On the Trail With Ted Return to TedSilary.com Home Page  Observations, notes, etc., on games I've seen during the 2009 season . . .

JUNE 4
PIAA CLASS AAA QUARTERFINAL
Neumann-Goretti 1, Twin Valley 0
  So, what inning is it now? Eighth? Twelth? Seventeenth? Well, this one only went seven, but there’s strong evidence that it should have headed for eight with the score deadlocked at, well, NO score. If that had happened, we could have been at Spring-Ford High for a while because both pitchers were effective and the combination of thick grass and heavy air (with some rain mixed in) made scoring quite difficult. Let’s go to the home third, when N-G scored its “undeserved” run. Frosh SS Marty Venafro led off by reaching first on a bobbled grounder. Soph DH Nicky Nardini, performing his job responsibility to perfection, used an inside-out swing to send a grass-cutting grounder to first and move Venafro to second. Jr. LF Reno Regalbuto tried to bunt for a hit and wound getting one when RH Eric Geedey did a slip-and-slide tumble after he fielded the ball and tried to throw to first; Regalbuto has decent speed and the play would have been close. As jr. 3B Al Baur was fanning, both runners broke. The throw by C Greg Reardon was a shade to the right of second. Regalbuto opted not to slide. As he cut in front of, and across the bag, SS Jesse May made a great catch-and-tag play. Well, at least he THOUGHT he did, and a call in his favor would have ended the inning on a doubleplay. May did not throw home as Venafro scored. Didn’t think he had to. But the second base ump ruled Regalbuto safe and that, of course, meant N-G had a 1-0 lead because of Venafro’s scamper. I watched this play from the left side of N-G’s dugout. TV’s coach popped out of the dugout immediately and made his point. Finally, the second base ump went over near first base to talk with the umpire there, who happened to be Rowan University basketball coach Joe Cassidy. The two conferred for a while. The call stood. After jr. LH Mark Donato, who again pitched a gem, lined out to center to end the inning, I walked behind the dugout toward the outer side of it. A couple of N-G parents were heading in the other direction. They confirmed, with emphasis, that Reno HAD been tagged. When I asked Reno after the game, he smiled and hemmed and hawed and then finally said, “I think he might have nipped me. But I'd never admit to that." So, there you have it. Taint for the Saints. People make mistakes. It happens. It was a shame that it had to happen in a game between two of the last eight AAA teams still alive in this state. Kudos to S-F’s grounds crew. The game was scheduled to start at noon because N-G’s Baccalaureate Mass was set for late afternoon. But coach Lou Spadaccini received a call with info that the field was still unplayable, and that the game would have to be pushed back to 4 o’clock. The Saints finally left school at about 1 and it took them forever to arrive at the stadium in part because the driver of their oversized van almost made it to Reading before everyone realized he’d messed up and had to backtrack down Route 422. Ugh. The Saints were kind of lethargic during infield-outfield and even moments before gametime, only eight to 10 N-G fans were on hand. Just then, another 15-some rolled in and the atmosphere wound up being not too bad, considering the weather and general lack of action. Donato was mostly dominant, as he has been throughout the postseason. This was his third outing, counting a quarterfinal and final in the CL playoffs, and in 22 innings he has allowed just nine hits while whiffing 30. His result today was a two-hitter with 11 K’s. TV advanced no one past second base and just three balls left the infield, a pair of flyouts to center and a hard single to left. That came with two away in the seventh (after five consecutive punchouts) and the guy who hammered it, RF Justin Pacana, yielded to pinch-runner Alan McCarthy. He moved up on a wild pitch that barely eluded sr. C Joey Armata’s block-it attempt and there the tying run was, at second base. But on a 2-2 pitch, with McCarthy breaking for third, Ben Nelson fanned and the Saints were golden. Aside from having to listen to country music (yuck) being pumped through the sound system, N-G’s guys were ridiculed by a group of TV youths standing behind third base along the fence. If I heard the word “spaghetti” once, I heard it 47 times (rough estimate). “Spads” was coaching at third base, like almost all head coaches do, and I was not surprised when he finally got upset enough to complain to the nearby ump. The busting on Italians was not the problem, though, as he said afterward. What sent him over the edge, he said, was hearing the kids call Armata fat and suggesting  he could benefit from using Slim-Fast. The ump agreed with Louie's point and told the kids to refrain from yelling personal insults. No. 1, Armata is NOT fat. OK, he’s a shade chunky, but how many catchers are not? No. 2, I have a strong suspicion he would have won a scuffle featuring him and, oh, any four to five of those kids (smile). While walking off the field, I heard a brief exchange between Spads and a man who said he was “from Twin Valley.” Not sure if he was a school employee or merely a fan, but he apologized to Lou for the fans’ behavior and Lou definitely appreciated the gesture. N-G’s opponent in a Monday semi will be Abington Heights, from way upstate. While in the office tonight, I opened an e-mail from an old friend, Steve Klingman, who was my roommate sophomore year at Ithaca College. He mentioned that his son, Justin, is a sophomore backup infielder for AH. Cool! I didn’t know Steve before Ithaca, but we became friends because of our Philly connection. He was a soccer star from Haverford High, in Delaware County, and his father, John, was the football coach at Bartram for 10 seasons beginning in 1948. Steve also excelled at Ithaca (I transferred back to Temple after two years) and wound up coaching soccer for a long time (22 seasons) at the University of Scranton. His overall record was 324-116-24 and he was ultimately placed on Scranton’s athletics Wall of Fame. Legendary! He’s now an associate athletic director. It’s amazing how many guys I knew growing up have sports-related jobs. Might as well get paid to do something you love, right? Much more than half the battle. Remember that, young’uns (smile).

JUNE 1
CLASS AAAA FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF
SJ Prep 4, Garnet Valley 3
   When the Prep’s two quality starters – sr. RHs Kyle Mullen and Kevin Gillen – are pitching, one thing you don’t expect to see is a semi-comfortable lead evaporate. That didn’t happen, but 4-0 did become 4-3 and there was more than a little nervousness in the seventh. Today’s hurler was the Saint Joseph’s-bound Mullen and he mostly cruised through five, showing a good-pop fastball and a curve that would have been the day’s best had Blaise Fernandez not pitched for Tulpehocken in the second game (smile). GV posted two in the sixth and the seventh began with a scratch infield single by RF Chris Santangelo, who moved up to second while Jake Dickerson was being retired on a very high one-hopper to Mullen. Joe DeCarlo drove him in with a single to center and remained at first as losing pitcher Joe Barnholt sent a fly to left. Then, just like that, the game was over. DeCarlo attempted a delayed steal and was gunned down by soph C Ray Toto. There was an interesting side issue on this play. La Salle University’s field is ALL turf except around the mound and plate and the GV players had actually held sliding practice beforehand to get used to things. I’m tellin’ ya, if you slide into second too hard/fast on this stuff, you can wind up in shallow left field. I was standing in a direct line from first to second, so the angle wasn’t the greatest, but it appeared that DeCarlo, perhaps worried about that very circumstance, went into his slide extra early. I’m not even sure he reached the base. Anyway, that was it and the Hawks were celebrating the CL’s first baseball win in the Pennsylvania state playoffs. Why’d I word it that way? Of course it’s Pennsylvania. Well, the subject of DN ink was sr. 1B Jeff Lynch, and he lives in Washington Township, N.J. Around the state, message board participants, especially during FB season, have made some juicy comments about the fact that the Prep draws from such a wide area, and how that’s an unfair advantage. If the Hawks had fared better last season, I’m sure the talk would have escalated to crescendo, especially since South Jersey guys often are coach Gil Brooks’ headliners. (His son, jr. 3B Greg “Buddy” Brooks, is the Prep’s other baseball starter with a South Jersey home address. In fact, he played with my son on youth baseball teams and Gil was even the coach . . . Meanwhile, one of Roman’s starters this past basketball season, frosh Andre Horne, commutes back and forth from Delaware.) Mullen wound up getting touched for nine hits and striking out the same number. He walked the game’s first batter (on four pitches) and plunked a guy in the sixth, but that was it for extras. The Prep scored one in the fourth and three in the fifth. Lynch began the fourth with a walk and yielded to a pinch-runner, James Stewart. Sr. DH Perry Russom put down a perfect bunt and Gillen stroked an RBI single to center. In the fifth, again the Hawks were fundamentally sound. Sr. RF Danny Turner led off with a single and sr. CF Gio Morales got down HIS bunt in fine fashion. BB drew his third BB of the game and that brought up Toto, the three hitter. Bang! He rocked an RBI double down the leftfield line, then Lynch followed with a two-run single to right-center. That would end the inning’s scoring, though Russom did follow with a bolt off the bottom part of the fence in left-center; it went for a double. Had some pre-game fun with student manager Rob Muller over his lack of leaping ability (smile). His feet were on the ground in a chest-bump pic with Gillen from the previous game. Yes, he had returned to earth by then, but you gotta bust 'em a little bit sometimes, right? Anyway, I told Rob I’d have the camera ready for his next attempt. However, the opportunity for a rousing on-field entrance, capped by another chest bump, did not present itself. What a downer! (ha ha ha). I also – dryly, of course -- told Jeff Lynch we’ve instituted a new website rule: baserunners are not allowed to ease their way into the opposition's mound conference pics! He laughed because he knew what I was talking about. Judge for yourself if he was guilty during that Central game (smile). Part of the DN story about Lynch focused on how his mom, Karen (happy birthday!), and other Prep moms were momentarily livid when coach Chris Rupertus at first intended to hold a practice after Sunday's graduation ceremony. The workout wound up being only for underclassmen. The seniors hit today at the 21st Ward facility, in Andorra, before heading for La Salle. Never mess with moms. Ever. Not even for an instant. Don't even think about doing it (smile). 

MAY 27
PUBLIC LEAGUE FINAL
Central 12, Northeast 2
  Hooray for the lesser lights! Through the years, in all sports, it has always been fun to watch non-stars lead teams to championships. Today yielded not an all-timer, perhaps, but the final four guys in Central’s order combined for eight of the 12 RBI and, if you ask me, that’s pretty darn legendary. The big blows were a solo homer to dead left field by No. 7, sr. SS Brian “Back to Contacts” Burkett, to lead off the second inning and start the Lancers’ rally from a 2-0 deficit, and a bases-loaded triple by No. 8, sr. LF Graham Johnston, in the sixth inning that extended a 4-2 lead. No. 6, sr. RF Zack King, No. 6, added a two-run single in the seventh and No. 9, sr. 2B David "Should Been Best Teammate (smile)" Kremer, contributed one RBI along with two base hits. The victim of all the fireworks was sr. LH Brian Susten, who has been such a rock these past few seasons for the Vikings. “Sust” walked the first two batters of the game and the tone was set. Before departing one batter into the seventh, Susten free-passed 10 (one was intentional) and uncorked four wild pitches and it was painful to see a good kid struggle to such a degree. I hope there’s no arm issue and that it was merely one of those days. I can’t imagine how many pitches he threw. A total close to 150 would not surprise because there were numerous deep counts. Two big outfield plays had a large impact. Johnston’s blast followed a wild pitch that convinced NE coach Sam Feldman to wave Burkett to first and load the sacks. The ball sailed toward a spot a shade to the right of center. Sr. CF Chad O’Malley can motor and, as he moved toward the ball, his body language indicated “I’m gonna get this.” I didn’t see a flag anywhere, but the wind must have been blowing in that direction, as the ball kept carrying. O’Malley couldn’t quite get there. On the flip side . . . In the sixth, Northeast managed first and second with two away and sr. 2B Josh “Pudge” Rivera directed a liner to right. King went back and back and back and, oh, he made the catch with a last-second leap-and-reach! It was a great play and all life, honestly, was sucked from the Vikings. King received all kinds of congrats from the instant after he made the catch until he reached the dugout. Maybe even afterward. A misplayed grounder helped Central score three in the third. Kremer had his RBI single and sr. CF Ian “Sweet Lew” Lewis followed with a two-run single to left. The Nos. 3 and 4 hitters, sr. C Tommy “Guns” Capewell and sr. RH Steve Schall, contributed two hits and one RBI apiece along the way. (Tommy’s little sister was quite the frisky one. She ran onto the field at game’s end and made it into several team celebration photos – ha ha ha.) Capewell made a great play in the sixth, hustling down behind first base and then taking an errant throw and erasing sr. RF Lance Lempert at second. There was a discussion about whether the ball had bounced into the out-of-play area. Not sure. I DO know Capewell did a fantastic job, beginning with the hustle to get him down there. Somehow, Schall went the distance without notching a strikeout! How nuts is that?! It’s not as if he’s a soft-tosser. He allowed five hits and four walks and, like always, showed that certain it’ll-all-be-OK presence. In 1985, in the CL final, Judge’s Chris Gies relieved just one-third of an inning into the game and wound up getting the win as the Crusaders came back to best St. James (used to be in Chester, closed in June 1993), 11-5. He also fanned none. He was a soph then and wound up being a very hard thrower and later pitched in the minors. If the Replacement “Phill-In” Phillies had played in ’95, he would have been their Opening Night starter. Anyway, Northeast’s runs scored on a two-run, first-inning single by sr. LF Julius Spann. There was bad moment in the third when sr. C Tim Freiling smacked a two-out double. Courtesy runner Dario Perez, after stopping maybe one-third of the way down the third-base line, was tagged out to cap a short rundown. Feldman said shortly thereafter, “I stopped him. That was on me.” This was a rough ending to a season that began with so much promise, as the Vikings returned every starter. Central is back at it Thursday night, 7 o’clock, vs. St. Joe’s Prep in the AAAA portion of the City Title tripleheader. It’ll be Neumann-Goretti/Franklin Towne at 1 and Kennedy-Kenrick/Esperanza at 4. The only loser-go-home game will be in AAA, as that classification will receive just one state playoff berth. All four participants in AA and AAAA combined will advance, as will already-crowned GAMP (there are no A squads in the Catholic League).

