On the Trail With Ted Return to Home Page  Observations, notes, etc., on games I saw during the 2002 season . . .

MAY 14
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern 9, Haverford School 2
   This was postponed last Friday when only one ump showed up. It started 10 minutes late when the rain showed up. It quickly became a non-game because Haverford's gloves forget to show up. Sr. RHP Mike Vail threw NINE groundballs in the first two innings and got NO outs from them. Three went for infield singles (the wet grass made everything slow up). Five went for errors. One went to RF for a two-run single. In effect, the game was over when cleanup hitter Joe Milani, a sr. 1B bound for West Virginia, hit a three-run homer to a shade to the left of dead center. Sr. LF Mike Treston later added an RBI double. Milani had a two-run single in a three-run second; he finished 3-for-5 for five RBI. Malvern jr. RHP Paul Keldsen again was impressive. I love this kid's stuff and command, along with his quiet-but-in-control demeanor. His fastball was clocked at 85 mph earlier this season; he was throwing at LEAST that hard. He also showed a respectable curve and a change that dipped away from lefties. Keldsen took a no-hitter into the fifth when sr. C Don Ware, a lefthanded hitter, sent a line drive back at Keldsen. Paul instinctively stuck out his glove and made partial contact, with the ball squirting toward sr. 3B Chris Kolmer. Kolmer made a play, but the ball was late and wild so it was scored a hit-and-error. With one out in the seventh, a double by soph PH Dan Wilson brought in a run and sr. RF Alex George followed with a liner over Kolmer's leap for an RBI single. It was the first earned run allowed by Keldsen in I-A play. Soph RHP Will Romanowicz came on to finish up. I promise you, this kid was on 90's doorstep. The ball made that distinctive POW!!! sound as it hit the mitt. It was only a short stint, of course, but was he ever bringin' it! Everybody was looking at each other in oh-my-God fashion. Back to Keldsen: I've seen him pitch three times this season. His stats in those games: 16 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned, 0 walks, 25 strikeouts. Phew! Meanwhile, sr. Matt Skellan became the first catcher in baseball history to get three leg hits in the same game (smile; he does have decent speed). He singled to 2B, SS and 3B. Kolmer, the No. 9 hitter, smacked a solo homer to dead center, significantly beyond the 355-foot sign. Haverford has a pair of promising lefties in soph Tom Close and jr. Mike Fitzpatrick. Both are about 6-4. Fitzpatrick had explosive stuff, but shaky control. He did -- as he noted walking off the field -- come up with this accomplishment: A doubleplay and three strikeouts in the same inning! The first two batters in the sixth reached on K-WP combos. He then walked the bases loaded, got another K, walked in a run and induced a doubleplay grounder. Freshman RHP Mike Fitzgerald (not to be confused with Mike Fitzpatrick) pitched the seventh and also induced a doubleplay ball (sub sr. 2B Chris Shively made a nice turn.) Malvern coach Mike Hickey was doused with ice and water (mostly ice) at game's end. He said he was dizzy from the cubes hitting him in the head, then added, "I'm dizzy anyway. That's why I had to stop playing football. Too many concussions. Soft head." Eastern University, by the way, has a beautiful field and surrounding atmosphere. Oh, one more by the way: In a year when I've seen some truly horrendous umpiring, I have to mention that plate ump Paul Fricker was at the top of his game. I literally don't remember one complaint the entire game.

