PHILADELPHIA - It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t always pretty, but the SOL National-Bicentennial squad downed Lehigh Valley 6-5 to earn a spot in Monday’s Carpenter Cup semifinal.
It is the third straight year, the SOL National-BAL downed Lehigh Valley, and it is the third straight year the squad has advanced to the semifinals at Citizen’s Bank Park.
“That was extremely important to us,” Neshaminy senior Ray Hyjurick said of advancing to the Bank. “It’s our senior year, so we all wanted to be there.
“I know a lot of guys from the other teams that are seniors, and they just want to go back for their final year, so we just went out there and did our thing.”
Hjurick certainly did his thing on the mound, allowing just two hits in three shutout innings to close out the game for the SOL National-BAL.
“Hyjurick came in and pitched great,” Abington coach Dave Torresani said. “He had a great season for Neshaminy, and they had a great year, so you expect a kid like that to be able to do what he did, plus he had experience. He pitched in the Carpenter Cup last year, and I think that really helped him.
“He was really supposed to pitch the seventh and eighth innings, but he pitched so well that (coach) Keith Smeraglio decided to keep him in in the ninth, which was a good call. He was calm, cool and collected, for sure.”
On the subject of calm – pitcher Greg Welsh tossed a one-two-three sixth to settle things down after giving up three runs (two earned) in the fifth that allowed Lehigh Valley to knot the score 5-5.
“The great thing for Greg was – in the sixth inning, he came back strong and had two strikeouts and a weak groundout,” Torresani said. “That calmed everything back down again, which was really, really important.
“I think that was probably the biggest inning in the game for us – the fact that Greg came back in the sixth and was overpowering. While the game was tied, we needed to settle it down, which he did, and then Ray came in and was terrific.”
The significance of Welsh’s one-two-three sixth was not lost on Hyjurick.
“That was very important,” the Redskins’ hurler said. “It brought the momentum right back to us, and we came out on top.”
Interestingly, a hard-hitting SOL National-BAL squad scored the game winner without so much as collecting a hit. With one out, Christopher Dock’s Ryan Seiz – a hero of Carpenter Cup wins past – was walked, and then Council Rock South’s Justin Thomas drew a base on balls. The bases were loaded after Pennsbury’s Chris Wiertz was hit by a pitch.
“There is no way they were pitching to (Seiz) in the seventh,” Torresani said. “You can’t intentionally walk anybody, but they intentionally walked him by pitching around him because he has just killed them the last two years.
“That was a big at-bat for us, and then he walked another batter, and now it’s first and second. The pitcher is digging down, and he throws a pitch inside and hits Chris Wiertz to load the bases.”
That set the stage for a sacrifice fly by Delco’s Nick Mascioli that plated Seiz with what turned out to be the winning run. Hyjurick did the rest, retiring Lehigh Valley in the eighth and ninth to close out the game.
The infield turned a double play behind Hyurick in the eighth, and the game ended on a groundout back to the mound.
“You just have to mentally prepare yourself and know what you have to work with when you have to come in in situations you’re not used to, and it’s more difficult,” Hyjurick said of his relief role. “The key, in my opinion, is keep the ball down, force ground balls and let the infield do the work.”
Earlier, it looked as though the SOL National-BAL might be in for another cakewalk as they pounded out four hits in the first inning.
Council Rock South’s Bill Fleming opened the frame with a hard shot that was hauled in near the warning track in center field. It was an omen of hard-hit balls to come.
Council Rock North’s Mike Tentilucci followed with a frozen rope into the left field corner that he turned into a double. Rock North’s Ryan Hartley followed with a single to left, and the SOL National-BAL was on the scoreboard when Truman’s Brian Beyer roped an RBI double to deep left.
With a pair of runners in scoring position, Council Rock South’s Jerry Mulderig – who had three RBIs in his team’s opener – continued his torrid offensive production by lining a single down the left field line that plated a pair, and just like that, the SOL National-BAL led 3-0.
Lehigh Valley got two of those runs back in the second to make it a 3-2 game.
In the bottom of the inning, Truman’s Tyler Erhard was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, and Holy Ghost Prep’s Tim Lazor followed with a single. Fleming then collected his first of three hits on the day, and after a fielder’s choice, Hartley lined an RBI single to left.
The bases were loaded after Beyer drew a base on balls, and in one of the game’s best at-bats, Mulderig fought off one two-strike pitch after another before drawing a walk that plated a run and put the SOL National-BAL on top 5-2.
“It’s frustrating because you have to do what the pitchers do – you’re not ahead in the count, and they’re all over you, so you have to do what you have to do to fight (pitches) off,” Mulderig said. “As the count goes on, it gets more and more tiresome.