MAY 19
CATHOLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
SJ Prep 4, Conwell-Egan 0
   This one offered a bit of a surprise even before it began. Seeing as how sr. RH Kevin Gillen earned MVP honors in the Red, it figured he’d earned the starting assignment. But when the lineup was offered, it showed Gillen at second base and sr. RH Kyle Mullen on the mound. Not exactly a horrible scenario, of course, since Mullen last season had pitched the Prep to the championship and had entered this season with the top-dog label. As coach Chris Rupertus mentioned for DN ink purposes, the guys’ stats were very similar and Mullen’s record had been damaged somewhat by untimely hits served up. He said Kyle started today because Kevin had started just last Thursday and the day before had been plunked on his pitching elbow while batting. How’d it go? Beautifully. The Saint Joseph’s-bound Mullen fired a route-going shutout and it was really a tale-of-two-cities kind of deal. He was lights out through the first three innings, racking up seven of his nine strikeouts. C-E stirred numerous times over the final four, but could never post the clutch hit while stranding five guys in scoring position. A key moment occurred in the fourth. Sr. Pat Sevick, usually C-E’s catcher but limited to DH duties (and signaling pitches from the bench) because of a compound fractures of his left index finger, singled to right. Soph C Ray Toto gunned him down trying to steal on the first pitch and, wouldn't you know it, sr. CF Ben Keller followed with a double to right-center. Mullen posted a groundout and looking whiff to escape. Two of the first three batters in the fifth reached base. A lineout and groundout followed. Three of the first four batters did so in the sixth. Again it was no sweat: looking K and a groundout. The first two did so in the seventh. Again, things worked out. Sr. SS Joe Tretter (if ever a kid deserved a story, it's this one for his heart-and-soul leadership/work ethic in FB and baseball) sent a high hopper toward jr. 3B Greg “Buddy/Son of Gil” Brooks, one of those little-guy, big-heart types. At first it appeared the ball might bounce over his head. No deal. He not only gloved the ball and stepped on the bag, but also gunned to first for a doubleplay. A regular groundout ended it. Prep had the only run it would need three batters into the home first. Sr. CF Gio “Can You Believe My Posse Only Has Two Guys?” Morales drew a walk and Gillen followed with a scratch infield single. Toto then lined an RBI single to right. An error helped to produce a fourth inning run (driven in by sr. RF Dan Turner on a groundball single past the dive of 2B Chris Fischer; a flyball that should have been caught by any one of three guys landed harmlessly in shallow right-center directly beforehand) and Morales added insurance in the sixth with a ringing two-run double to right-center. It came on a 3-2 count, capping a quality at-bat. In some ways, the highlight of the day occurred beforehand when Murphy and Turner suggested I could take a picture of Chase Utley and Cole Hamels. Meaning THEM. You know, one of those separated-at-birth things. Turner’s hair needs to be darker, but there’s a pretty decent resemblance for both of them. Smile! (You be the judge.) Prep sr. Bobby Della Polla, one of our Best Teammate ’09 nominees, gave chase to 1,456,274 foul balls. Phew! The legendary Kevin “Sparky” Cooney was on hand to cover the game for the Bucks County Courier Times. He was at the White House last week for the Phillies’ visit and has some cell-phone pics to prove it. Thanks to those on assorted trails today: Huck at N-G, Puck at La Salle and team of adult assistant-student assistant Kevin Rosini/Tom Zulewski at Wood. Wood bested Roman, 14-13, in nine innings, and that was the highest scoring one-run game in CL playoff history. What a boxscore THAT one proved to be! Legendary!

MAY 19
CATHOLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
SJ Prep 4, Conwell-Egan 0
  This one offered a bit of a surprise even before it began. Seeing as how sr. RH Kevin Gillen earned MVP honors in the Red, it figured he’d earned the starting assignment. But when the lineup was offered, it showed Gillen at second base and sr. RH Kyle Mullen on the mound. Not exactly a horrible scenario, of course, since Mullen last season had pitched the Prep to the championship and had entered this season with the top-dog label. As coach Chris Rupertus mentioned for DN ink purposes, the guys’ stats were very similar and Mullen’s record had been damaged somewhat by untimely hits served up. He said Kyle started today because Kevin had started just last Thursday and the day before had been plunked on his pitching elbow while batting. How’d it go? Beautifully. The Saint Joseph’s-bound Mullen fired a route-going shutout and it was really a tale-of-two-cities kind of deal. He was lights out through the first three innings, racking up seven of his nine strikeouts. C-E stirred numerous times over the final four, but could never post the clutch hit while stranding five guys in scoring position. A key moment occurred in the fourth. Sr. Pat Sevick, usually C-E’s catcher but limited to DH duties (and signaling pitches from the bench) because of a compound fractures of his left index finger, singled to right. Soph C Ray Toto gunned him down trying to steal on the first pitch and, wouldn't you know it, sr. CF Ben Keller followed with a double to right-center. Mullen posted a groundout and looking whiff to escape. Two of the first three batters in the fifth reached base. A lineout and groundout followed. Three of the first four batters did so in the sixth. Again it was no sweat: looking K and a groundout. The first two did so in the seventh. Again, things worked out. Sr. SS Joe Tretter (if ever a kid deserved a story, it's this one for his heart-and-soul leadership/work ethic in FB and baseball) sent a high hopper toward jr. 3B Greg “Buddy/Son of Gil” Brooks, one of those little-guy, big-heart types. At first it appeared the ball might bounce over his head. No deal. He not only gloved the ball and stepped on the bag, but also gunned to first for a doubleplay. A regular groundout ended it. Prep had the only run it would need three batters into the home first. Sr. CF Gio “Can You Believe My Posse Only Has Two Guys?” Morales drew a walk and Gillen followed with a scratch infield single. Toto then lined an RBI single to right. An error helped to produce a fourth inning run (driven in by sr. RF Dan Turner on a groundball single past the dive of jr. 2B Chris Fischer; a flyball that should have been caught by any one of three guys landed harmlessly in shallow right-center directly beforehand) and Morales added insurance in the sixth with a ringing two-run double to right-center. It came on a 3-2 count, capping a quality at-bat. In some ways, the highlight of the day occurred beforehand when Murphy and Turner suggested I could take a picture of Chase Utley and Cole Hamels. Meaning THEM. You know, one of those separated-at-birth things. Turner’s hair needs to be darker, but there’s a pretty decent resemblance for both of them. Smile! (You be the judge.) Prep sr. Bobby Della Polla, one of our Best Teammate ’09 nominees, gave chase to 1,456,274 foul balls. Phew! The legendary Kevin “Sparky” Cooney was on hand to cover the game for the Bucks County Courier Times. He was at the White House last week for the Phillies’ visit and has some cell-phone pics to prove it. Thanks to those on assorted trails today: Huck at N-G, Puck at La Salle and team of adult assistant-student assistant Kevin Rosini/Tom Zulewski at Wood. Wood bested Roman, 14-13, in nine innings, and that was the highest scoring one-run game in CL playoff history. What a boxscore THAT one proved to be! Legendary!

MAY 18
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Frankford 13, Edison 1 (5 inn.)
  After close to four decades in this business, it’s tough to come across unique situations. But there’s one at Frankford and it could have a mighty happy ending. DN ink went to sr. RF Wander Nunez, whose first name is pronounced juan-day. He’s here from Santiago, Dominican Republic, and could be headed back there shortly after this season. That’ll depend what happens in the upcoming draft. Nunez is an 18-year-old freshman, and that scenario is the result of the fact he did not attend school beyond the seventh grade in the D.R. Number one, he said he struggled with schoolwork. Number two, like MANY youngsters in that country, he had the baseball dream and devoted most of his time to improving his skills. It shows. The 6-1, 190-pounder has a strong arm – not super, but strong – and can run well. But what grabs attention is his bat. Both what he does with it and what it is – wood. That’s right, Nunez eschews aluminum. In the second inning, he blasted a shot to the deepest part of Frankford’s field, dead center, and wound up with a double. The kid has tremendously quick hands. It seemed as if he intended to take the pitch and then, crack!, there it was en route to the outer limits. Frankford’s outfield is not rounded off. The field is square and dead center is a zip code away. Nunez also had a groundball single to left in this game and, being just a bit overanxious, sent a major league popup to third. Even THAT was impressive (smile) due to the uncommon height. Frankford coach Juan Namnun said he first became aware of Nunez last July when Frankford hosted a tryout/combine run by MLB. During that session, Nunez peppered the trees across Pratt Street with a bunch of homers and hit more onto the roofs of houses behind those trees. It was then, Namnun said, that Nunez, who now lives nearby, announced his intention to attend Frankford. His age precluded him from enrolling in middle school, due to state law, so a Frankford frosh he is and this will be his only season of eligibility no matter what happens. If Nunez goes undrafted, he said he’ll likely return to the D.R. and try to improve some more and get signed as a free agent. This game took a bad turn in the bottom of the first. Frankford had second and third with two away when C Chris Lopez hit an easy groundball to shortstop. It was handled no problem, then the throw was wild and two runs scored. Bad became worse when sr. LF Jason Efre pounded an RBI double to deep right-center. Another error created bad vibrations early in the second inning. Though only one of the nine runs wound up being unearned, the miscue acted to deflate the Owls. Big hits of this frame were provided by sr. CF Edwin “Tito” Rohena (signed with La Salle, also being scouted), who had a two-run single, and Nunez, with the two-run double. Oh, and then there was soph 3B Jose Sosa-Reyes, the No. 8 hitter. All he did was hammer a grand slam to dead leftfield and over the fence. Jr. LH Gonzalo Lebron came on and held Frankford to one run over the final 2.2 innings, and that one was tallied on a balk. Frankford’s pitching was done by soph RH Cameron Stimpson (three innings) and frosh RH Brandon Gonzalez. Stimpson had a stretch of wildness (three consecutive walks) to start the second, but was touched for just one run. He allowed one hit, a double by jr. CF Mijael Rodriguez, as did Gonzalez (single by sr. 3B Orlando Rodriguez). Had some pre-game fun with Frankford jr. sub 1B Mike McGroarty, the football QB. He was absent the day I took Frankford’s team pic earlier this season and he wanted me to take another. I told him that would be up to Namnun. Not sure if he even asked him. Anyway, I took some shots of Mike during infield-outfield and gave him a quick look at the camera, saying he could pick one of four shots to be posted. He chose one where he’s getting ready to throw the ball to the plate. I said I might throw him a bone and post two. He shot back with a laugh, “How about all of them?” Nah, be happy with two, dude!! Ha, ha. (The other two were average, at best, anyway). Thanks to the three other guys on the Pub trail today – Randy Seidman at Washington, Thomas “Hockey Puck/Nutman/Head Fakes” McKenna at Central and Swenson coach Shawn Williams at Northeast. Also to Huck, who handled the 3-hour, 10-minute, 10-inning classic at Bonner. That was won by Roman, 4-2. Gotta give a shoutout to Frankford plate ump Joe Courtney, who says the count over and over, with volume, and encourages/guides the catchers non-stop as well. Without fail, he refers to the baseball as "the pill" and his strike call is an attention-getter because he sounds like someone who, well, just got stabbed. The kids/fans are entertained non-stop when Joe does a game. Plus, he's good. 