MAY 10
TWO LEAGUES
THREE FIELDS, TWO INNINGS
   It was a wild day on the trail, loyal web site visitors. The festivities, such as they mostly weren't, began at Eastern University (maybe a mile from Carroll), where Haverford School was supposed to host Malvern in a game that would have decided the Inter-Ac League title had Malvern won. Haverford's field is being renovated and the Fords have had to scramble this season. Anyway, only base ump Harry Greer showed up and he was 30 minutes late after first going to Haverford College. He was quite unhappy. The other guy, John Harrington, never did arrive, at least not by 4:35, 50 minutes after the scheduled starting time, and the decision was made to postpone the game until Tuesday. OK, now where? I remembered that St. Joseph's Prep was hosting Father Judge at the 21st Ward Field in Andorra, but coming out of Eastern, I heard on the radio about a brutal accident on the Blue Route and how traffic was messed up all over the Main Line. Forget the Expressway. I'd go through Conshohocken. Of course, I had to stop at a 7-Eleven for a diet coke and a Tastykake. I finally arrived at Prep's home field and made the turn onto the gravel/dirt driveway. Coming in the other direction was a kid wearing a Prep baseball hat. He got closer and I could see who it was -- our ol' web site buddy, Mike "Suds" Sunderland, whose hustle/skill in substitute roles has lately earned him a starting role as Prep's second baseman. I stopped, he stopped and we talked for a moment through the car windows. I told him why I was coming so late. He told me the game had just ended, with Prep posting a 5-1 win. He talked about a late, three-run homer and I asked him whether "Smity" hit it. (1B-P Eric Smith is another frequent contributor). Sunderland pointed to a kid standing out by the street, waiting for his parents to pick him up, I assume, and said it was him -- soph OF Steve Loke. I began heading home, then happened to remember, "Hey, Penn Charter's hosting Episcopal!" The traffic in one part of Andorra was horrendous because paving crews were cutting off access through Manayunk and everybody had to detour to Ridge Avenue. Ridge going down was backed up like crazy, so I made a left and went up all the way to Andorra again, just so I could come back down Henry Avenue. Anyway, I got to PC at 5:55 and players were still on the field. Cool! Coming in, I was informed that PC was leading, 14-12, and that the game was in the sixth inning. Gerry Sasse, father of PC's Gerry Sasse, was standing with a college coach behind the batting cage and they told me that Episcopal's Adam Murray, a star SS bound for Duke, had reached 86-88 mph on a radar gun; he hadn't pitched in a year! Episcopal won, 19-14, thanks to a seven-run seventh. Incredible! Matt Finnegan, a sophomore with under 10 at-bats on the season, had to bat because coach Jeff Bond was out of players. He delivered a two-run single after fouling off at least six pitches (it might have been as many as eight). He did a great job! Later, Ted Oberwager, a righthanded hitter, delivered a grand slam high and deep and WAY out to right-center. Episcopal's players and fans, understandably, went berserk. As PC came to bat, I figured I'd go to my car and fetch the digital camera and try to take Episcopal's team photo afterward, which I wound up doing. This report should be entitled, "On the Long, Winding, Frustrating but Eventually Entertaining Trail With Ted."

MAY 7
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Central at Frankford
   Oh, brother. This one was halted in the visiting sixth when plate ump Chuck Gephart tossed Frankford coach Bob Peffle and then Peffle, on his way out, stopped in the plate area and, at high volume, called Gephart and base ump Bill Tsafos "garbage." My story in the May 8 Daily News will deal with all of the extracurricular activities. We'll stick with the baseball stuff here, OK? The game will be completed May 16. Frankford leads, 7-2, but Central, with two runs already in, will have the bases loaded with one out. This game featured two of the Pub's three best pitchers, sr. RHP Dave Firth for Frankford and sr. LHP Noah White for Central. Two scouts with radar guns were behind the plate. Firth hit 86 mph in the first inning and was consistently at 84-85. White hit 82 and was consistently at 80-81. When the guns came out again in the fifth inning, the readings were 80-81 for Firth and 72-75 for White. Firth, a true bulldog, lost a no-hitter with one out in the fifth when sr. RF Mike Kane sent a slow hopper to sr. 3B Joe Manini. Kane hustled, but he appeared to be out by roughly a half-step. He was called safe, though. To start the sixth, jr. SS Ryan Abrams sent a blooper to left-center that landed between three guys for a hit. Sr. LF Adam Davis followed with a semi-liner to almost the same spot for another single. On what appeared to be a knuckle-curve, White smacked a two-run double to right. Firth struck out 10 for the afternoon. Meanwhile, White, whose competitive fires also burn brightly, allowed a single to jr. CF Matt Colon to start the game, but no more hits until the fourth. He was roughed up in the fourth and fifth as Frankford scored four and three runs, respectively. Central turned a nice doubleplay in the fourth. Sr. SS Glenn LaBadie grounded out to sr. 3B John Hickey. Sr. 1B John Hogan took the throw and fired to second, where sr. 2B Steve Hopkins tagged Colon, who had rounded too far. Frankford jr. LF Jason McCune suffered what appeared to be a bad ankle injury on a fourth-inning slide into third base. The Pioneers had just 11 players in uniform. About the Peffle-Gephart problem: Both are good guys. Both made bad decisions. Peffle is a former minor league player. He knows what he can and can't say to umpires. This is one of the oldest unwritten rules in the coach-umpire book: The coach can usually trash an umpire's calls, but not the umpire himself. I had maybe a 10-minute, off-the-record talk with Gephart, but he preferred not to speak on the record. If he changes his mind at some point, I will obviously get his thoughts out there, even if it's only on the web site.

