina 2 1 0 0; Ebersole 4 0 1 0; Crawford 3 1 1 2; Herr 3 2 1 0; Staufer 4 1 1 2; Schaffer 4 0 1 1; Basemore 2 0 1 0; Baker 4 0 0 0; McCormick 3 0 0 0. Totals 29 5 6 5.
Council Rock North: Goldberg 3 0 0 0; Tentilucci 3 2 2 1; Hartley 2 0 0 1; Filer 2 0 1 1; Pine 3 0 1 0; Terry 3 0 0 0; Parker 3 0 0 0; Sable 2 0 0 0; Henritzy 3 0 0 0. Totals 24 3 4 3.
Lower Dauphin Inn H R ER K W
Kalina (W) 7 4 3 3 9 2
Rock North
Weed (L) 2.1 3 4 4 3 2
Lauer 4.2 4 1 1 5 3
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