The SOL American/Continental earned a spot in Monday’s Carpenter Cup final as a result of its 10-5 win over Chester County. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Philadelphia – Upper Moreland junior Rob Knox presented a marvelous Father’s Day gift to his dad on Sunday when the Golden Bear rightfielder blasted a three-run homerun to propel the Suburban One League American/Continental League to a 10-5 victory over Chester County. The win places the SOL A/C in the 27th Annual Carpenter Cup championship game against Burlington County on Monday at Citizens Bank Park with a 10 am start. Burlington County defeated Lehigh Valley 5-3 to advance to the championship final.
“On the car ride down here, my dad said that if would be a great memory if I could hit a homerun,” smiled Knox who crushed a pitch some 355 feet over the left-center field fence. “I saw a good pitch to hit, and I put a good swing on it.”
“That was a real laser shot,” said Upper Dublin/SOL A/C coach Ed Wall. “You could tell right off the bat that if it stayed up it was going out.”
“That was a rocket,” said Hatboro-Horsham senior Casey Saverio who made an incredible diving catch in center field in addition to driving home a run. “He can make more memories next year since he is only a junior.
“It is great to be able to play next to him in the outfield,” continued Saverio who dutifully filled the divot he created on his amazing catch. “We both played football, and we are rivals on the Thanksgiving Day. I’ll have to remind him that we did beat them in football.”
Both Knox – who also made a breathtaking throw from right field in addition to his homerun blast – and Saverio made major league plays on a major league field.
“Both Rob and Casey are the type of athletes that play in this tournament,” said Wall. “Getting into the finals is an awesome way to end a fantastic season.”
The SOL/AC bats carried them to the finals with a 12-hit attack. The offensive pressure was generated the entire game as the winners scored in five of the nine innings.
The SOL A/C scored a single run in the first inning as Will Foy (Central Bucks South) singled – moved to second when Jon Mullin (CB South) walked – and scored on an RBI single by Tyler Kirkpatrick (Methacton).
The Knox three-run blast regained the lead at 4-3 and made a winning pitcher out of SOL A/C starter Casey O’Donnell (Hatboro-Horsham).
The SOL A/C extended its lead to 6-3 with a two-run sixth inning. Ryan Clow (CB East) doubled – Know coaxed a walk –and both moved up to second and third on a wild pitch. Saverio drove home Clow on a fielder’s choice and Knox also scored on an error.
The seventh run of the game for the winners was scored in the seventh inning. Matt Myers (Cheltenham) doubled and scored on an RBI single by Eddie Posavec (North Penn).
The SOL/AC tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning to secure the win. Chris Hens (Hatboro-Horsham) doubled home both Knox (single) and Saverio (single). The final run for the winners came on an RBI single by Grant Opalisky (Hatboro-Horsham) who drove home Hens.
The SOL/AC pitching staff was solid against an explosive Chester County lineup.
O’Donnell threw the first three innings – allowed just one earned run – and struck out two hitters. Ricky Dennis (Central Bucks South) was impressive in his three-inning stint and allowed just one earned run with one strikeout. Blair Killough (Central Bucks East) closed out the win with a three-inning outing. He did not permit an earned run – and collected a pair of strikeouts.
Collectively, the SOL/AC pitchers did not issue a single base on balls.
“The pitchers really stepped up and gives us some good options for the final game,” said Wall. “We have some good pitchers who didn’t throw today – Marty Martens (CB West), Bryce Mengel (North Penn), JT Crits (Wissahickon), and Connor Crookham (Hatboro-Horsham). Plus we can still throw the three we pitched today for a batter or two.
“When you play a tournament like this, you have to win the game you’re playing and forget about the next one,” added Wall. “And now we’re down to that final game. This is has been a lot of fun.”
All in all it was an extremely happy Father’s Day for the SOL A/C – especially for the father of Robert Knox.
SOL AMERICAN/CONTINENTAL 10, CHESTER COUNTY 5
SOL American/Continental (10) – Will Foy cf 1 1 1 0; Robert Knox ph,rf 3 3 2 3; Jon Mullin rf 1 0 0 0; Casey Saverio ph/cf 3 1 1 1; Ben Hauser 2b 2 0 0 0; Chris Hens ph/2b 2 1 1 2; JT Crits 1b 2 0 0 0; Marty Martens ph/1b 3 0 0 0; Tyler Kirkpatrick lf 1 0 1 1; Grant Opalisky lf 3 0 1 1; Corey Capaldi 3b 3 0 1 0; Matt Meyers 3b 2 1 1 0; Trip Hagner 3 0 1 0; Zach Prendergast ss 2 0 00 0; Clayton Harwick c 1 1 0 0; Eddie Posavec c 2 0 1 1; Jesse Kohler dh 1 0 0 0; Ryan Clow ph/dh 2 2 1 0; Luke Felix ph/dh 2 0 0 0; Casey O’Donnell p 0 0 0 0; Ricky Dennis p 0 0 0 0; Blairi Killough p 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 39 10 12 9.
Chester County (5) – Nick Miller 3 1 1 0; Mike Munnelly lf 2 0 0 0; Thomas Stumm ss 2 1 0 0; Ryan Ficca ph/ss 3 0 0 0; Chris Beals 1 0 0 1; Brad Rhoads 3b 3 0 0 0; Eric Sigovich 1b 2 0 0 0; Dylan Jenkins ph/rf 2 1 1 0; Luke Lawrence cf 2 0 2 1; Rob Purcell cf 2 1 1 0; Anthony Dinorscia dh 3 0 1 1; Brett Davis ph/dh 1 0 1 0; Brandon Liddick c 1 1 0 0; Chris Demey ph/c 2 0 0 0; CJ Young 2b 2 0 00 0; Adam Clark ph/2b; Ryan Yenchick rf 2 0 1 1; Ryler Hall 1b 2 0 1 0; Zach Rybak p 0 0 0 0; CJ Martinez p 0 0 0 0; Pat Krall p 0 0 0 0; Tyler Eckman 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 37 5 9 4.
SOL American/Continental100 302 130 – 10-12-2
Chester County 210 001 010 – 5-9-3
E-SOL American/Continental 2, Chester County 3. LOB – SOL American/Continental 9, Chester Co. 7. 2B-Chris Hens, Matt Meyers, Ryan Clow, Dylan Jenkins, Ryan Yenchick. HR-Robert Knox. SF-Beals. SB-Opalisky, Lawrence.
SOL American/Continental IP H R ER BB SO
Casey O’Donnell (W) 3.0 4 3 1 0 2
Ricky Dennis 3.0 2 1 1 0 1
Blair Killough 3.0 3 1 0 0 2
Chester County IP H R ER BB SO
Zach Rybak 3.0 3 1 1 4 3
CJ Martinez (L) 2.0 3 5 3 2 1
Pat Krall 2.0 4 3 3 0 2
Tyler Eckman 2.0 2 1 1 0 2
WP-O’Donnell, Killough, Krall. HBP-O’Donnell (Liddick), Martinez (Hens)
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