MAY 6
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Wood 13, McDevitt 5
   Another wacky day on the trail. The strike zone was raised almost to Wilt Chamberlain level. There was a loud argument between coaches. Two McDevitt starters were told they couldn't play because they hadn't bothered to show up for school . . . Let's begin with that last one. Two srs., LF Greg "Goat" Goettner and 3B Josh Parkes, took the day off in the aftermath of last Friday's Senior Prom and a subsequent trip to the shore. Coach Buddy Glemser was going to pitch soph Chuck McLaughlin, but with his lineup weakened, he figured he'd better use his No. 1 pitcher, jr. RHP Bob Mitros. Mitros threw too many pitches in fat areas and paid the price. He is usually a groundball pitcher, but the Vikings sent some true shots to the outfield (even for outs). Wood sr. LHP Dan Mueller, already signed with Keystone (junior) College, near Scranton, went the distance. He allowed eight hits while striking out just as many and had just one rough inning (fifth). Mueller showed two kinds of fastballs -- cut and regular -- and was mostly in command. The bottom of the lineup did mucho damage. Jr. SS Justin Cunnane went 3-for-3 with a walk, double and triple and three RBI. Jr. 2B Matt Connolly went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Sr. RF Kyle Brennecke, in the cleanup spot, went 3-for-5 with a double and triple for three RBI. Sr. CF Dave Lorditch, a quality FB player with good speed, collected two hits and two walks. Wood turned a nifty 1-3-6 doubleplay in the third. Sr. LF Alex "Maybe Chicken Man/Maybe Dandelion Man/Maybe Neither" Loew put down a nice sacrifice bunt, but sr. 2B Sean Jones was doubled as he roamed too far around second; sr. 1B Matt O'Connor made the heads-up throw. In McDevitt's fourth, jr. C Andrew Kovach smacked a two-run double to left-center and jr. CF Mike Loftus added a two-run single to right. Loftus almost made one of the all-time catches in VERY deep left-center, out by a telephone pole that serves as a light standarrd. He ran and ran and ran and stretched out fully to glove Cunnane's blast. However, the ball squirted out as he tumbled. A SPECTACULAR effort. Sr. RF Brian O'Meara, a star lineman during FB season, made a nice running catch going to his right. The plate ump had a rough day. He called strikes at least a dozen times on pitches that were shoulder to chin high. Maybe nose high. I kid you not. He also did nothing to calm down or toss those who berated him mercilessly. McDevitt's 1B coach, Dave Parkes, appeared to be TRYING to get tossed, and it didn't happen. Meanwhile, just before the fifth inning, Wood coach Jim DiGuiseppe went to McDevitt's bench area and, through a chain-link fence, got into a high-volume, face-to-face argument with Lancer assistant Dorn Taylor, a former major league pitcher, over which coaching staff had lost control of its team. Best line of the day: In the seventh inning, a McDevitt player kept saying Mueller should be ejected for having "illegal sideburns." Weird development of the day: McDevitt sr. 1B Doug Garritt reached on infield errors in his first three at-bats.