MAY 15
PUBLIC LEAGUE ROUND OF 16/CLASS A FINAL
GAMP 5, Masterman 4
  Today’s riddle is, how can a team NOT play a doubleheader but still post a win AND a loss? Well, GAMP won the game, but sr. C Eugene Aversa was tossed in the fifth inning by plate ump Joe Lieberman after raising his forearm and (apparently) making contact with jr. C Tyler Hunt on a flyball/rubout doubleplay and, thus, he is suspended for Monday’s quarterfinal at Washington. The sequence happened up to 10 feet from the plate, along the line, and Aversa was a dead duck. I understand the concept, especially in high school ball, of forcing the opposition to make the plays. But if a guy gets thrown out by 10 feet, and Hunt had the ball for at least a second before Aversa arrived, sending him was a bad decision. Especially since GAMP had second and third and the fly to frosh CF Nate Vahedi was only the first out. Masterman had committed no errors all day (and wouldn’t, and neither would GAMP – yes, a high school game with no miscues!), so it wasn't as if the squad had been messing up. Coach Art Kratchman is hopeful of having the suspension rescinded since Aversa was not doing anything aggressive, let alone dirty. We’ll see. DN ink went to soph 3B-P Dom Raia, who worked the last four innings in relief of jr. RH James “Flippa” Coin. Raia’s dad, Dominic, was a first team DN All-City infielder (as a 3B) for Southern in 1987 and young Dom shows a good mix of skill and baseball presence. In the No. 5 spot, he lined a double deep to right, was issued an intentional walk and singled to center. He pitched the last four innings and was rather dominant through 3.1 (five strikeouts, just two infield singles). But with two out in the seventh, jr. RH-SS Micah Krey posted a safety on yet another scratch infield single and Hunt drew a walk. Impressive soph C-RH David Ashbridge (good size) bounced an RBI single through the right side to make it 5-4 and put runners on first and third. Uh, oh. Vahedi pounded one into the dirt right in front of the plate. The ball trickled maybe 30 feet away to a spot between the mound and the third-base side. Raia pounced, barehanded and fired, and the final out was recorded. Coin’s brother, Matt, played for Masterman last season and was in attendance. Beforehand, Matt mentioned to Masterman coach Alex Dejewski that James would be pitching and Alex kiddingly tried to get Matt to reveal James’ pitching repertoire. Matt wasn’t havin’ it (smile). Masterman is his old school, but James is family forever. Coin wound up surrendering three runs in three frames and Ashbridge scorched him for a DEEP, two-run homer to left-center. After that jolt, he did record three straight outs, though, so that was good. “Flippa” also turned in one of the better plays of the day – a perfectly executed squeeze bunt to score the last run of the three-run second. Frosh RF Tyler Criniti plated the first two with a hard single to center. Sr. CF Ron “Piano Man” Malandro and soph SS Joe Garafalo bagged one RBI apiece in the third and fourth with singles. Aversa finished 3-for-3 with a double. This was Masterman’s third baseball season. The Blue Dragons roared to an 11-0 record in Division D in ’07 and were likely the first team in city sports history to go perfect in division play as neophytes. They then went 11-0 in C in ’08 and were pushed up to B for ’09. This season’s record was 7-2 for first place and the ’10 season could find the squad in A (I’m a little unclear on that. Some regular season games were not played and Masterman is a half-game ahead of Olney, for the moment. League baseball chairman Dave Connolly has indicated some "necessary" postponed games WILL be played for move-up, move-down purposes. Just not sure when.) This squad has NO seniors, so ’10 could provide lots of fun. It was fun hanging out with all of the assorted GAMP parents/fans, male and female, and to see recent players from both schools. The line of the day was uttered by Lieberman after the second out of the visiting third was recorded. For some reason, a couple Pioneers began to leave the field. After calling back Aversa, Lieberman cracked, “I know you guys are a music school, but you’ve got math in there somewhere.”

MAY 14
CATHOLIC RED
Roman 8, O'Hara 6
  Roman coach Joe Tremoglie said he expected something along the lines of a BYU football game. You know. Up and down the field. All kinds of points. I told him I'd brought four scoresheets (instead of the usual three) in case the scoring got out of control and there were numerous bat-around innings. After all, just yesterday, Roman outlasted O'Hara, 16-15, and there were 21 runs in the last three innngs! Phew! So what happened today? Both guys went the distance and the run total was somewhat lofty, but not outrageous, especially considering the site (Roman's Boyce Field) and the fact that the wind was always blowing out, and sometimes was doing so hard. This was the Avoid Pre-Playoffs Bowl. A Roman loss would have dropped the Cahillites into a three-way tie with O'Hara and Ryan, necessitating two pre-playoffs on Saturday. Roman sr. RH Tom Mauro, coming off Tommy John surgery just last June, was torched for eight hits (two other balls were stung) and five runs in the first two innings. Uh, oh. But, hey, then he regrouped. Well, he did serve up two singles to start the third, but sr. 3B Russ Trojan was caught stealing and a strikeout/comebacker quickly ended the threat. Clear sailing until the seventh. Sr. 2B Jim Jones (earlier two-run HR) wound up with a walk on a VERY close pitch and sr. C Bill Pace (also an earlier two-run HR) powered a low liner to center. The ball skipped under the fence for a ground-rule double and, oh baby, the tying run was at the plate with nobody out. Jr. LF Dan “Cardinal” O’Hara got Jones home with a groundout and the tension was still thick. Not for long. Mauro whiffed jr. 1B Sean Dwyer on a knee-buckler and Trojan lofted a major league popup to the right side. It was somewhat adventurous because of the wind, but jr. 2B Anthony Ortiz stayed with it and eased ball into glove and that was it. The Cahillites were playoff bound and they briefly celebrated. Honestly, the O’Hara kids were not too happy, thinking the Roman guys were a little too boisterous in light of the fact the win only earned the sixth and final playoff berth. With a losing record, no less. There was minor grumbling, but the Lions did wait and both teams passed through the “good game” line with no incidents. DN ink went to the 5-7, 150-pound Ortiz, who muscled up for a double and two homers for four RBI. He also clubbed a double and homer yesterday in Roman’s win AT O’Hara. His brother, Johnny, was a football star for Roman (’03) and played baseball, as well. Meanwhile, I can tell you where Anthony had dinner. Good, ol’ Dallesandro’s, the famous cheesesteak place that’s a couple blocks down Henry Avenue from Boyce. I was placing my order when Anthony strolled in. Can’t tell you what he had, though, because once my cheesesteak was finished, zoom, I was outta there and headed back to the office. Also in the place, as it turned out, was sr. DH Cody Yoka, of website writing fame. Cody contributed an RBI groundout to the cause and also took a pitch in the upper back (it appeared from beyond first base). The other main contributors were the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, jr. C A.J. Vagliani and sr. 1B Brian “BK” Karakaedos. Each had two hits and one of BK’s was a double good for an RBI. Also, Vagliani gunned down three would-be basestealers and BK twice made good pickups on bouncing throws. Sr. CF Pete Dudek went 3-for-4 and all of hits were doubles; he also had an RBI. Sr. SS Tim LeCompte made a VERY nice play deep into the hole, and was able to gun to second for a forceout. Sr. 3B John Hildebrand was the hard-luck batter of the day, smoking a pair of balls for outs. Crazy moment: While Ortiz batted in the fifth, it began to spit. After he launched the homer to center and began running around the bases, the rain came down harder and harder and since it was seriously gray up above, everybody had to be thinking, “This rain might not go away, it could be hard, and it could lead to this game being called.” Thus, Ortiz' homer would have been labeled a walking-in-the-rain-off (smile). Then, just like that, it eased and then stopped. The rest of the game was played with no problem. Four guys from Ryan were in attendance, bonding with the Lions and hoping to see them win. Yet another website legend, Phil Consalvo, was among them. He spent most of the time talking with and/or texting teammates on his cell phone to tell them what was going on.

MAY 13
PUBLIC AA SEMIFINAL
Prep Charter 5, Franklin LC 1
  This game’s most legendary moment occurred beforehand when the umps and coaches were going over the ground rules. At 7th and Packer, there’s a port-a-potty just inside the fence that runs along Packer and, of course, another fence that runs partway down the first-base line to protect the spectators. So, the plate ump is talking about what’ll happen on that side of the field and he says, “OK, we’re gonna go with a line from the end of THAT fence straight through the shithouse.” Ha, ha, ha, ha. I’m wondering, Was a ground rule declaration uttered exactly like that a first in umpiring history? As for the game . . . nothing special. FLC killed itself with simple errors, truthfully. There were six in all and five (four throws, one bobble) came from two guys who wound up sharing the shortstop position. They wound up wrecking a not-bad performance by sr. RH Eric Garced, a very small soft-tosser who needed good “glovular” support and didn’t get it. DN ink went to sr. RH Angelo DelVecchio, who also plays the game’s other most demanding position, catcher. He prefers the latter, but is at least a serviceable pitcher because he mostly works ahead and displays a certain presence. FLC managed to send only three balls beyond the infield. Jr. 1B Kieth “Spikey” McCandless posted a bloop single to right in the second and semi-liner for a single to center in the fourth. The second batter of the game, soph Derrick Gibson, hammered a ball to DEEP left. DelVecchio fanned nine. FLC’s run came in the fifth on that old standby trick play – one runner strays off first and heads for second and the other makes a mad dash for home. Frosh Robert Kissling was on the back end and Gibson wound up getting erased when he continued on to third. PC had two RBI – on singles by DelVecchio and jr. 3B Sam Shipley. The other three runs scored on miscues. The game’s only extra-base hit was a scratch double by PC’s No. 9 hitter, jr. LF Brian Moffitt. He sent a liner to center and sr. Eddie Bristow slightly misjudged it. A late leap was unsuccessful. PC jr. SS John Longo, also a basketball Husky, had a strong performance. He’s rangy and fluid and covers a wide expanse. A major part of the DN was an elaborate tattoo DelVecchio sports on his right arm to honor the memory of his grandmother, Estelle Cianfrani. It’s a two-parter so far and two more elements will be added over time. Angelo’s frosh brother, Pete, starts for the Huskies in the outfield. Longo’s cousin, sr. Andrew Longo, starts at second base. From the game I headed over to 10th and Bigler to do an interview with Imhotep TE Saledeem Major, a member of the Pub squad for the Daily News-Eagles City All-Star Football Game. The story will appear in Friday's paper. The game is Saturday night, 7 o'clock, at Northeast.

