By DAVE KURTZ, Pac-10sports.com
ASTON - Three outs.That was all that separated Spring-Ford from the exit ramp Thursday afternoon in the PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinals at Neumann University.
Three outs.
But shoved to the brink of extinction, the Rams showed why they’d come this far, rallying for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to post a 6-5 victory over Council Rock South and advance to the state semifinals Monday at an undetermined time and site against Manheim Township, a 5-0 winner over Nazareth Thursday.
“We showed our character and our fight,” said Spring-Ford designated hitter Ryan Conway, who continued his long ball binge with a solo homer in the fourth inning and plated the tying run in the seventh with a sacrifice fly. “We always know we’re never out of a game.”
Despite a sloppy performance lowlighted by six errors, poor baserunning and subpar situational hitting, Spring-Ford found a way to get the job done with its season hanging in the balance.
Ricky Gorrell opened the seventh with a routine grounder to short, but was safe on a throwing error.
The door had swung open, and the PAC-10 and District One champs were poised to barge through. James Hoff followed with a sharp single to center and Mike Oczypok dropped a perfectly-placed bunt single to load the bases with no outs.
A bases-loaded walk to Cody Clarke and Conway’s sacrifice fly to right locked things up at 5 before Josh Cratsenberg plated Oczypok with the game-winner on a sacrifice fly to right.
The dream of winning a first state baseball title was alive and well for Spring-Ford.
“It shows that we can not only play with the lead, but we can play with our backs against the wall,” said Hoff. “We were a little nervous, but I don’t think we ever felt like we were going to lose.”
The guys in the Spring-Ford dugout may have been the only ones feeling that way after the Golden Hawks snapped a 3-3 tie with two runs in the top of the seventh off Rams ace Oczypok.
A throwing error on a sacrifice bunt plated one run and an RBI-single by Justin Thomas scored the other, but despite having runners on first and third with no outs, CR South couldn’t extend the lead. The Rams turned an unusual 4-2-6 double play to get off the hook and keep things at 5-3.
“Damage control, that was big,” said Spring-Ford coach Bruce Brobst. “That gave us a chance. It was not about getting the hit (in the seventh), it was about putting the ball in play.”
Gorrell put the ball in play to start the winning rally, and the results were disastrous for the Golden Hawks.
“We’ve hit the ball all year against some really good pitching,” said CR South coach Greg Young, whose club collected 10 hits off Sean Larkin and Oczypok. “So I was not real worried about that. My concern was how we played defense, and it just didn’t happen for us.
“But you have to tip your cap to the other team. They’re the No. 1 seed, and you know they’re not going to back down or roll over.”
The Golden Hawks grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning, collecting three hits and scoring on Bret DeStefano’s RBI-single and an infield error. Spring-Ford answered in the fourth when Conway took a Ryan Downs changeup downtown – his fifth homer in three games – then plated two runs in the fifth on Oczypok’s RBI-triple and Conway’s sacrifice fly to center for a 3-2 lead.
CR South evened the count at 3 with an unearned run in the sixth on Zak Gross’ pinch-hit sacrifice fly, setting the stage for the wild seventh.
“We overcame the six extra outs we gave them (on errors),” said Brobst, whose club had opened the PIAA tournament with a 15-1 romp over Spring Grove Monday. “We overcame the heat and the late deficit.
“We proved we can win tight games, too. We haven’t had many of those recently, but we had our share of tight games in the PAC-10, and that helped get us here.”
EXTRA BASES: “We were expecting this kind of game from Council Rock South,” said Brobst. “They had a game plan and they executed it well. You have to give them credit.” … Oczypok improved to 13-0 on the season after earning the win in relief of Sean Larkin, who worked five strong innings. “This shows what kind of team we are,” said Larkin, who allowed six hits and one earned run while walking one and striking out three. “Our pitching has been phenomenal, and it was big to have the last at-bat.” … Thomas, Downs and losing pitcher Brian Donnelly had two hits apiece for the Golden Hawks, who left two runners on base in each of the final three innings … Gorrell and Oczypok led the Rams six-hit attack with two hits each, while Conway collected three RBIs.
Spring-Ford 6, Council Rock South 5
Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
CR South | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 2 |
Spring-Ford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
CR South | AB | R | H | BI | Spring-Ford | AB | R | H | BI | |
B.Fleming ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Medley lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Fitzgerald 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Grablewski 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Thomas 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Gorrell ss | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
Downs p-1b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Hoff c | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Coleman cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Simmons cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Callahan c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Oczypok 1b-p | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
Wright cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Shronk pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Miller rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Clarke 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
Gross ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Conway dh | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
DeStefano dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Larkin p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
R.Fleming 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cratsenberg rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
Price lf-cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Vining cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Donnelly cf-p | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
Totals | 29 | 5 | 10 | 3 | Totals | 23 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Two outs when winning run scored.
E-Clarke 2, Fitzgerald, Gorrell 2, Larkin, Grablewski, B. Fleming. DP-Spring-Ford 1. 3B-Oczypok. HR-Conway. S-Miller, Grablewski, Fitzgerald. SF-Conway 2, Cratsenberg. SB-Medley. LOB-CR South 8, Spring-Ford 8.
CR South | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | BF | Spring-Ford | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | BF | |
Downs | 4.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | - | Larkin | 5.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | |
Donnelly (L) | 2.1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | Oczypok (W) | 2.0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | |
HBP-By Downs (Hoff). WP-Downs 2, Larkin.
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