MAY 3
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern 8, Penn Charter 0
   It's not too often a major-sport contest between these schools turns into a mismatch, but it happened in this one. Jr. RHP Paul Keldsen was special throughout. Showing a hopping fastball and excellent control, he always pitched ahead and allowed just one runner to get as far as second base. He hit two, but walked none and struck out 10. He received two excellent defensive plays: soph CF Dan Plunkett ran and ran and ran and finally made a nice catch on a long drive by sr. C Aaron Greenfield, who has just signed with Penn State. Sr. 1B Joe Milani, who's not exactly poetry in motion (smile), made a nice sprawling stop to his left on a grounder by jr. 1B-P Taylor Baum and flipped to a covering Keldsen for the out. Certified PC-killer Matt Skellan, a sr. C bound for Lafayette, provided an early spark with a two-run homer in the home first. Soph SS D.J. Reagoso started the inning with a single to left. Soph RF Ryan Burton went 3-for-3 with a double and three RBI. Milani (West Virginia) had two doubles, one RBI. Reagoso and Plunkett both went 2-for-4 with an RBI. In the fifth, pinch-hitter Brian Booth, a jr. C, lofted a popup foul down the first-base side. The wind was swirling like crazy and it blew the ball back, barely, into fair territory. It landed right next to the bag for a very strange single. For PC, sr. RHP Gerry Sasse, gamely working on two days' rest, had early trouble with location. Almost every pitch was in the prime hitting zone and Malvern didn't miss them. He lasted four innings. Baum, a lefty, and jr. Matt Ryan, the SS, then hurled an inning apiece. Baum mostly threw fastballs. Ryan mostly threw curves (and sliders, I think; maybe they were curves that just didn't fully break). You know you're having a down day when your highlight is a pair of assists by an outfielder. Doing the honors was sr. LF Aaron Mittica. Ryan and sr. DH David Skinner had PC's hits. Malvern pitching coach E.J. Moyer deserves loads of credit. This year's primary pitchers were lesser lights last year behind guys who went on to D-I programs. The staff hasn't skipped a beat. Visible far beyond RF: cows and horses. And people say Archbishop Wood is in farm country (smile).

APRIL 30
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Bonner 2, SJ Prep 1
   After two losses in football and three in hoops this school year, the Friars finally posted a major-sport win over Prep. In a way, it was as if sr. RHP Randy Milia willed Bonner to the win. He has been clocked as high as 88-89 mph in other games and he was bringin' it in this one. He also showed great location, even when late-game rain made things messy (and ended it after 5 1/2 innings). Milia fanned seven, walked one and allowed two hits. They came back-to-back in the fourth and gave Prep its run -- sr. OF Pete Chromiak doubled to center and sr. RHP Eric "Smity" Smith followed with a single to right. Milia also did a nice job fielding. He made a stab of a hard comebacker by jr. C Kevin Walker in the third and started a doubleplay. He also twice covered 1B to take flips from jr. 1B Paul "Body by Koz" Cashin. Milia is hearing locally from La Salle and Saint Joe's. He competes and can add a few mph when necessary. He is definitely worth D-I looks. Bonner scored twice in the fifth as sr. 3B Tim D'Orazio and jr. RF Kevin Horning drew one-out walks and Milia followed with a hard grounder to center. The ball was bobbled and D'Orazio, who had stopped at third, raced home to tie it. Sr. C Jason Smith hammered into a forceout, but Cashin earned an RBI with a groundball single to right. Sr. LF Nick Condo reached base all three times out of the leadoff hole, twice on walks and once on an error. Smith displayed an interesting mix of pitches. His curve was slow, but active, and he threw some knuckleballs, too. His fastball had decent juice (not like Milia's, though), especially in comparison with his other pitches. He walked seven and fanned six while allowing four hits. He forced Bonner to strand nine runners in five at-bats. The temptation is to say that maybe Smith's vision was bothered by the rain, since he does wear glasses, but he had command difficulties even before the drops began falling. With some better fielding, his stint would have been scoreless, though. The only Prep player to hit two balls very hard was soph RF Steve Loke, the No. 9 hitter. He hit into the doubleplay comebacker and smoked a liner that was caught inches off the ground by D'Orazio. TedSilary.com legend Mike "Suds" Sunderland, a backup sr. 2B, stole a base as a courtesy runner and, as a defensive sub, made a nice tag on a caught stealing. Chromiak, running up the hill to his right, made an impressive catch of a long drive off the bat of jr. SS Mike Shalon. Fat Fat Koz gave a Medium Medium Performance on Mount Monastery. Just kidding! He had good energy and got help in maybe the fourth inning when Brownie and the other lacrosse players arrived from practice. Take note: Bonner's varsity will meet an alumni team Saturday at noon at the school. The alumni squad is pretty well set, but players are still welcome to call coach Bob Vent at the school, 610-259-0280.