MAY 12
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 3, Gtn. Academy 2
  The older you get, the more of these you have: Man, I KNOW that guy’s face. Why can’t I think of the name? So, you look and look and look and think and think and think and then, bingo, it hits you. Today’s plate ump was Phil Goodhead (though he now goes by Orzechowski; his brother-in-law is recent North Catholic/Temple star OF Stan Orzechowski) and that came to me maybe one inning after he experienced the misfortune of apparently making a wrong call on a home run by PC jr. 1B Mick Foley. Though hardly physically imposing, Phil was a gritty righthander for Northeast and even pitched the Vikings to Pub titles in ’96 and ’97. He attended other Pub finals in the following years and even stopped by to say hello. So, five years ago, I’m watching “Wheel of Fortune” and who’s one of the contestants? Phil! It was when they came to Philly to tape some shows. He did pretty well, too, though I can’t remember his winnings total. OK, so in the fourth, Foley launches a long drive to CF, a shade to the left of exact center. In that area, maybe a 10-foot section of the fence is missing because right through there you can begin your walk back to the school building. Seated in a lawn chair in that gap, but behind the fence line, was Tony Vernon, father of GA sr. 3B Timmy (though I didn’t know it was him at the time). As the ball left the playing field, Orzechowski ruled it a ground-rule double. One problem: shortly thereafter, just as the controversy was starting to brew, Tony stood up and twirled his index finger to signal that the ball had indeed left the yard. Orzechowski stuck with his original call and base ump Russ Lickfield offered nothing. A ground-rule double it was. PC coach Rick Mellor protested with a decent amount of vigor and then assistant Jim Magee pushed the wrong button by accusing Orzechowski of not rushing far enough toward the play to get the best possible look. Phil roared, “Don’t question my hustle!!” as he tossed Jim. Soon, we all looked out there again and Jim was standing along the fence, chatting with Tony (smile). Shortly thereafter, PC parents Mike Ryan and John Loughery, father/uncle of budding NFL star Matt Ryan, walked out there, too, and when they came back they said Tony indicated the ball had cleared his head by 10 feet! There you have it. The whole sequence was legendary and imagine if PC had lost by a run (Foley did move up to third on a WP, but was stranded). DN ink went to frosh RH Kenny Koplove, who’s now 5-0 in I-A play and the brother of ex-major league reliever Mike Koplove, now with the Phillies’ AAA squad in Allentown. He throws an assortment of pitches from downtown, uptown, everywhere, and his speed is just respectable enough to make it all work. Mellor showed great faith three different times by ordering intentional walks. Koplove backed him by not following with regular walks, though LF Aaron Novak did lash an RBI double after one of them. Kenny allowed five hits and fanned seven while stranding six guys in scoring position. It was a clutch effort. All three of PC’s runs were unearned. A throwing miscue in the fifth became costly when sr. 3B Rob Amaro crunched an RBI single to center. The two-run sixth was extra messy. PC had no hits and wild pitches were everywhere. Frosh C Chris Harvey (first cousin of K-K jr. P-1B Joe Harvey, STRONG facial resemblance) did get a piece of one of them, but the ball trickled a shade up the first-base line and sr. 2B Mike Massaro scampered home to make it 3-2. The highlight of the home seventh was a 3-1 play on a hot grounder. PC is now 7-0 while GA (6-2) and Malvern (5-2) are hoping for miracles. Among the spectators: Bobby Shantz, former star LHP for the ol' Philadelphia A’s (and also a pit-stop member of the ill-fated ’64 Phillies). While heading for my car, I spent part of that walk with Timmy Vernon. I didn’t write anything down, of course, but we were talking about the non-homer homer and Timmy said something to the effect that while he appreciated his father’s honesty with the finger twirl, he wished he’d kept it to himself (smile).

MAY 11
CATHOLIC BLUE
Kennedy-Kenrick 6, Wood 5
  Christian “Ya-Ya” Walker ended the proceedings by powering a rocket over the 383-foot sign in left-center and almost off a shed a decent distance behind the fence. It didn’t win the game, though. Huh? Say what?! You see, the distant dinger, during which Walker, a sr. 3B (and catcher), used a wood bat, capped a special BP session held for major league scouts. Ya-Ya put on a wow-wow performance and about 50 people stayed around to watch it. In the game? Fireworks there, also. He clobbered an RBI double to left-center in the first and an RBI triple to right in the third. Even a fifth-inning popup was impressive because the ball almost touched a cloud on its way WAY up there. Then came the seventh. K-K trailed, 5-4. In the top half, Wood co-coach Jim DiGuiseppe Sr., stationed at first base, had said to me (taking pics from the far end of K-K’s dugout), “I hope we get ‘em 1-2-3 so we don’t have to deal with Walker again.” So here’s what happened: jr. RF Dave “Custairs” Custer (this kid, with a great swing, is a scaled-down Matt Stairs – smile) worked a walk and yielded to PR Pat McCormick; soph RH Larry Brittingham moved to 3B as jr. Matt McAllister switched from third to the mound; jr. RH Jimmy Volpe, who’d relieved jr. RH Joe Harvey in the sixth, executed a sac; sr. LF Austin Kelly reached on a strikeout/wild pitch combo, making it first and third; Walker was issued an intentional walk and, yes, that move made MUCHO sense even though it put the winning run on second base; and Harvey sent a grounder toward third that passed through Brittingham’s legs to score two and win it. Hopefully, by now (I’m writing this Tuesday morning) Brittingham has come to realize that it’s not yet playoff time and though the loss definitely stung, it’s not as if the hurt will linger. The teams play again today at Wood and the playoffs are on the horizon and, anyway, the young man did a GREAT job on the mound. K-K reached him for just four hits and he was still extra effective coming down the stretch because the Wolverines did not put a ball out of the infield in the fifth or sixth. Two of the four runs he allowed were unearned. Harvey went 5.2 innings for K-K and was touched for eight hits. Wood’s big guns were jr. CF Brian O’Grady (2-for-3 with a walk and triple), soph SS Kyle McCrossen (DEEP RBI triple to CF) and sr. C Mike “I Don’t Write Sports for the Daily News” Kerns. The righty swinger (O’Grady and McCrossen bat lefthanded) went 3-for-4 with a double and his courtesy runner scored twice. McAllister had an RBI on a looping single to center and sr. 2B Justin Walsh did a nice job by getting a run home on an inside-out grounder to second base that scored soph 1B Jeff Courter (double) in the second inning. This was a fun game. Nice crowd on hand at Latshaw-McCarthy, in Norristown, and there were more than enough interesting plays/developments to maintain interest throughout. I have to head out shortly for a meeting at West Catholic concerning the City All-Star Football Game – this Saturday, 7 p.m., at Northeast; be there! (smile) – and the coincidence is pretty amazing considering that the baseball Burrs yesterday halted an 81-game CL losing streak by beating Dougherty, 9-5. Thanks to website stalwart Randy Seidman for attending that game – I had asked him to baby-sit it, just in case – and providing all the necessary details to do a story. Ink on that one went to sr. SS Eddie Colon, a four-year starter. If the Burrs get to bask in a parade down Chestnut Street today, we’ll post photos (smile) . . . Oh, one last thing. Shortly before the game began, K-K sr. CF Evan Basile mentioned to coach Tom Sergio that a geese was walking around in centerfield. Sergio told him, "Well, when you get out there, say hello to it." Ha, ha, ha, ha.

MAY 10
CATHOLIC RED
North Catholic 8, O’Hara 6
  Today’s plan was to hit parts of two games and all of a third. La Salle’s bats wouldn’t cooperate. All three makeups were played on La Salle’s campus: the Explorers vs. Ryan at noon on the new field and a doubleheader on the old varsity field featuring North Catholic vs. Judge at 11 and North vs. O’Hara at 2. The hope: Catch maybe two innings of La Salle-Ryan, then the stretch run of North-Judge and North-O’Hara in its entirety. The problem: La Salle exploded for 10 runs in the first inning alone and, even though I stayed only through the visiting second, by the time I drove to the other field and walked down Heart Attack Hill (anyone who has ever seen it knows what I’m talking about) and reached the bottom of the steps, North-Judge had just ended and the players were moving through the handshake line. Ugh. Sorry. After wolfing down Wawa hoagies, the Falcons got back into action and the first three and a half innings were very crisp. In fact, there was only one hit and it had come on the game’s very first pitch! It was a single to left by jr. CF Andrew/Andy/Drew Onimus (his overall preference is Andrew, folks. Smile). O’Hara’s starter was sr. LH Matt Cordes, and I’m pretty sure I heard someone say he’d never before started a division game. Well, he was quite sharp in the beginning and on occasion showed what was probably the best 12-to-6 curve I’ve seen all season. With one away in the fourth, jr. SS Ryan Etsell (and the winning pitcher over Judge) banged a single to left and when Cordes walked the next two hitters, soph C Tom Ditro and sr. RF Freddy DiMascia, he received a quick hook. Yes, without having yielded a run. His replacement, soph RH Jeff O’Reilly, served up four quick balls to soph 1B Elijah Resnick and that made the score 1-1. Soph 3B Dan Venuto followed with a grounder to jr. 1B Sean Dwyer. Throw home? No problem. Forceout accomplished. Throw back to Dwyer? Not good. Sr. C Bill Pace, who’s bound for West Chester, bats third and is the Lions’ unchallenged headliner, gunned the ball over Dwyer’s head. Jr. LF Luis Rodriguez, who earlier had made a great diving catch, followed with a liner to kinda-deep right. Sr. Greg Monastra ran back and went airborne trying to make the catch, but the ball squirted off his glove and Rodriguez, the No. 9 hitter, wound up with a two-run triple. North scored four more in the fifth. DiMascia clocked an RBI single to right and the No. 8 hitter, Venuto, added a two-run single to right. After Rodriguez walked, O’Reilly yielded to jr. RH Bob Boyle. His stint lasted one pitch. Pace caught it and picked Rodriguez off first. Sr. RH Sean Coogan worked the sixth, walking two and striking out as many. DN ink went to sr. RH Bob Hopkins, who said he’s 5-8 and “a generous 140 pounds” (smile). His prom was Friday night, he spent the rest of the weekend in the Poconos, he slept maybe four hours and he awakened at 6 a.m. to return for this double-dip. Hopkins was roughed up in the sixth for four runs (Onimus had a two-run single) and did walk two in the seventh, so one big hit by O’Hara could have created a tie. Jr. SS Pat Greeley sent a liner to right, but DiMascia was there to make the catch and end it. There was a bit of coach/opposing parent byplay. When O’Hara coach John Grossi noticed Falcons standing behind the screen while awaiting their turn at-bat, he mentioned something to the plate ump, and that guy told them to move over. A North parent wound up exchanging “shut ups” with an O’Hara assistant over that one (nothing serious) and that same North parent soon was telling the plate ump to “tuck in the rabbit ears” after, from what I could tell, the ump had mentioned (complained about?) the guy's chirping to North’s coaches. At least for a while, his strike zone WAS a little fluid. Nothing brutal, but enough to draw notice. I’m guessing this scenario was a first – three CL games at the same school on the same day, especially with only one of them involving the host school. Another story to tell when I’m old and gray. Like today in this report (ha ha).

MAY 8
PUBLIC A
Central 13, Northeast 0
  From my mind to someone’s lips. This was my first look this season at Northeast, which owned a 9-0 Pub record entering the game. Somewhat misleading, but 9-0 nonetheless. Anyway, Central frosh DH Mike Cavallaro slammed a homer to dead right to lead off the fourth and I happened to be standing in front of the stands for photo purposes. The blast made the score 9-0 and as Cavallaro rounded the bases, I was thinking, “Guess I’m not a good luck charm for Northeast today.” Just then, one of the Northeast kids, up in the stands, bellowed, “Way to jinx us, Ted!!” Ha, ha, ha. Good line. I do have a feeling I wasn’t to blame, though (smile). What was? Grooved pitches and the fact that Central’s batters didn’t miss 'em. Not even a little bit. This was one of the more amazing early-May fireworks shows you could ever hope to see in a game between quality opponents. Central lashed 11 hits in the five-inning, 89-minute affair and nine went for extra bases. Phew! NE coach Sam Feldman used four pitchers and only sr. RH Carlos Ruiz failed to serve up a rocket.  How so? Well, he faced just four batters and walked them all. It was one of those days, folks. As I departed the field, some NE parents/observers kiddingly asked me to be kind in the report and/or to forget that the game ever happened. I understood. As for the fact that NE’s 9-0 record was “somewhat misleading” – each of its last five wins had been collected by three runs, or fewer. In other words, it wasn’t that the Vikings had been dominating. Instead they’d been clutch and consistent and the trick now will be to get back to that. DN ink went to sr. RF Zack “Goofball” King, who slammed two-run homers (to LC and down the leftfield line) in each of his first two at-bats, raising his career outta-here total to three. Somehow, Zack, who will attend Penn and intends to become a surgeon, has also asked two girls to accompany him to Central’s prom, so you know he’ll be trying to work out that sticky issue. (My son, Kevin, attended his senior prom tonight.) Cavallaro and sr. 1B Zach Magdovitz were the other Lancers to homer while sr. C Tommy Capewell lashed two of his team’s five doubles. Cavallaro, Mags (also for two runs; four RBI total) and SS Brian Burkett had the others. Sr. RH Steve Schall did the pitching in a very efficient manner. Despite the early deficit, which of course kept growing, the Vikings for some reason kept swinging at first pitches. Admittedly, Schall has great control and it would have been tough to work him for walks, but NE certainly made his job pretty easy. Schall fanned just two. He allowed two hits (singles by sr. SS Jose Delgado and sr. 3B Mike Stampone) and his fielders were perfect behind him. Feldman removed sr. C Tim Freiling in the fourth inning. He’d suffered a ding to his right shoulder (foul ball) and undoubtedly didn’t want to risk further injury. It didn’t appear serious. Fashion statement of the day: the red-and-black striped socks worn by NE’s starting pitcher, sr. RH Lance Lempert. I didn’t ask Lance (he was also the PA announcer for Northeast’s home football games) whether he’d worn the socks before. If not, maybe those babies were the jinx (smile).

