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PHILADELPHIA – Four outs.
That’s all that separated Lehigh Valley from a win over SOL National/Bicentennial when Christopher Dock’s Ryan Seiz stepped to the plate in the eighth inning of Friday afternoon’s quarterfinal action in the Carpenter Cup.
“We were in the dugout talking to him, and we know he hits for power every time,” William Tennent’s Dan Doyle said of Seiz, who had walked in his two previous at-bats. “He said, “I’m sick of this. They haven’t given me a pitch all day. If they give me a pitch, I’m doing it.’”
Seiz kept his promise.
The Dock junior, who had a walk-off home run to doom Lehigh Valley in last year’s title game at Citizens Bank Park, worked his magic yet again. This time Seiz lofted a two-run blast to deep right, igniting the fans and turning a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead.
“Once he hit it – everybody jumped up,” Doyle said. “Everybody knew it was gone. It was one of the best feelings ever.
“Even if you’re not the one hitting it – you felt it. It was so amazing.”
Seiz said he knew a curveball was coming his way.
“I haven’t seen a fastball all day, so I knew one was coming, and I just sat back and drove it the other way,” he said. “As soon as I hit it, I was like, ‘Okay, we’re on top. We should be able to win the game. It was a great feeling.”
Holy Ghost Prep’s Andrew Strenge – who retired all nine batters he faced – worked a one-two-three ninth, and the 5-4 win was in the books for the SOL/BAL, which will return to action in a semifinal game against the Philadelphia Catholic League on Tuesday, 2 p.m., at Citizens Bank Park.“I was willing to do anything to get back there,” Seiz said. “You can’t play anywhere better than that.”
Playing at the Bank is the ultimate goal of every player.
“The whole game I was thinking ahead,” Doyle said. “I was thinking – I would love to be there.
“When I set foot on that field, I can’t even tell you what I’m going to feel. It’s going to be the most amazing feeling ever.”
Doyle admits that getting the starting nod on the mound in Friday’s game was pretty amazing as well.
“Before the game, I was more nervous than I have ever been pitching before,” he said. “I’ve never competed in anything like this, and just to come out and be able to throw and compete in front of all these people and have a great time while you’re at it – it’s the experience of a lifetime.”
Doyle was touched for a run in the first but struck out a pair in a one-two-three second.
“After the first couple of pitches, I knew the umpires had a real tight strike zone compared to legion and other baseball,” said Doyle, who allowed one run in three strong innings. “Once you get out there and you get the adrenalin flowing, you don’t have those emotions any more. You’re just going out there set on doing your job. We had a great field behind us. You can’t ask for better guys behind you.”The SOL/BAL knotted the score 1-1 in the bottom of the first, capitalizing on a pair of Lehigh Valley errors and a sacrifice fly by Holy Ghost’s Shane Coleman.
In the fourth inning, the SOL/BAL manufactured a run when Council Rock South’s Billy Fleming – who had a pair of hits - drew a leadoff walk and immediately stole second. He moved all the way to third when the throw to second sailed into center field.
“I got the sign to steal,” the sophomore speedster said. “I wanted to get in scoring position, and I ended up on third and gave our team a chance to manufacture a run.”
Fleming scored when Neshaminy’s Tyler Orr lined a one-out single to left, giving SOL/BAL a short-lived 2-1 lead.
Lehigh Valley used a three-run home run by Tyler Brong to go on top 4-2 in the fifth. It was a 4-3 game when – in the bottom of the inning – Delco’s Nick Mascioli drew a bases-loaded walk.
Neither team scored again until the fateful eighth.
Abington’s Corey Hower was safe on an error to open the frame, and he moved up to second on a wild pitch. Two outs later, he was still on second when Seiz stepped to the plate.
Although intentional walks are not permitted in the all-star showcase, an unintentional-intentional walk would have been a good idea, but Northampton’s Mark Glassic went after Seiz.
Seiz – who had 12 home runs for Dock this spring - won that battle.
“I was like, ‘If I see a pitch that I like, I’m hammering it,” he said. “I was sick of seeing curveballs in the dirt.
“He gave me one that was a little outside. It was a pretty good pitch. I decided to take it the other way. I’m glad I did.”
So are his teammates.
“Everyone was excited,” Fleming said. “We couldn’t believe it happened. We knew he was a great hitter, and we knew we had a chance when he was up.
“This is great, especially playing with all the best players in the league, and getting to Citizens Bank Park will be awesome.”
SOL NATIONAL/BICENENNIAL 5, LEHIGH VALLEY 4
Lehigh Valley: Joey Connell rf 2 0 1 0; Andrew Brandstetter rf 2 0 0 0; Matt Bahnick ss 1 2 0 0; Joe Abeln lf 1 0 0 0; Michael Squires lf 3 1 2 0; Patrick Kregeloh 3b 1 0 0 0; Brandon Wilt dh 2 0 1 0; Tyler Brong dh 2 1 1 3; Drew Hercik 3b 3 0 2 1; Tommy Crimi pr/ss 1 0 0 0; Kyle Dauscher c 2 0 1 0; Jonathan Gabriel c 2 0 0 0; Adam Wehr 1b 1 0 0 0; Daniel Johnson ph/1b 2 0 0 0; Alex Longernecker 2b 1 0 0 0; Scott Kalamar ph cf 3 0 0 0; Kyle Wilt cf 1 0 0 0; Kyle Gable 2b 2 0 0 0; Casey Cooperman p 0 0 0 0; David Rosenberger p 0 0 0 0; John Torok p 0 0 0 0; Mike Glassic p 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 32 4 8 4.
SOL National-Bicentennial: Rick Brebner ss 3 0 0 0; Johnny Schiotis 2b 1 0 0 0; Scott Runzer 1b 2 1 0 0; Ryan Seiz c/1b 1 2 1 2; Greg Olenski c/1b 2 0 0 0; Brian Beyer c 1 0 1 0; Shane Coleman 3b 1 0 0 1; Eric Ebert ph/3b 3 0 0 0; Matt Hone 2b 1 0 0 0; Billy Fleming 2b/ss 2 1 2 0; Adam Moore rf 1 0 0 0; Nick Mascioli rf 2 0 0 1; Kelly Adams cf 1 0 1 0; Tyler Orr cf 3 0 1 1; Brian Fiocco lf 3 0 1 0; Corey hower lf 1 1 0 0; Christopher Bechter dh 2 0 0 0; Brad Lampson dh 2 0 0 0; Daniel Doyle p 0 0 0 0; Ray Hyjurick p 0 0 0 0; Greg Welsh p 0 0 0 0; Andrew Strenge p 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 32 5 7 5
Lehigh Valley 100 030 000 4-8-4
SOL National-Bicentennial 100 110 02x 5-7-0
E-Lehigh 4. DP-SOL/BAL 1. LOB-Lehigh 4, SOL/BAL 11. HR-Brong, Seiz. S-Coleman. SB-Fleming, Fiocco.
IP H R ER BB SO
Lehigh Valley
Cooperman 3 1 1 0 2 1
Rosenberger 1 2/3 2 2 2 4 1
Torok 3 2 1 0 1 4
Glassic (L) 1/3 2 1 0 0 1
SOL National/BAL
Doyle 3 3 1 1 1 2
Hyjurick 1 2/3 3 2 2 1 2
Welsh 1 1/3 2 1 1 0
Strenge (W) 3 0 0 0 0 1
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