Locals open with a Carpenter Cup win
Council Rock North has three of its players - Kelly Adams, Matt Hone and Scott Runzer - competing in the Carpenter Cup Classic. The locals opened today with a win over Berks. Play resumes Friday.
By Steve ShermanSports Editor
Defending a Carpenter Cup title doesn’t necessarily add to the pressure to win.
Just ask SOL National/ Bicentennial head coach Keith Smeraglio, who says it actually lessens the burden.
“It makes it easier,” stated Smeraglio, flatly. “We know we have a good team and the kids went out and played like it.
“The defense was great, we got timely hitting and we have a tremendous [pitching] staff.”
Earlier today (June 17) at Meiklejohn Stadium, the local boys shrugged off a third-inning 1-0 deficit, plating seven runs the rest of the way in a 7-3 tournament opening triumph over Berks County. The SOL/ Bicentennial won this one going away, despite the fact it was out-hit, 10-7, by Berks. That’s because the opposition stranded over a dozen batters along the basepaths.
“I think we had almost the same amount of hits but we had a lot of clutch hits,” commented Council Rock North senior Scott Runzer, who was 1-for-3 on the day. “With guys on third, we had at least two or three sac-flies. Doing things like that definitely helped us score some runs so that was clutch.”
Defensively, Smeraglio led with his trump card in starting Harry S Truman and Bristol Legion lefthander Josh Patman in the opener against Berks. Last year, it was a pair of lefties — Patman and New Hope-Solebury southpaw Vinnie Vorhees — who kept the opposition off-balance.
Vorhees set ‘em up and Patman knocked ‘em down.
First, it was the New Hope lefty striking out 12 batters combined in quarterfinal and semifinal triumphs respectively over Mercer and defending champ Chester.
Then, it was Patman who got the final out in both the 2008 Carpenter Cup semis and the finale. In the championship win over Lehigh Valley, he got the win, after recording the final two outs in the top of the ninth.
This time out however, it was a rough outing for Patman. After getting the first Berks batter to take a called third strike, he put the next two on board with a walk and a hit batsman. But Berks failed to take advantage of the situation, launching a popup and a fly ball to Nick Mascioli to end the inning.
Patman put another pair of batters on board in the second, issuing a free pass to Kyle Hartman and a single to centerfield by Jonah Pulford. Again, Berks failed to capitalize on the opportunity. When Nick Riegel single to short, Pulford advanced to second but Hartman was picked off at third base. Patman got out of the jam, inducing a force-out at second base to Neshaminy shortstop Rick Brebner.
On the other side of the hill, Berks pitcher Brad Smith was keeping the defending champs’ bats quiet, retiring the first six hitters in order.
“The first time out, everyone was trying to hit home runs and stuff, just jumping at balls,” stated Runzer. “The second time around, everyone relaxed and started swinging to get hits.”
The local boys finally started to make some noise in the third when the SOL-N/ BAL drew a walk and single by Brebener that put a pair of runners aboard. The men were stranded however when Chris Dock junior Ryan Seiz – last year’s hero in the finale with a 2-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth – struck out swinging.
Berks finally broke through in the third, scoring a run off Holy Ghost Prep righthander Andrew Strenge, of Morrisville. After retiring the first two batters, Strenge surrendered consecutive singles then an RBI double down the left field line by Hartman that scored Sean Hagen. With runners at second and third base, Andrew pitched out of the jam, fanning Pulford to keep it close.
It was HGP junior Greg Olenski who plated the first run for the SOL/ Bicentennial. After getting hit by a pitch, he advanced on a Scott Runzer single, went to third when a walk was issued to Shane Coleman then came home on a double-play grounder hit to short by Nick Mascioli.
Seiz redeemed himself in the fifth, putting the local boys on top for good by pushing CR South sophomore Bill Fleming across with an RBI triple. Olenski put the SOL on top by two, scoring Seiz with an ensuing RBI double.
The bottom of the fifth was a wild one for Berks. With CR South sophomore lefthander Greg Welsh in for Strenge, Berks sent six batters to the plate – two had reached on walks and another pair slapped singles. Add in a stolen base and a failed pickoff attempt and one might think an opposing rally would have been the result. When the dust settled, however, the enemy had but a single run to show for their trouble.
That’s because Neshaminy senior Tyler Orr nailed Blaise Fernandez trying to score from second base on Chris Lloyd’s single to right field. After inducing a popup to Frankelvin Reyes, Welsh put another pair of runners aboard, surrendering a single and a walk. The CR South lefty finally settled down, fanning Garrett Gitler to get out of the inning.
The locals really took advantage in the top of the sixth, plating three more runs on just two hits. SOL/ Bicentennial put a pair of runners aboard with Eric Ebert reaching on an error and Orr slapping a single to centerfield. It was Matt Hone coming through with the big hit, an RBI double down the left field line that pushed Ebert across.
Kelly Adams then plated Orr with a sac-fly to right field. Bristol junior Adam Moore repeated the feat with a sac-fly to left field that scored Hone.
The bottom sixth looked like another shaky one for the locals, defensively, especially when Berks put their first two batters on board on an error and a walk. Again, Welsh settled down, inducing a ground ball to Tim Ravel and striking out Fernandez.
Orr scored the final tally for the SOL in the eighth. After drawing a walk, he advanced on a fielder’s choice, went to third on an error then came home on a ground ball hit to short by Corey Hower.
After waiting around for nearly 2 hours, Neshaminy junior Ray Hyjurick finally got his chance to pitch in the seventh. Ray made the most of it, retiring the side in order. After surrendering a double to C Faust to open the eighth, he recorded the next three outs on a fly ball to left field and a pair of grounders.
After the game, Hyjurick spoke of what it was like waiting in the wings.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking but it’s also exciting — you can’t wait to get into the game and play here.
With his team holding a commanding lead, Smeraglio countered with Abington junior Jake Ruch. The 11th-grader allowed a walk but nary a run putting this one in the books favor the boys from Bucks County.
Another factor that helped the locals was that both CR South and North made it to the postseason this year, with the Indians advancing all the way to the state quarters.
“It was a good run — we made it to the quarterfinals in states,” commented CR North infielder Scott Runzer, who is headed to West Chester. “The team we lost to — North Penn — ended up winning it so that was tough.
“The good thing was that all the guys from North were able to stay sharp coming into Carpenter Cup playing so late into the [varsity] season.
With North part of the Continental Conference last year, Runzer was not part of the 2008 Carpenter Cup champions. So Runzer would really like to see this team repeat last year’s feat. With his current squad wearing a target on its back, he knows the task will not be easy. Still he believes this group has the talent.
“Everyone is coming out to beat us since this team won last year,” stated Runzer.
“I know we have the potential to repeat; we have really good pitching and I know we can hit the ball too.
That much was proven today in a 7-3 win, favor: the locals.
***
NOTES: From here, the SOL-N/ Bicentennial returns to Meiklejohn at 12:3o p.m. this Friday, June 19 where they’ll take on Lehigh Valley, 3-1 winners over Inter-AC. Lehigh will surely looking to avenge last year’s loss to the locals in the tournament finale.
Labels: Baseball, CR North, CR North Baseball
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