MAY 6
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 7, Chestnut Hill 1
  Sometimes, one team doesn’t win as much as the other team loses. Not saying that was 100 percent the case in this tilt, but the losers definitely had a Blue Devil of a time doing things correctly. After such a long layoff due to crappy weather, I guess some rust is to be expected. Then again, PC barely showed any, so that argument loses its oomph. Anyway, it felt great to actually be able to see a game again. The original plan today was to catch Malvern at Gtn. Academy, but if you’ve been paying attention to the website to any degree you know that I’ve been quite the jinx to the former this season. Not giving the Friars losses. Giving them forget-about-playings due to rain/sloppy fields. This was the THIRD time. Ugh. GA athletic director Jim Fenerty pushed the scrap-it button at 2 o’clock, so off to CHA it was. No problem at all. When it comes to knowledge and dedication to baseball (and feistiness – smile), CHA has one of the best coaching staffs you could ever hope to find and PC boss Rick Mellor was my Quaker classmate a couple decades ago (OK, it was FOUR decades – ouch; he was the best athlete in our class) and it’s always great to see him and his squad. The game began with a bang. Sr. 3B Rob Amaro, nephew of you-know-who, grandson of you-also-know-who, sent a golf shot over the low fence in left-center for a three-run homer. The blast could have been a solo job, but an infield error prevented a possible doubleplay immediately beforehand. Sr. SS Mark Rhine (STRONG overall performance) led off with a hard single to right-center and soph DH Demetrius “Meat” Jennings was the guy who could have been doubled. Then again, he does run respectably, so who knows. The count went to 3-1 on Amaro and sr. RH Brandon Sady, bound for Lehigh to play middle infield (likely 2B?), grooved a curveball. See ya. The bottom of the order sparked PC to a run in the fourth. Brown-bound QB John Ryan, a sr. RF, singled hard to left and, though there was already one out, Mellor opted for a sac, which was perfectly executed by sr. 2B Mike Massaro. Rhine reached first on a strikeout-WP and the plate wasn’t correctly covered in the aftermath, allowing Ryan to run home. The same two guys provided the impetus for a three-run sixth as Ryan milked a one-out walk, Massaro followed with a one-hop double off the fence in deep left-center and Rhine doubled to right-center for two RBI. The relay was botched and he came all the way around. Sady then moved to shortstop and jr. RH Erik Hubbard pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing no hits and preventing further scoring. PC’s pitcher was frosh RH Kenny Koplove, whom I described in the DN story as an all-angles, all-pitches trickster. When necessary, he throws just hard enough to sneak it past guys, but otherwise he makes them move their feet and flail. Since he plunked three guys, he also created some nervousness. Koplove’s brother, Mike, a CHA grad (after beginning his high school years at PC), has pitched in the majors and is now with the Phillies’ AAA squad. Standing behind the backstop, nervously walking around non-stop, was their dad, Steve, who operates the Marzano Scout League. Afterward he said with a laugh, “I was pacing all over the same grass that hasn’t grown since the last time I was here.” Kenny scattered seven hits, walked none and fanned four. He forced CHA to strand five guys in scoring position. Rhine was involved in two DPs, one as the middleman, and was flawless on other grounders. Koplove also helped himself immensely in the fourth, CHA’s best frame. Sady singled to left and Koplove hit frosh 1B Matt Primavera. Right after assistant Jim Magee visited the mound, boom, Koplove picked Sady off second. Sr. RF Brian Kuneck got drilled and jr. 2B Brian Dones followed by smoking an RBI double to right-center. Frosh SS Sam Feirson hit a comebacker. Kopove not only gloved it, but participated in the rundown and wound up tagging out Kuneck. Big sequence! This was my first game since April 30 (three Pubs that day, just for photos, after the Seth Betancourt press conference) and who knows when the next one will be. While I was driving home from the office at roughly 10, it was pouring like CRAZY (and there was thunder/lightning) and a couple streets were flooded. Ugh. More rain is forecast for tomorrow (and even Friday and Saturday, in some form or another). At the game, the sun made a hint of an appearance when Amaro was batting for the second time. It was only momentarily lighter. Just when all spectators had their hopes up . . . no such luck. Back to clouds. Recent CHA legends Anthony Cafagna (pitcher) and Tim Gramlich (FB, website reporter for basketball) were among those in attendance. Beforehand, I kiddingly told umps Bill "Babs" Haines (plate) and Gene Otto (bases) to make sure they didn't mess up any foul-balls-off-feet calls because I'd seen three of them already this season. Well, you know what happened, right? Yup, a batter thumped a ball off his foot. Both guys were RIGHT on it. And both looked over to remind me they'd done their job in splendid fashion (smile).

APRIL 29
CATHOLIC BLUE
Neumann-Goretti 5, Kennedy-Kenrick 4 (8 inn.)
  Not to sound like a crusty oldhead (no wisecracks -- ha ha), but . . . They don’t make enough of 'em like this one anymore. There were lots of interesting plays and clutch performances and if the game had lasted another couple of hours, no one would have minded. Coolest moment? Hard to say, but this would have been the goofiest: A hit worth three points. Huh? K-K sr. C Christian “Ya-Ya” Walker (South Carolina signee; winner four months ago of national HR derby in Tampa) led off the visiting fourth with a rocket to WAY-out-there left-center, but even a shade more toward center. This field is also used for N-G’s football practices and the goalposts stay up year-round. For a moment, I thought, “Phew, this is going to be a field goal!” The ball landed slightly short of the goalposts, and Walker dashed into third with a triple. At CBP, it would have scattered fans in the stands. Maybe hurt a few (smile). In the first, Walker had reached on a fielder’s choice and jr. 1B Joe Harvey had followed with a rousing triple to center. This time, Harvey delivered a sac fly to deep left. N-G jr. RH Al Baur (his dad, also Al, was a star pitcher/forward for Southern, class of 1986, and as quiet/humble as they come) had not allowed a run – yup, not any – in his first four Blue outings. Through six in this one, he owned a 4-2 lead and K-K had just those two aforementioned triples. Like his dad, Al is a late bloomer physically and it’ll be interesting to watch his progress. He has added 20-plus pounds in the last year (he stands 6-3; dad is about 6-6/6-7) and shows good pop. Not tremendous pop, yet, but good. He finished with 10 strikeouts and dismissed the 4-5-6 hitters on whiffs in the eighth. Bottom half? Well, after soph RH AJ Koscelansky, the starting SS, retired the first two guys in quick fashion, another extra frame seemed imminent. Here are the late-game pics. Then it happened: sr. C Joey Armata grounded a single to center. Sr. 2B Billy Fulginiti singled in the same direction, with Armata rollin’ to third (no courtesy runner, thank you). Jr. LF Reno Regalbuto then directed a low liner to the second-base side of sr. 1B Derek Barnes, who’d been the starting pitcher (more later). Barnes sprawled and briefly had the ball in his glove. But it squirted out and there was no time to nip the frisky Regalbuto. Armata scored and the Saints went just a weeeeeee bit nuts (smile). Let’s backtrack. N-G scored one in the fourth on Armata’s RBI triple to right; it followed an error on what could have been an inning-ending DP. It posted a three-spot in the sixth. The impressive Barnes, a kid with height (maybe 6-3/6-4) and strength, even with the classic strong legs that scouts like to see, was still dealin’. Early, he’d hit 89 on a radar gun being brandished by an assistant from North Carolina State (and K-K assistant Matt Johnson said later that Derek was clocked at 92 in a relief appearance last week). Baur led off with a popup a shade behind the mound. No one took charge for the longest and an error resulted after Koscelansky and jr. 3B Matt Maloney finally convened at that spot. Jr. 1B Mark Donato followed with one of his classic blasts that looks like a tee shot. Deep to right-center for an RBI triple. Jr. RF Mike Riverso stepped in. And smacked a foul ball off his foot. At least it certainly appeared that way. VERY much so. To his credit, having not heard a foul-ball call, Riverso did come out of the box. The Wolverines appeared disoriented. Barnes finally flipped toward Harvey at first and the ball whizzed past. Honestly, I’m not sure either one was giving full concentration to the play because they had to be figuring, “No way this is going to count. It hit his FOOT!” No such luck. K-K coach Tom Sergio got nowhere with the Blue Guys. Jr. RH Jimmy Volpe relieved Barnes and recorded a whiff and popup, but Regalbuto brought home run No. 3 of the frame with a medium-hard single to center. Four-two lead for N-G. Just three outs to go. K-K sent Matt Stairs to the plate. Huh? Nah, jr. Dave Custer wasn’t nearly as heavy, but he did have a little bit of a belly (smile) and he did swing left-handed and he did deliver in the clutch; it was a single to left-center. “Stairs” departed for a pinch-runner -- the original guy in that spot, sr. RF Ed Skilton -- and my worst moment of the day, week, month, year, decade was about to happen. Well, not decade – just a tie in that category -- because this occurred one other time a few years back. Mahoney followed with a blast to right-center. Pic of the ball heading out that way. Pic of Skilton rounding third. Then . . . Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep. Oh, no! That sickening sound that means the memory card is full! Mahoney was headed for an inside-the-park homer! There was going to be great elation! Ugh. Not enough time to delete a couple pics very quickly and still capture the rest of the moment. Man oh man. I’m sorry, Steve. Earlier in the game, I did see a woman shooting pics on K-K’s side. Maybe she was clutch. I hope so . . . Some tidbits: Barnes allowed three hits and fanned five; N-G frosh SS Marty Venafro (brother of Anthony, former headlining SS for GAMP, class of '07) made an outstanding play on a grounder VERY deep in the hole; Walker easily gunned down a would-be basestealer with a low one-hopper; N-G had five lefty swingers (soph CF Dom Riverso, Baur, Donato, Mike Riverso, Regalbuto); it was good to see all the assorted legends I hadn’t seen since last season, or even longer (you know who you are – smile); we were talking in the office about the Riversos (their dad/grandpop/relative of some kind might have worked in the composing room back in the day?) and colleague Joe Berkery said I should call them "The Double Riversos" (smile!); special props to K-K sr. Jerry Ploskon, who was not in the lineup with Walker behind the plate. He maintained game-long energy/support for his teammates. I LOVED seeing/hearing that.