APRIL 29
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Lincoln 3, Saul 0
   I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The weather was nasty, but the baseball was pretty good. Lincoln, which should still be in Division A (it had to drop to B due to forfeits; it's a long, "Only in the Pub" story), received a dominating pitching performance from sr. LHP Tim Szychulski. Showing a big curve and a fastball that at times tailed AND dipped away from righties, he struck out 13 and allowed just two hits. The first hit, a totally clean groundball single to right by sr. LF Chris Condrone, came with two outs in the fourth. The second, a double off the fence in right-center by jr. 1B Andrew Godlewski, led off the seventh. Jr. CF Dan Freitag should have caught the ball, but lost his bearings and didn't find the fence quickly enough. Condrone then struck out. But the ball got away from soph C Rick Bates and his throw to first was off-line, putting runners at first and third. With sr. 3B Mike Szostek batting, Bates again lost the handle. But he quickly recovered and caught Godlewski off third. Szostek and pinch-hitter James Fishburn both fanned to end it. Lincoln got two in the first on a single by jr. 2B Shane O'Connor and Szychulski's high-fly homer over the short fence in RF. In the second, sr. RF George Graham went to second on a two-out throwing error and to a third on a wild pitch. He scored on a hard single to left by jr. 1B Devin "People Keep Spelling It Devon" Wirt. Later, Wirt made a nice baseline tag after taking a slightly wild throw from sr. SS Steve Gallo. Bates also gunned down a would-be stealer at 2B. He had some trouble catching third strikes cleanly, but he's a big kid with potential and did a nice job of encouraging Szychulski. Saul sr. RHP Bill Clark was short on velocity, long on savvy. He allowed six hits while fanning four. As cold as it was, he pitched in short sleeves. Jr. SS Matt Crawford, who looked to be about 5-5, made an outstanding play deep in the hole and then threw to first from the ground to get a force at second. Godlewski is a strong kid (maybe 6-2) with a nice swing. I hear he has hit some true shots this year. Coolest sequence: In the fifth, Szychulski came inside to jr. C Mike Taylor and it looked for certain that the pitch would hit him. Taylor swung at the very last instant and the ball hit off his bat -- it went foul -- maybe an inch above his top hand. The next pitch came in and -- crack! -- Taylor smoked a liner right off Szychulski's upper thigh. Szychulski recovered and fired to first to get the out. I had never seen a game at Saul. Not a bad atmosphere. Cars whiz along Henry Avenue beyond the distant fence that runs from LF to CF. Ever the knucklehead, I forgot to return the flash card to my digital camera before I left the house. I realized the error just when I was ready to take Saul's picture. I drove to the Andorra Shopping Center, went to Camera Shop, bought another flash card and got back in time to take the team photos right before the start of the game. I thank both teams for bearing with me.

APRIL 27
GIBBSBORO-VOORHEES LITTLE LEAGUE
   For 31 years, I have written about other people's kids. Today, I'm writing a little blurb about my own. Bear with me, OK? My son, Kevin Silary, age 11, made his pitching debut. This was really weird. I happened to be sitting in my trusty lawn chair near the rightfield bullpen when Kevin and a teammate began walking down. The other kid had a catcher's mitt in his hand. Oh, my goodness! Does this mean Kevin is going to PITCH? His coach had mentioned in passing to Kevin, who has a respectable arm and usually plays center or second, that he might be asked to pitch at some point this season. Kevin was never sure he wanted to do it. Anyway, there he was warming up, mostly throwing strikes, believe it or not. Then he went to the mound. Swinging bunt for a hit. Double to right. Runners at second and third with nobody out. Uh, oh! Then . . . strikeout, popup to second, strikeout. A shutout inning! When Kevin got to the dugout, he looked over and shrugged his shoulders and flashed a specific grin. I have come to recognize those combined gestures. They say, "I don't know how that happened, but it was pretty cool."
   If you'd like to see some pictures, click here.
   And thanks for understanding why I did this unusual report (smile).

APRIL 24
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Roxborough 7, Central 6 (9 inn.)