“The key is staying focused. I did what I could and drew a walk.”
Lehigh Valley knotted the score in the fifth, but the SOL National-BAL would not be denied, rallying for the win and a spot in the semifinals at Citizen’s Bank Park.
“It’s amazing,” Mulderig said. “It’s been a dream to play there and a dream to be a professional player, but this is just as good basically.
“The best part is just playing really good and competitive baseball. These kids are all the best in our area, and it’s fun to play against them.”
Mulderig is still undecided on a college, and with his three hits and six RBIs in the first two games combined, the Council Rock South senior is putting up a pretty good case for himself.
“This is basically deciding my college career,” he said. “To be honest, the first game I was really nervous because I realized this is going to decide where I go, but after my first at-bat, it became the regular routine of playing baseball and having fun.
“Thank God I’m playing well.”
The SOL/BAL win sets up a showdown with the SOL American-Continental in Monday’s semifinal and ensures there will be a Suburban One League school in Tuesday’s final.
“It’s awesome down there, just hanging out in the bullpen, playing on the Phillies field,” Hyjurick said of playing at the Bank. “It’s pretty sweet. It’s a great experience.”
Monday’s semifinal showdown is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Citizen’s Bank Park.
“That’s what the kids want to do, and part of the big reason for playing in this is to get there,” Torresani said. “For kids in the Suburban One National, it’s an important thing because we’ve been there. This is three years in a row in the semifinals.
“It goes to show we play some pretty good baseball in the suburbs, especially in Suburban One.”
SOL NATIONAL-BICENTENNIAL 6, LEHIGH VALLEY 5
Lehigh Valley (5) – Drew Borger 2b 1 0 0 0; Alex Longernecker 2b 3 1 1 1; Ryuta Amaike ss 2 0 0 0; Derrick Walling cf 2 1 0 0; Justin Pacchioli c 2 0 1 0; Joe Abeln ph/c 2 0 1 2; Mike Streisel 1b 2 0 0 0; Tyler Brong 1b 2 0 0 0; Pat Walshe rf 2 1 1 0; Robert Bennie ph/rf 2 0 1 0; D.J. King dh 1 1 0 0; D.C. Castillo dh 2 0 0 0; Ryan Palsgrove lf 2 0 0 0; Andy Brandstetter lf 2 0 0 0; Drew Hercik 3b 2 0 1 2; Kevin nemeth 3b 2 0 0 0; Matt Bonshak cf 1 0 0 0; Matt Bahnick ss 3 1 2 0; Pat Bet p 0 0 0 0; Joey Seremula p 0 0 0 0; Karl Keglovits p 0 0 0 0; Casey Cooperman p 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 35 5 8 5.
SOL National-Bicentennial (6) – Bill Fleming ss 3 0 2 0; Kyle Davis ss 1 0 0 0; Mike Tentilucci cf/lf 4 2 2 0; Steve Berardi lf 1 0 0 0; Ryan Hartley dh 4 1 3 1; Scott Schwartz dh 1 0 0 0; Brian Beyer c 3 1 1 1; John Burns c 1 0 0 0; Jerry Mulderig 2b 1 0 1 3; John Schiotis 2b 2 0 0 0; Tim Filer 1b 2 0 0 0; Ryan Seiz 1b 1 1 0 0; John Salvatore 3b 2 0 1 0; Justin Thomas ph/3b 1 0 0 0; Tyler Erhard lf 1 0 0 0; Chris Wiertz lf/cf 1 0 0 0; Tim Lazor rf 2 1 1 0; Nick Masciolii 1 0 0 1; Darren Lauer p 0 0 0 0; Greg Welsh 0 0 0 0; Ray Hyjurick p 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 32 6 11 6
Lehigh Valley 020 030 000 5-8-4
SOL National/Bicentennial 320 000 10x 6-11-4
E-Pacchioli, Palsgrove, Hercik, Bahnick, Fleming, Davis, Erhard, Welsh. DP-Lehigh Valley 3, SOL/BAL 3. LOB-Lehigh Valley 5, SOL/BAL 11. 2B-Longernecker, Abeln, Tentilucci. SF-Mascioli.
IP H R ER BB SO
Lehigh Valley
Bet 2 7 5 4 2 0
Seremula 3 3 0 0 1 4
Keglovits 1.1 1 1 1 3 0
Cooperman 1.2 0 0 0 0 2
SOL-Bicenteninal
Lauer 3 3 2 2 2 0
Welsh (W) 3 3 3 2 0 3
Hyjurick 3 2 0 0 0 0
HBP-Bet (Erhard), Keglovits (Wiertz)
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