APRIL 28
CATHOLIC RED
La Salle 8, North Catholic 2
  I walked behind the backstop over toward North’s dugout and, hey, it looked like the 1970s all over again! Standing side by side were two lefties who pitched their teams to CL titles, North’s Jeff Etsell (in ’77) and Judge’s Shawn O’Neill (in ’76). Now their sons are the respective top guns for North and La Salle, but there’d be no next-generation showdown today. Shawn, a jr. LH, indeed worked for the Explorers, but Ryan Etsell, a jr. RH, had to settle for SS duties after pitching vs. O’Hara three days ago in a Saturday makeup. Oh, well. Perhaps in the postseason? O’Neill, a Richmond signee, wound up striking out 10 and allowing just one big hit, an inside-out, two-run single past first base in the third inning by soph C Tom Ditro. His first inning was rocky, however, and the problems started even before the game did. Twice, if not three times, his catcher sent return throws into centerfield during warmups and O’Neill’s focus was noticeably affected. He walked the first two batters and later plunked another. His world-class pickoff move helped to keep North off the board and the inning ended when sr. SS Tyler “Beach Boy” Freeman made a leaping stab of Ditro’s semi-liner. O’Neill’s pickoff was so good, North’s runners were ALWAYS returning to first base as he delivered. Even a boo-boo worked out. In the fifth, O’Neill threw wildly trying to pick off Etsell. Sr. 1B Sean “Oreland 4-Ever!” Abbott made a quick recovery and gunned down Etsell at third. DN ink went to Freeman, who hopes to attend Palm Beach CC in, yes, Florida. Dude kinda has the surfer look (smile). He can also play. Batting third, Freeman ripped an RBI double to center, fired a triple down the rightfield line – sr. RF Freddy DiMascia made a nice diving attempt to catch it – was issued an intentional walk (and got yelled at by the pitcher, sr. RH Bob Hopkins, who misinterpreted what he thought was a glare), and received credit for an RBI single on a grounder way deep into the SS hole. Hopkins, who’s battling lower back pain and was said by coach Nick “Chic” Chichilitti to be roughly 75 percent, lasted five innings. Aside from Freeman, he surrendered a run-producing hit only to backup sr. C Matt Murtha, a lefty swinger. In the fifth, Murtha sent a deep shot to left field. Soph Brendan Bradley backtracked and spun and twisted while fighting the wind/sun and couldn’t make the catch; I called it a two-run double. Sr. DH Brendan “Big’un” McCoy managed to get two runs home thanks to a groundout and HBP. North is very young. The Falcons started just two seniors in Hopkins and DiMascia and seven of the other eight were sophs. The most notable, Mike “Zoom-Zoom” Zolk, had to play second base instead of catcher, where he was VERY impressive last year (even as a leader), because his left shoulder is partially dislocated. Seven Falcons bagged one hit apiece. None of the safeties went for extra bases. This was my first look at La Salle’s new Ward Field. It’s beautiful, so far, and will become even better once a larger set of stands is erected. Hint, hint. It’s alllllllllll the way at the back of the campus, hard by Route 309, almost. Best way to reach it: Enter the parking lot that’s behind the Springfield Twp. Library (the library is on Paper Mill Rd.) and go the very back part of the parking lot. Then walk up a sidewalk to the field (or happen to arrive at the same time La Salle coach Joe Parisi is unlocking the doors of the mini-bathroom facility and accept his offer to give you a ride up the sidewalk in a golf cart. That happened to me – ha, ha. Thanks, Joe!) Before the game, I took a couple pics of star La Salle QB Drew Loughery working out with his receivers on the field below the baseball diamond. Let’s see. Anything else? Well, I finally got a haircut today. After waiting for 18 minutes – no lie – for a lady to pay her bill and check out. She talked non-stop to the lady who cut her hair and almost left four times before staying and staying and staying and then deciding to buy assorted products and talking some more. Her final bill was $61! I almost left 61 times, but The Wife had ordered me to lose the shaggy dog look today, or else. I did hear the Stay Forever Lady say she was going to the Bruce Springsteen concert last night (whoever that is – ha, ha). Hey, when it comes to music, my taste pretty much begins and ends with Motown/Philly Sound. I wouldn’t watch Springsteen (or listen) if he sang on my front lawn. Doesn’t make me a bad person. Just makes me set in my ways (smile).

APRIL 27
PUBLIC A
Central 15, Frankford 5 (5 inn.)
  How often does the temperature soar to 90 degrees in April? Maybe about as often as Frankford suffers a 10-run, five-inning defeat against Pub opposition. Yes, it was stinkin’ hot today, but there was a decent breeze to keep people from passing out and five homers soared out of Frankford’s field. Even though the Pioneers clubbed three of them, overall they were blitzed and the Central Lancers ultimately strolled toward their team bus with chests out to, oh, about HERE. Let’s get some of the goofy stuff out of the way first. I arrived roughly an hour beforehand and first headed to the intersection of Large and Pratt streets, directly beyond dead centerfield, to take some pics. Why? Because Frankford sr. RH-OF Edwin “Tito” Rohena, who has signed with La Salle but is also being scouted, launched a homer to that locale last week vs. Lincoln. Coach Juan Namnun said the ball landed on the second line that’s part of the walkway leading across Pratt and took one big bounce on that concrete before settling in bushes in front of the catty-corner church. Juan also said Tito, while doing a private workout for the Brewers, last week hit a homer into Pratt Street – about four-fifths of the way from the leftfield line to dead centerfield -- that shattered the windshield of a car. Uh, oh. That was an omen. After this game, Phillies scouts watched Tito and fellow prospect Wander Nunez, a sr. OF who moved here from Santiago, D.R., take BP with wooden bats (Nunez always uses one anyway) against Namnun. Tito hit second and was almost finished when he asked his coach to throw him just two more pitches. On the very last one, Tito sent a high foul ball beyond third base and out onto Rutland Street. Crash! It shattered the front windshield of a parked van. Belonging to Namnun. Oh, my goodness. What a crazy ending to a downer of a day for the Pioneers. Frankford had not been 10-runned by a Pub opponent since the 2001 season, when Washington (18-8) and Lincoln (10-0) did the honors, also in five innings. Over these last eight seasons, the Pioneers have gone 122-10 vs. Pub opposition, including playoffs, and their regular season mark is 97-8. This club is still very good, but its pitching is leaving something (much?) to be desired. Washington exploded for 15 runs just four days ago and now Central has done likewise. Rohena got the start and, whoa, it was obvious right away that he wasn’t himself. He was guiding the ball more than pitching it and the scouts turned off their radar guns after just a couple of pitches. Fastballs clocking 72 MPH will cause that. Afterward, Namnun said Tito has been fighting shoulder pain and is awaiting the results of an MRI. Is it possible he’ll be limited to first base (or even DH) duties the rest of the season? We’ll see. And let us join with everyone in wishing Tito the best. This kid has worked hard academically and baseball-wise to put himself in a grand position, against great odds, and this setback is not deserved. Rohena lasted just 2.1 innings. He surrendered nine runs (seven earned) and walked in two of the markers. There were two big moments in the six-run second. With sr. RH Steve Schall on first due to an error, sr. 1B Zach Magdovitz soft-touched a great sac bunt along the third base line. It was so good, in fact, that he was able to beat the play for a single. Later, sr. CF Ian Lewis battled ferociously (six foul balls; the first went for a “homer” outside the leftfield corner) and was eventually able to powder a three-run triple to left-center. Nunez laid out with a tremendous dive, but could not quite get to the ball. In the third, sr. LF Graham Johnston and sr. 2B Dave Kremer smacked RBI singles out of the eighth and ninth holes to chase Rohena and Lewis brought in run No. 9 by drawing a walk from soph RH Cameron Stimpson, whose brother, Leon, plays for Malvern. The Lancers exploded for six more in the fifth. The fun began as Johnston, who’s 5-7, 135 pounds, went deep into Pratt Street. Later, sr. C Tommy “Guns” Capewell (wait, today at least, shouldn’t Johnston have been nicknamed “Guns” -- smile) crunched a two-run double to left-center and Schall followed with a two-run homer that departed the yard in left. With one out in the fourth, Schall was working on a one-hitter. Then Nunez swung his black wooden bat and, phew, did he ever crunch one! The ball flew out in pretty much exact left-center and, according to some Central subs sitting nearby, landed on the roof of a porch across Pratt Street. Here’s guessing the scouts liked that one. On what, as mentioned, was a very hot day, Schall began tiring in the fifth. He served up two more round-trippers, two-run shots to soph 3B-P Jose Sosa-Reyes (LF) and sr. 1B Danny Rodriguez (right down the RF line and out onto Large Street). Frankford could have prolonged the game with more more run. Nunez and jr. C Chris Lopez singled, but sr. SS Harry Davila was retired on a forceout. Ballgame. Namnun had to be pissed at his team’s performance. The Pioneers often swung at first pitches, despite the big early deficit, and after hitting his homer, Sosa-Reyes stood and admired the ball like it had just won the World Series and then took forever to circle the bases. He’s young. He’ll learn. In pro ball, the next batter would have absorbed a fastball to the ear. In the DN story, I had some fun with Schall’s baggy pants and the fact that he had never pitched for Central prior to late last season. Now he’s the big-game, early-week starter. Not bad. Not bad at all. Among the early-game witnesses was website legend Randy Seidman, who was unaware I’d opted to cover this game. He stayed for a while, then hightailed it over to Washington-Lincoln. Thanks for the hustle, Randy, as always.

APRIL 21
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Gtn. Academy 15, Haver. School 1 (6 inn.)
  Only in the Int! As long-time readers of this website and the Daily News know, long ago I coined the phrase “Only in the Pub” to describe how goofy/frustrating things happen again and again in the Public League. Well, lately, the Catholic League has occasionally followed suit and today the disease spread to the Inter-Ac. After twice checking earlier with the folks at Malvern and being assured a shade after 1 o’clock that Penn Charter-Malvern indeed would take place, I began the three-day, 500-mile journey (slight exaggeration) to Malvern. At 2:40, after turning off Lancaster Avenue and beginning that last leg of the trek, I received a cell-phone call from Denise Popper, the administrative assistant in the athletic office. Uh, oh. As it turned out, the field just was NOT playable and the game had been postponed. She was very apologetic and, of course, wasn’t at fault. With a laugh, she even added, “I’m just the messenger here.” My next immediate thought: Thank goodness for artificial turf, baby! Earlier, just in case, I’d checked the master schedule to see whether Haverford would be home. Bingo! So, I turned the car around, rolled back down Lancaster Avenue, put up with the million stops and gos, and made it to HS at roughly 3:15, a half hour prior to game time. (Maybe a mile before HS, I pulled up to a light and looked to my left. In the turn lane, in a passenger seat, I recognized Jim Murray, long-ago general manager of the Eagles and one of the early driving forces, from the Birds’ end of things, behind the City All-Star Football Game. He was also a co-founder of the Ronald McDonald House. This is one great man! I mini-yelled over, mentioned my name -- we hadn’t seen each other in a few years, minimum; wasn't sure he'd recognize me -- and we had a nice little conversation before the light changed.) As for the game – not the stuff of legend. GA plated eight runs in the very first inning, thanks to some hitting but also loose play by the Fords, and roared to five more in the sixth. DN ink went to a website legend, sr. RH (and 3B) Timmy Vernon! Timmy made major contributions during his GA years by writing “Tim’s Take” and it was nice to finally be able to shine the spotlight on HIM. Though he indicated he doesn’t throw too hard, he’s surely not a soft-tosser and the slightest bit of a hitch late in his delivery gives him a quality sinker. Twelve of his outs came on grounders, counting a sixth-inning DP that he started. Haverford’s field is perfect for a groundball pitcher because the bounces are true (though, yes, the ball can scoot through faster.) The Fords’ only run came in the fourth as sr. RF Ben Ware spanked a leadoff homer far beyond the right field fence. Going deep for GA were Johns Hopkins-bound sr. RF Matt Ricci (three-run, in first) and soph LF Aaron Novak (two-run, in second). Vernon went 2-for-4 with two RBI, as did North Carolina-bound sr. SS Tommy Coyle (he had a double). Tommy’s brother, Sean, a jr. 2B who’s already committed to UNC, coached at first base while he continues to recover from a broken middle-finger knuckle on his left hand. In the second, I noticed Sean flapping his arms across his chest. Just staying loose, of course. I was standing nearby and said, kiddingly, “What’s that sign for?” Sean responded with a laugh, “That’s ‘hit a double.' " Novak then hit his homer! “That was double a double,” I cracked to Sean. He was nice enough to laugh. The theme of the Timmy Vernon story was how he was preceded at GA by pitching brothers Pete, a k a “Paco,” and Billy. Pete pitched at William & Mary. Billy hurled last year for Stanford and is now a behind-the-scenes member of the program. HS’ starter was jr. RH Matt Lengel, a kid with size and strength and decent zip on the ball. He did seem overly concerned with potential base stealers and that obsession appeared to mess with his concentration. The loose play did not help, either. Sr. LH Kevin Lindberg faced just 10 batters in the third-fourth-fifth and then was hit around in the sixth. Today we had a true legend sighting in HS sr. RH Sebastian Gilbert. Why is he a legend? Well, he lives in Voorhees, N.J., and is a former youth-ball teammate of my son, Kevin. He even appeared in some of the earliest action pics I took for this site. One of them was snapped during a wintertime township basketball league, and “Seabass” – his nickname forever – was swatting Kevin’s shot to eternity! (ha ha). You KNOW I had to get a pic of “Seabass” keeping the pitching chart for the Fords and when the teams went through the post-game handshake line, he just happened to be highly visible. He's headed for Boston College. While returning to the office and driving down the Ben Franklin Parkway, I noticed – hey, cool – nobody was behind me. So out came the camera for a few shots of City Hall, the fountain, etc. Even the building that houses our sports department, a k a The Daily News/Some Other Newspaper Building (smile).