   The first meeting between Roxborough sr. RHP Mike Gibbs and Central sr. LHP Noah White produced a 1-0 game. White twirled a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts. This one was nowhere near as fast or clean. With six scouts on hand, Gibbs topped out at 87 mph and was consistently between 83 and 85. White was clocked only in the first inning, and that was just with one gun. He was in the 77-78 range. Gibbs allowed eight hits and four walks (plus two hit batsmen) while striking out 10. Five errors contributed to three unearned runs. White, who lives about three blocks from Gibbs in Mt. Airy and played with him on youth teams, allowed nine hits and no walks (but four hit batsmen) while striking out 17. The Lancers made three errors and two runs were unearned. Gibbs took a 6-4 lead into the visiting seventh. Sr. CF Adam Davis (scratch variety) and White reached on singles and two consecutive groundouts got a run home. Gibbs then plunked sr. 3B John Hickey and sr. 1B John Hogan created a tie with a clutch single to left. Gibbs then fanned sr. RF Mike Kane to end the inning. In the eighth, after the scouts left, Gibbs did his best piece of pitching. Kurt Haberle's single and a botched relay gave Central a runner at third with nobody out. Gibbs wriggled free with a foulout, strikeout and groundout. In the home eighth, sr. SS Vince Cardona, who had a rough day physically (he got hit in the you-know-whats by a pregame grounder, then again in the game by a ball on his leg), sent a semi-liner to center for his third hit. White fanned sr. 1B Chuck Richardson for the fourth time (his other AB produced an RBI single) and Gibbs followed with a hard one-hopper to the mound. White easily could have thrown to second for a force (I suspect the Lancers could have gotten a doubleplay), but White had momentarily forgotten the number of outs. He threw to first and pinch-runner Terrell Ford went to second. Sr. C John Fitzpatrick followed with a blooper to right-center. Kane dropped the ball -- there's no other way to say it -- and Ford came around with the game-winner. Fitzpatrick had a two-run double to highlight a five-run third. Gibbs absolutely smoked an RBI double in that same frame. Richardson and sr. 3B-LF David Serwinski had RBI singles. Central scored two apiece in the third, fifth and seventh. White, sr. C Ryan Meyer and Hogan had run-scoring singles. My DN story focused on Gibbs and White. Gibbs indicated he wants to go straight into pro ball, if the round and money are OK. White is a solid pitcher as well. His command is consistent this year, and I like the way he competes while having fun. Only two of Roxborough's hits came on liners. The rest were hit in medium-hard fashion. Hopefully, he'll get interest from at least the likes of D-II schools such as Phila. Univ. I'm not convinced he can't be a D-I pitcher, either. Look at some of the team ERAs for D-I schools around here. Dreadful.

APRIL 23
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Carroll 16, Kennedy-Kenrick 11
   Where does one begin? This game could merit a three-part series. My story in the Daily News will take a full-blown look at the game's key moment, when Carroll reliever Frank Gailey, a jr. lefty, drilled K-K jr. CF Chris Lubanski in the middle of the back with a sixth-inning fastball. Carroll had just taken a 16-9 lead with a seven-run outburst. Earlier, Lubanski, already a name on the national scene, had smacked a solo homer to pretty much dead center and a triple along the rightfield line that one-hopped against the fence near the 364-foot sign. (He came all the way around on the play, but the relay was dropped and bobbled and we ruled it a triple and an error). Did Gailey hit Lubanski on purpose? I'm not positive. Put it this way: It didn't LOOK innocent. Gailey and coach Fran Murphy both said the order was to "pitch inside." Anyway, this game was wild and everyone was agitated, in part, because the plate ump was so inconsistent. Someone watching the game right next to me said, "Well, we've reached the point where balls are strikes and strikes are balls. Not good." Carroll sr. RHP Mike Costanzo was inconsistent. I know he was hurt by some shaky fielding and the stinky umpiring, and I also know Carroll's field is a bandbox, but he can't cough up a 9-1 lead. K-K had two doubles and a triple in a six-run fourth and then the first two batters in the fifth (sr. RHP Joe Zazworskey and sr. SS Craig Borzillo) poled homers. Zazworskey's was a simple fly ball that barely cleared the fence. Borzillo's cleared it by a WHOLE lot. Gailey was impressive. His fastball indeed has a nasty tail. He fanned five in three innings and almost went home unscathed; jr. 2B Brian Rainone rapped a two-run double with two out in the seventh. Jr. 2B John Gardner was excellent for Carroll in the leadoff slot. He went 5-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored and hit the ball hard four times. The No. 2 hitter, soph LF Ryan Stewart, went 2-for-4 with a double, successful squeeze and two RBI. Soph SS Chris Cashman, batting ninth, had a nice sacrifice in the second and a DEEP two-run homer in the third. Sr. C Jim Gillin, though I can't say he looked comfortable at the plate, got three RBI on a looping, two-run single and a bases-loaded walk. Sr. 3B Bill Alburger made several nice plays. His best came on a behind-the-bag grounder. For K-K, Lubanski's homer and triple were absolute blasts. The balls reached their destination SO fast. (He did not fare well on the mound behind Zazworskey, though he did fan Costanzo twice in vintage duels.) Sr. 1B Brian Beacham had an impressive sequence in the fourth. Down in the count, he battled and finally inside-outed a hit to right. Then he unfurled a hard, but clean takeout slide to prevent a doubleplay and force an errant throw. Little things, yes. Meaningless, no.
