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Huck's Corner
Ed "Huck" Palmer is one of our trusty statisticians/observers. He
is not to be confused with Tom "Puck" McKenna. (Huck is normal.
Puck is not even close. Huck owns Puck when it comes to making picks during FB season --
smile). He will make reports on games he sees. |
MAY 26
CATHOLIC LEAGUE SECOND-ROUND PLAYOFF
Roman 6, Bonner 4
Hold on a minute! Where are the helmets, pads, footballs,
and goal posts? Ok, it must be basketball then, but no layup lines? That’s right,
yours truly took in a baseball game today. That’s not too unusual because I have
actually caught my share of games this year, but this time I was on assignment. And how
would our fearless leader put it --- yeah, baby!! So, excuse me if I appear a little
rusty, but this sort thing usually doesn’t start for me until early September --
Smile! Anyhow, how about the game, you might ask? Overall, it was well played and included
a late-inning flurry from the visitors that helped them escape with a terrific victory and
spot in the CL Semifinals. Were there any heroes? Positively! For starters, we’ll
move ahead to the visiting seventh with the score tied 4-4. Sr. SS Matt Bennett led the inning off when he slammed a
double to the gap in left-center. He then advanced to third on a wild pitch. With one out
and Bennett still on third, winning pitcher Tim
Hoban sent a roller to third that was juggled for an error. In the game as a courtesy
runner, jr. OF Mike Mychack moved up to second
on yet another wild pitch placing runners on second and third. With the count 2-0, sr. C Brian Cooper hammered a high curveball back
through the box for a two-run single, thus giving the Cahillites their margin of victory.
Cooper, who’s as steady as they come behind the dish, brought home Roman’s
fourth run with a flare to right just out of the reach of Bonner’s 2B sr. Bill Larkin. In his two earlier plate appearances
he looked bad and struck out on both occasions. However, he did what all good senior
leaders do and bounced back in a big way. You just knew that Roman was going to be game
during their first at-bat of the contest. Pesky sr. 2B Carmen Del Mastro, after fouling off numerous
pitches, found himself involved in a nine-pitch at-bat before finally slashing one down
the third base line for a single. Hoban followed with a knock in the hole and after a wild
pitch the Cahillites were in business with runners at second and third. Then, sr. 1B Nick DeMalto laced a double to the gap in left
to plate the game’s first runs and stake Roman to an early 2-0 lead. In the third, it
was once again Del Mastro playing the role of sparkplug for the Cahillites. He led off the
top of the third with a slicing double to left-center and immediately was brought around
when Hoban ripped a ball to right-center for a double of his own. This expanded Roman’s
lead to 3-0. The Friars would gain life and make it a 3-2 game after sr. RF Joe McGilligan chopped a ball up the middle with
the base loaded and two outs in the fourth. The Cahillites added another run in the top of
the fifth and again it was Del Mastro being very instrumental. With one out he walked and
then stole second even though he probably should have been out. The throw by jr. C Ryan Hunt was right on the money, but Larkin
failed to hold onto the ball after Del Mastro slid into him. Del Mastro eventually came
around to score on Cooper’s first hit. To this point that was three plate appearances
and three runs scored for Del Mastro. This kid is the epitome of a leadoff hitter and
after being snubbed in the All-Catholic voting he has come out with a chip on his
shoulder. He has been a thorn in the sides for both of Roman’s playoff opponents. To
give you an idea of how well he does his job at the top of the order how about this. In
his four AB’s today he saw a total of 26 pitches. That’s called earning your
money! Trailing 4-2 in the home sixth, the Friars showed some life and seemingly snatched
the momentum away from Roman when they tied the game with a two-spot. Leading off the
inning McGillian hit a laser over the head of promising soph. CF Dominique Joseph for a triple. Earlier the rangy
outfielder nicely tracked down a couple of well-hit balls in left-center. On this play he
initially broke in before having to retreat, but I’m not positive this ball could
have been caught anyway. Sr. 3B Phil Leonard followed with a single to make the
score 4-3. Jr. OF Tom Tarpey who entered the
game as a pinch runner stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw by Cooper. In
a pinch-hitting role sr. OF Joe Boyle singled
hard in the hole between first and second to deadlock the game at four. Jr. SS Brian Meagher then laid down a nice bunt between
the mound and first base, the ball avoided Hoban at first and then after he picked it up
he shoveled it wildly past DeMalto at first. The hit and error placed Bonner runners at
second and third with one out. Next, sr. CF Andrew
Case sent a relatively hard chopper to second and without hesitation Del Mastro easily
erased Boyle at home, as Cooper did an excellent job of blocking the plate. Hunt then
grounded out to third to end the threat. On the mound Hoban went the distance with a gutsy
121-pitch performance. He wasn’t overpowering, but for the most part he was around
the plate, especially when he needed to be. He did walk five, while only striking out
three, but every time he needed to make a pitch he seemed to do so. He mixed his pitches
up just well enough to keep the Bonner hitters off balanced for a good part of the game.
In Bonner’s home seventh jr. LF Mike Coleman
reached on an error to leadoff the inning. Next, slugging sr. 1B Kevin Ward popped up to short in shallow left. The
game ended on the next pitch when Hoban snagged a come backer, wheeled and started a 1-6-3
double play. That was Roman’s second turn of the game. Earlier sr. 3B Bob Spinks started an around-the-horn
twin-killing. Hoban allowed just six hits for the game, with each of these hits coming in
the two innings that Bonner scored. The Friars had their ace sr. RHP Tom Moran on the hill today. Moran had only
pitched 2+ innings over the last two and a half weeks, and early on he showed some rust.
He eventually settled in some, but overall he had good stuff, but not dominating. In fact,
he may have fell victim to throwing too many quality strikes. In the game he tossed 100
pitches, with 71 of them being strikes. Twice, he was victimized by 0-2 doubles. He ended
up going 6 1/3, allowed 9 hits (5 doubles), 1 walk, and 7 K’s. Defensively, Leonard
may a couple of nice plays at the hot corner. Once, he dove and smothered a ball before
throwing out the speedy Joseph. All year the Friars’ leader has been Ward on and off
the field. Today, he had a disappointing performance going 0-for-3 with a walk.
Personally, I know how intense this kid is and no one wants to win more than he does.
Today just wasn’t his day. However, as the teams were lining up he showed what kind
of kid he is when he firmly told his teammates not to say anything smart to the Roman
players and wish them luck while shaking hands. Classy move, Kev! Roman now advances to
Saturday’s CL Semifinal when they take on Northern Division regular season champion
La Salle. The other semifinal will feature O’Hara and Conwell-Egan.