APRIL 19
CATHOLIC BLUE
Lansdale Catholic 15, Carroll 7
  It’s a shame I don’t know how to post one of those poll things on this website. It would be very interesting to see what the percentages would be in response to this question: Which feat is cooler – hitting the first varsity pitch you see for a homer . . . or hitting two home runs in the same inning, with one of them being a grand slam? Hard to decide, right? Believe it or not, BOTH moments occurred in the visiting second at Carroll’s ever-popular phone booth of a field. The wind was blowing out at this juncture, and jr. CF John Campbell led off with a first-pitch dinger to dead center. After soph C Eric Lewandowski grounded out, soph 2B Ryan “Mugsy” Mulligan, a JV callup, enjoyed his first-pitch-ever moment with a shot in the same direction. (I had to ask this Mulligan whether he’s related to our Mulligan, as in Kevin, who used to write for the Daily News sports department and now has a job in the communications office at the Archdiocese. Kevin, a k a “Mugs,” also was LC’s golf coach as recently as one season ago, so that coincidence really made me think there’d be a relation. No dice. Ryan IS called Mugsy, though. I didn’t make up that nickname.) Campbell’s second homer, the salami, was a shot to left-center. What a frame for the Crusaders! In all, 15 batters stepped to the plate. Only 14 did something, however. Know why? Because the last out came on a pickoff. Jr. DH Kevin Harder also had two hits in the inning, along with one RBI. Sr. 3B Nick Manai, a lefty swinger, and jr. Brandon “Older Bro” Lewandowski also lashed RBI singles in the nine-run outburst. DN ink went to Manai, who, as it turns out, is the son of former Wood RB Lonnie Manai (class of ’73). When he saw me, he was probably thinking, “Damn, how old is THIS dude? He covered ME way back.” (ha ha ha) Well, I was still in college at that time and Lonnie is only four years behind me, age-wise. Anyway, it was great to see him and he was a good sport, allowing me to take a picture of him wrapped in a blanket to protect himself from the late-game chills/wind. At first, he’d playfully balked by dropping the blanket to the ground and saying, “Don’t do that. Wood guys are tough.” He later acknowledged that his Wood buddies will be bustin’ ’em, but good. It’s not easy, folks (smile). Nick was also a major football component for LC and he’ll play college baseball at Oglethorpe, in Atlanta. Expect to see him at basketball games, too, as he gained a certain level of fame this past winter for sometimes being the only LC student at Crusader games (especially Sunday afternoon jobs, I’m guessing). Manai (muh-nye) went 2-for-4 with a walk and a two-run homer for three RBI. The Lewandowski brothers halved four hits and the last two guys in the order, sr. 1B Erick “Tex” Page and jr. DH Kevin "Hit 'Em" Harder, combined for five hits and four RBI; Page had three and two. Jr. RH Ryan Mimnaugh worked the first five innings. (The team’s other main starter is jr. Jamey Minnemeyer. Say those two names fast, once.) He suffered a quick blow when sr. 3B Neil Gilman, Carroll’s cleanup man, fired a three-run homer far over the CF fence. But the Patriots reached him for just one more run. Soph RH Mark “Sweden/Denmark” Finlan was spotty over the last two. In the sixth, a balk helped to assure that the mercy rule would not come into play. If the wind had remained in blowing-out mode, sr. CF Nick “Meatball” Szalejko might have wound up with two homers. His shots to right (fourth inning) and left-center (sixth) seemed to die out. In amazement, Carroll coach Fran Murphy pointed out afterward that his squad surrendered 15 runs despite turning two double plays and erasing three other runners via caught stealings/pickoffs. LC coach Rick Norwood formerly assisted at Kennedy-Kenrick. I remember having a nice conversation with him a couple seasons ago and I’m pretty sure he said that he played for the University of Texas. (He did. And then for two years in independent ball.) He has an accent, but it’s not ultra-thick, but he did spend the first 40 years of his life Down There. Anyway, he’s doing a good job with the Crusaders, who are involved in a five-way battle for Blue honors with K-K, C-E, Wood and N-G (no special order.)

APRIL 17
CATHOLIC RED
SJ Prep 4, Judge 3 (8 inn.)
  Another day, another eight-inning game. I could get used to this. Like yesterday, the home squad triumphed on something other than a hit. OK, home eighth. Here we go . . . sr. SS Ryan Eden reached on a bobble. Sr. DH Perry Russom stung a single to center. Up came sr. RH Kevin Gillen, who was asked to bunt. No sweat. He deadened the ball perfectly and both runners moved up. Jr. 3B Greg “Buddy” Brooks (son of Gil) trotted down to first with an intentional walk. Sr. LF Sean “HawkTalk” Murphy hacked at the first pitch and sent a flyball down the rightfield line. And beyond it. At first, I had doubts that jr. RF Kevin Faber could get to it. And, of course, you’re asking, “Why would he want to?” But the kid has long legs and he did reach the ball and one can only assume he did not hear his coach, Tim Ginter, yelling from the third-base dugout to NOT make the catch. But catch it, he did. Faber throws righthanded. He had no chance to whirl and make a strong enough throw to nail Eden at the plate. Ballgame on an uncommon version of a sacrifice fly. DN ink went to Gillen, a three-pitch guy (decent changeup as well) who’s bound for Johns Hopkins and envisions a career in international relations. Some D-I schools were sniffing, but Hopkins pushed hard and it had what he wanted and “yes” came out of his mouth and there’s everything right with that; sr. 1B Jeff Lynch is also headed for JH. Kevin said he wasn’t tempted to ask to swing away in the eighth and also reported that he completely trusts pitching coach Bob Blake and never shakes off a sign. As our interview rolled on, I had the sense that Kevin was a wee bit distracted. Afterward, I found out why: Murphy said Kevin had to hustle outta there (the game was at Richie Ashburn Field) and prepare for Merion Mercy’s prom. Cool. Gillen allowed five hits and six walks while striking out nine and experiencing just one rough frame, the third. Judge scored thrice in that one thanks to a two-run triple to right by sr. CF Dustin Kology (sr. RF Dan Turner came in hard with designs on making a sensational catch. Couldn’t do it, and the ball squirted past to the fence. It was one of those classic, all-or-nothing plays.) Kology then scored as Gillen uncorked a wild pitch. Right before Kology’s triple, Brooks had gloved a grounder and made a strong, true throw to home to erase Faber on a fielder’s choice (nice block and tag by soph C Ray “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore” Toto.) Prep scored one in the first and two in the fifth. Sr. CF Giovanni “Two-Man Posse” Morales (he and two buddies attended the Esperanza-Olney Pub game last Monday – smile) crunched the first pitch down the rightfield line for a double. He scrambled to third as Toto grounded out and scored as Lynch hit another grounder, which resulted in a throwing miscue. Lynch did receive the RBI. Another bobble opened the fifth. Toto followed with a rocket of an RBI double to left-center and Lynch then hit a grounder to jr. SS Kevin Conroy. Jr. CR Jim Delaney was gunned down at third, but the Hawks did collect that second run when Russom fired a two-out triple into the rightfield corner. Judge sr. RH Kyle Levocz, as you've gathered by now, deserved a better fate. He did allow eight hits and somehow struck out none (just noticed that now), but he also walked just one (aside from the intentional BB) and battled hard. There was an interesting sequence in the sixth. Brooks led off with a double and yielded to a pinch-runner. Murphy popped up a bunt for out No. 1 and jr. PH Bill Mancini lined into a first-pitch doubleplay, thanks to a good throw from Kology. The day’s one downer was hearing that Prep trainer Jacky Onks is  leaving after the school year because her husband will be serving his residency in North Carolina. Jacky is forever upbeat and thoroughly dedicated to Prep’s athletes and coaches and will be severely missed. After the game, I chatted briefly with Gil Brooks. He mentioned that Mike Boyle is ticketed to become an offensive-line starter at Northwestern and such an occurrence would give the Prep four O-line starters in Division I. Others: Syracuse’s Jim McKenzie, Georgia Tech’s Dan Voss and Navy’s Jeff Battipaglia. Tremendous! OK, now back to a pre-game shock. As I neared the field while driving, I found myself wondering, “What the heck is Franklin Learning Center doing here?” The reason: Judge is now wearing dark blue uniforms with the usual light blue as trim. Believe that?! The numbers on the front are red. They look OK, but it takes some getting used to. DARK blue unis for Judge! Did you faint? One last thing: while heading to this one, I noticed Furness preparing for a game at 10th and Bigler. It was still 75 minutes before Judge-Prep, so I headed over there to take team pics for the Falcons and E&S. That game was also a goodie. Furness won in nine innings as frosh Joe Gorman struck out 20! 

APRIL 16
PUBLIC A
Washington 2, Central 1 (8 inn.)
  Today’s MVP was Ted! Nah, not me. I’m talking about Ted DiMichael, Washington’s whirlwind field caretaker. After two days of wicked rain (and on a day when many fields around the city/suburbs were still unplayable), Teddy D had Washington’s diamond looking great. Good hus, my man! Staying with the rain theme . . . After layoffs such as this week’s, you’re never sure quite what to expect. Will the teams be rusty? So anxious to get going again that they’ll press and be sloppy? This game had a few loose moments, but overall was well played and definitely entertained. DN ink went to 6-4, 190-pound sr. Will McFillin, a three-sport athlete and one of 11 kids whose assorted family members (well, just the guys and dad, honestly) have received gallons of DN ink through the years. I've written eight total stories on the brothers -- two on Matt, one apiece on Joe, Rich and John and three on Will. Even Colin, a special-needs youngster who has served as Washington's football manager, was the featured guy at the beginning of a notes column a few years back and received a Player of the Week T-shirt. Will, who envisions becoming Temple's punter via the walk-on route (don't bet against him), began the game at shortstop and then made his way to the mound for the final four innings. He allowed just one hit and no walks (not even close to one, if I remember) and mowed down seven. He became the winner in the home eighth, of course, when the Eagles eked out a run against frosh LH Mike Cavallaro, who’d started the game in right field. Sr. CF Nick Romaninsky, already 2-for-3, took a fastball in the upper back. After failing to bunt Romaninsky over, McFillin smacked a single to left. After Cavallaro uncorked a wild pitch, the had-to-do-it intentional walk was issued, thus loading the bases with nobody out. Frosh C Dean “Casa” Grande fired a low liner to center. OK, time for the Eagles to celebrate and then go home. But nooooooooo. Sr. CF Ian Lewis, already a major factor in myriad ways, hustled straight in and made a diving catch! Great play! Even better for Central, Romaninsky didn’t tag up and was unable to score. With the infield still up, of course, sr. 1B Mike LaRose pounded a slow grounder to SS Brian Burkett. Romaninsky scored as a wild throw sailed past sr. C Tommy Capewell. The plate ump said Romaninsky had the play beat anyway, so it was scored a fielder’s choice with an RBI. Washington scored one in the second against sr. RH Zach Magdovitz (brother of ex-star Joe). It was his only sub-par inning (of four). That mini-uprising also began with an HBP (of sr. DH Brandon “Astoria” Waldorf.) After a wild pitch, Grande tried to bunt Waldorf over. The throw to third was slightly late and consecutive walks to LaRose and sr. RF Gavino “Papi” Rodriguez plated the run. Magdovitz evaded further damage with a force at home and two whiffs. Jr. RH Aaron Wilmer, of QBing fame, went the first four for the Eagles. Lewis started the third by reaching on a misplayed fly to right that went for two bases. Cavallaro, a lefty swinger, then beat out a grounder to second. The two then pulled off a double steal in perfect-harmony fashion. In the second, Burkett could have (and momentarily did have) an RBI single on a shot to left. Alas, jr. courtesy runner Adam Hopkins was called out for missing third base. Lewis, who began his Central career as a tiny courtesy runner, was a game-long force. Aside from his eighth-inning catch, he made a leaping snag of another liner while squinting into a tough sun. The Nos. 3 and 4 hitters, Capewell and sr. 3B Stephen “Scoob” Schall, went a combined 0-for-8. They teamed for three bolts to outfielders, however. When Central sr. DH Zack “Goofball” King batted, his teammates chanted “Goo-goo-goo-goo-goo” in rapid fashion. Any time a Central hurler delivered a high pitch, the Washington kids made noises that sounded like seagulls. Oh, I get it (high pitches are dangerous to  seagulls? – smile). At one juncture, a Washington kid made a very strange noise and a teammate said to him, “You sound like a constipated horse.” Ha, ha, ha. Central’s 2B was sr. David Kremer. He was the boys’ basketball manager and was very helpful this past season. Thanks again, Dave.