   (K-K pitching coach Jack Vandegrift was ejected in the fifth after making two visits to the mound while the same batter, Gardner, was up. Zazworskey had to finish facing Gardner, then he yielded to Lubanski and had to leave the game. I'll check, but I have a feeling the rule was not applied correctly. I think the coach gets ejected there, not the assistant.)
   Here's the rule: It's pretty fuzzy, if you ask me. Early, it talks about managers or coaches. Late, it just talks about managers.
    A professional league shall adopt the following rule pertaining to the visit of the manager or coach to the pitcher: (a) This rule limits the number of trips a manager or coach may make to any one pitcher in any one inning; (b) A second trip to the same pitcher in the same inning will cause this pitcher's automatic removal; (c) The manager or coach is prohibited from making a second visit to the mound while the same batter is at bat, but (d) if a pinch hitter is substituted for this batter, the manager or coach may make a second visit to the mound, but must remove the pitcher. A manager or coach is considered to have concluded his visit to the mound when he leaves the 18 foot circle surrounding the pitcher's rubber. If the manager or coach goes to the catcher or infielder and that player then goes to the mound or the pitcher comes to him at his position before there is an intervening play (a pitch or other play) that will be the same as the manager or coach going to the mound. Any attempt to evade or circumvent this rule by the manager or coach going to the catcher or an infielder and then that player going to the mound to confer with the pitcher shall constitute a trip to the mound. If the coach goes to the mound and removes a pitcher and then the manager goes to the mound to talk with the new pitcher, that will constitute one trip to that new pitcher that inning. In a case where a manager has made his first trip to the mound and then returns the second time to the mound in the same inning with the same pitcher in the game and the same batter at bat, after being warned by the umpire that he cannot return to the mound, the manager shall be removed from the game and the pitcher required to pitch to the batter until he is retired or gets on base. After the batter is retired, or becomes a base runner, then this pitcher must be removed from the game.
ONE FINAL NOTE:
   In my DN story on this game, I mentioned that K-K coach Steve Carcarey and AC coach Fran Murphy did not shake hands after the game. What I meant, which I assumed was obvious, was that they did not shake each other's hand. Carcarey did go through the "handshake line," so to speak, and shook the hands of all those in it -- players and one or two assistants. Murphy and one or two assistants did NOT go through the handshake line, and instead stood off to the side a few feet away. I also posted this in the RT section.

APRIL 19
CATHOLIC NORTH
McDevitt 3, Conwell-Egan 1 (8 inn.)