APRIL 13
PUBLIC B
Esperanza 5, Olney 4
  I was within a block of Olney’s field, listening to the oldies on 98.1, when DJ Harvey Holiday rocked my world. He said Harry Kalas had collapsed at the stadium in Washington, D.C., and been rushed to the hospital. There was a slight pause and I thought quickly, “Horrible, but not the worst possible outcome.” Then Harvey’s tone became even more solemn and he added that Harry the K had passed away. Oh, my God. What a jolt. As Harvey finished talking about Harry, the first few bars of “Centerfield” by John C. Fogerty (perhaps better known for its “Put me in, coach” main line) were pulsing through the radio and then the song played in full . . . It helped to be able to roll right from that shock into this game. Baseball at Olney is always an entertaining experience, even if the game itself is lousy, because of the sights and sounds of/from spectators, nearby traffic, visits from the ever-present ice cream truck, the hope that foul balls will crack somebody’s windshield out on Front Street or Duncannon (smile), just all KINDS of things. I knew this one would be an extra treat because of the all-Spanish element. Many of the players greeted each other warmly long before the game began and, it turned out, each team had guys who formerly played for the other squad. Since I know enough Spanish to get by, I had to keep stifling laughter when listening to the kids’ assorted comments. In the post-game interview, I asked Esperanza sr. RH Reinaldo “Squeky” Benitez (he said he doesn’t like the “a” in squeaky and prefers not to use it – ha, ha) how many Olney players he knew. He named just about everybody! As for highlights, let’s jump to the seventh. Benitez crushed the first pitch to center, meaning the tying run was in scoring position. Jr. RH Jose DeLeon tried to pick off Benitez, but fired the ball into center. Benitez tried to score, but was erased on a relay from sr. CF Deivis Santana to DeLeon to sr. C Jose Rodriguez. When jr. RF Teofilo Bonilla fanned for out No. 2, things did not look rosy for the Toros. Especially with the No. 9 hitter, sr. CF Carlos Rodriguez, coming up. Rodriguez grounded to quality jr. SS Benji Cruz and busted a gut down the line to beat the throw. Jr. SS Nardo “Macho” Rosa worked a walk, then both guys moved up on a wild pitch. Ping! Soph 2B Felix Torraca, also a former Olney player, lined a two-run single to center, handing Esperanza a 5-4 lead! The home seventh? Tight and bright. Olney went down 1-2-3 and the Toros had their win. The Trojans killed themselves several times, truthfully. After clubbing an RBI triple in the third, Cruz was tagged out in a rundown after Rodriguez tapped to Benitez. Jr. LF Isaiah Soto followed with a double that would have brought home two runs, instead of just one. In the fifth, jr. 1B Manuel Perez was tagged out at third after a weird sequence. With Perez on second and courtesy runner Denzel Spruill on first, Benitez threw a pitch in the dirt. It squirted away, but not THAT far away. Spruill took off for second and made it easily. One problem. Perez had stayed put. He then tried to run to third and was tagged out by the catcher, jr. Luis Santos. When Olney came in, coach Barry Strube asked the scorekeeper which batters were due for Esperanza. The kid told him, “Four-five-six.” Strube roared, “That can’t be right! You said four-five-six last inning and they sure didn’t bat around!” Referring to Spruill and the kid keeping the scorebook, he said with a laugh, “You guys are killing me. It’s why I drink.” The day’s big hit was a solo homer by Esperanza jr. 3B Carlos Gil, a transfer from, well, Olney. He was the only guy in the game with a combination of height and weight and he powered a classic Big Fly to dead center. It cleared the fence, and that’s no easy feat. Esperanza’s single runs in the third and fifth were cheapies. They mostly were traceable to great, frisky baserunning by the tiny Bonilla. Olney scored two in the third on big RBI hits by Cruz (triple to left-center) and jr. LF Isaiah Soto (groundball double down the leftfield line). Santana’s sac fly plated one in the fourth and there was an unearned run in the sixth. Benitez allowed five apiece of hits and walks while striking out two. Mostly, his teammates made the plays. DeLeon deserved a better fate. He permitted  six hits and jus two walks while mowing down 13. Strangely, 11 of the whiffs were achieved against the first five guys in the order. For the second straight year, I came across a Spanish guy whose best-fit nickname is “Number Name.” Last year I wrote a DN story about Esperanza sr. pitcher Ayron Forty. Now, Olney has a sophomore rightfielder named Jose Fortin, who went 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored. His name is pronounced – you got it – just like “fourteen.” Gotta love that, right? (Unfortuntely, Fortin also had a baserunning blunder as he failed to tag up at third when Santana sent a deep fly to left. At least he did score later on an error.) It was great to see Olney teacher Maureen “Rene” Fox, a long-time friend. One of Esperanza’s players, who formerly attended Olney, came up to her to say hello. (She was standing outside the fence, on Front Street.) Rene had some great stories about the goofy inner workings of Olney. She’s the yearbook adviser for one half of Olney’s building -- the school was split into two (within the same building) several years go, but still plays sports as one – and her work for that project is finished for this year. I was the one who informed Rene of Harry Kalas’ death. Her shock was as deep as everyone’s. By the way, I first met Harry in maybe 1967 or ’68, when he was working for the Houston Astros. Assorted friends and I used to spend summer days pestering major leaguers for autographs at the Center City hotels where they stayed while playing the Phillies. Most teams stayed at the Warwick (as did, for whatever reason, star Phillies righthander Jim Bunning. He would never sign autographs. EVERY time we asked him, he would growl, “How would you like it if I came to your house and asked for YOUR autograph?!” We always said we would love it, of course. He was unimpressed. Smile.) The Astros, however, stayed at the Bellevue-Stratford. One day we got Harry’s autograph and had a short conversation with him. He was cool even then. RIP, Harry.

MARCH 31
CATHOLIC RED
La Salle 7, Bonner 2
  The game’s best play featured a simple groundout. Well, for my money it did. How so? Hey, life is all about family and friends, right? As Bonner batted in the fourth, jr. C Josh VanHorn led off by sending a ball to sr. 3B Mike Antoni. He scooped and fired a strong and true throw to sr. 1B Sean Abbott. One away. And my mind was WHISKED away to decades ago. The La Salle guys, you see, are sons of long-time friends I got to know while growing up in Oreland (near Glenside, prime McDevitt territory) and then covering high school sports in that area in the early part of the '70s (ouch). Mike’s dad is Rocky. Sean’s is Bob. OK, enough reminiscing. It just struck me at the time and did so again while starting this report (hi, guys!), and thanks for bearing with me . . . The first noteworthy occurrence in the game was chirping by La Salle coach Joe Parisi. It happened after sr. CF Joe Aloia led off with what would be the first of his four walks and was promptly caught stealing by VanHorn. (Not really, at least to my naked eye – and Joe’s – but that was the call.) Joe complained mildly at the time, but his remarks were more biting after the No. 3 hitter, sr. SS Tyler Freeman, ripped a shot to left-center that went for a double (it had the look of homer off the bat). That would have made it 1-0, of course, and Parisi made note of the fact that runs would likely be very hard to come by, and he didn’t appreciate losing out on one due to what he considered a mistake. His logic certainly appeared to be solid. The pitching matchup featured a D-1 recruit in La Salle LH Shawn O’Neill (Richmond) and a guy, in Bonner sr. RH Ryan Haley, who is being eyed by schools at that level. Into the visiting third, the bats were mostly silent and Haley even retired the first two guys. But Aloia again worked a walk, this time on four pitches, and La Salle did not mess up the opportunity. Sr. LF Kevin Kelley sliced an RBI single just inside the rightfield line. Freeman powered an RBI double to center. Jr. DH Ian Whelan, an early sub, got plunked. Abbott sent a sinking liner to right-center that barely eluded a dive by sr. RF Greg Shields and went for a two-run single (he moved up on the throw). Sr. RF Kevin Johnson lashed an RBI single to right. Just like that, thoughts of a 1-0, 13-inning game were gone and Parisi was no longer staring holes through the base ump (smile). Haley, who said his main problem was an inability to locate his slider, used a pickoff to avoid further trouble in the fourth, but he was excused for the afternoon two batters into the fifth. Johnson greeted jr. RH Matt “Rug” Ruggieri with another RBI single and Antoni’s followup groundball was misplayed for a run-scoring error. Though not fully sharp, O’Neill had some impressive moments while fanning nine and making sure that only one of Bonner’s six hits would go for extra bases; sr. SS Jim Calabrese lined a double (his second hit of the game) over Kelley’s head in the fifth. In that frame and again in the seventh, O’Neill forced Bonner to leave the bases loaded. The game ended on VanHorn’s flyout to center. Either way, Parisi said, that was going to be O’Neill’s final batter. Shawn threw 115 pitches while striking out nine, walking three and drilling two (all five of the negatives occurred in the last three innings). The DN story focused in part on how Shawn is a second-generation CL pitching star. His dad, also a lefty named Shawn, hurled Judge to the ’76 CL title and even achieved a shutout in the final while doing so. Personality-wise, Shawn is like his dad: a fun-to-watch true lefty. He’s ready to pitch the ball almost before he has caught it and his desire for an ultra-quick pace led to some cat-mouse games with batters. The leader in that area was sr. 2B Dan  Williams, who went 2-for-2 with two walks in the No. 3 spot. Dan, a Diocesan Scholar, takes two classes each afternoon at Villanova -- nothing but A's, baby! -- and he'll be heading for Delaware next fall to major in mechanical engineering. Gotta love it!! In one of his at-bats, Abbott was retired at first on a semi-wide throw and graciously made sure he did not plow into jr. Alex Liberatore. As Sean arrived back at the dugout, a teammate kidded him by saying, “Sean, you WERE the center on the football team.” The directional layout of Bonner’s field is dicey. It’s crazy enough that the sun shines almost directly in from centerfield. Added to the mix is the fact that it creates glare off the windshields of cars parked beyond the fence. O’Neill was involved in two interesting plays. In the third, he wild-pitched Calabrese home but did have a chance to prevent that. He arrived at the plate in time to catch the toss from jr. C T.J. Burgmann and make the tag. Alas, the ball trickled out of his glove. In the fifth, Shawn made a nice snag of a comebacker and tossed to Burgmann for a forceout. Today’s plate ump was legendary good guy Joe Cassidy, former Drexel basketball assistant and for the last 13 years the coach at Rowan, in South Jersey. In 1984, Joe was primarily responsible for recruiting Engineering and Science guard Michael Anderson to Drexel. I remember how he fretted over and over that another school would finally wake up to Anderson’s greatness and snatch him away. Luckily, Joe got him for the late Eddie Burke (RIP, friend; Eddie passed just last week) and Anderson helped to fuel Drexel’s run to the NCAA Tournament in 1986. He also played briefly in the NBA. Joe’s other claim to fame? (Well, one of the others.) He was the Hawk for two years at what was then St. Joe’s College! Yup, THE Hawk, as in the mascot who’s required to flap his wings throughout every game.