   Well, folks, I am certainly living a charmed baseball-watching life. For the second day in a row, I saw a good game that ended moments before the beginning of a violent thunderstorm. The wind blew almost straight in throughout, but as soon as the game ended, it began blowing VERY HARD across the first-base line toward left and with it came big-time darkness. Everybody scrambled to get to their cars. The weather was also threatening late in the game, McDevitt purposely ran into an out to end the top half of the eighth and then rushed through the bottom half. With McDevitt assistant Dorn Taylor, an ex-major league pitcher, yelling a nice combination of encouragement and advice all the way, jr. RHP Bob Mitros did a masterful job. I doubt Mitros weighs more than 150 pounds. But the quick worker was sneaky fast and mostly was able to hit his spots, even with his curve. He was clutch in this one, getting four of his five strikeouts with runners on base. Mitros' line -- 8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO. A key moment occurred with one out in the fourth after soph CF Tim Carroll and jr. 3B Nick Costello posted almost identical singles to center. Mitros plunked jr. 2B Ryan Moran with a curve, but the plate ump ruled -- correctly, I thought -- that Moran had made no attempt to evade the pitch. Moran then fanned and jr. RHP Todd Puzycki was retired on a groundout. Puzycki, who likely weighs 140, pitched a 10-hitter with three whiffs. He hurt himself in the second with an errant throw on a pickoff. Sr. SS Mark "Shark" Finley (single) moved to second and was brought home an out later on a nice piece of hitting by sr. RF Brian "Nails" O'Meara, who went with an outside pitch for an RBI single to right. With one out in the eighth, sr. 1B Doug Garritt, a lefty swinger, hammered a ball deep to left and tight to the line. Sr. LF Gerry Gallen couldn't quite get there and Garritt got a double; he then yielded to pinch-runner Tim Myers, a jr. OF. Jr. C Andrew Kovach smacked a groundball single to left to make it first and third. In perfect fashion, Finley dropped a suicide squeeze bunt and Myers scored. Sr. 3B Josh Parkes added an RBI single to left -- and then made sure he wandered into an out to end the inning. McDevitt did a GREAT job in the enthusiasm department. They clapped, cheered, chanted, grunted (it sounded like a Beavis & Butthead noise), and also made siren sounds every time Mitros recorded a strikeout. Also, the relievers taped the word BULLPEN to a wall inside the dugout and posted K's for each strikeout. The Lancers were everything they said they'd be from the spirit standpoint! The C-E guys, led by sr. sub Josh "Mullet Boy" Carmen, also made noise, but not to the same degree as McDevitt. Josh did have one good line. When Puzycki threw a couple of nice early fastballs in the lower part of the strike zone, Josh bellowed, "Peas at the knees!" Meanwhile, I was very impressed with C-E sr. SS Gary Stricker. He showed a very nice blend of quick feet, good hands, instincts and aggressiveness. He charged hard, with confidence, on hopping grounders and made difficult plays look easy. Batting leadoff, he went 1-for-4 and hit two other balls hard. Carroll made a sprawling catch on a sinking liner and soph C Matt Fischer did a nice job blocking pitches in the dirt. (If I remember correctly, no one was on base when he made the blocks. That showed me even more that he was paying attention to small details. A very good trait.)

APRIL 18
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Mastbaum 7, Olney 6
   From the entertainment standpoint, this was the best game I've seen this season. There was a decent crowd on hand and mostly everybody was chattering/cheering in both English and Spanish. Plus, lightning crackled way far away beyond centerfield in the latter stages and heavy rain fell within minutes of game's end. The baseball? It was pretty good, too, even though neither team could be classified as quality. Olney sr. CF Mike Burgos made a great dead-run catch of a long drive by sr. 1B Felix Rivera. The CF area at Olney is tricky, too, because it includes the track, and accompanying cement curbs, that surrounds the football field. Also, Olney sr. SS Eddie Ortiz went deep into the hole and came up firing, depriving Rivera of an infield single (sr. 1B Morad Farah added a nice scoop). Mastbaum jr. RHP Johnny Marrero, despite a tender left knee and ankle, posted a five-hitter with eight strikeouts. Once he was staked to a 7-6 lead in the sixth on a two-run triple to left-center by freshman 2B Luis Alicea (2-for-3, sac fly, three RBI), Marrero mowed down Olney's final six batters in order. Sr. CF John Santiago had an RBI triple in a four-run fifth and came around immediately as the relay was botched. Santiago almost made a spectacular snag of a long drive by Ortiz in the fifth. Just as Santiago was reaching for the ball, tiny/spunky soph LF Alex Norat (5-2, 110 pounds) arrived and stepped on Santiago's heel, forcing his cleat to pop off. Ortiz wound up with an inside-the-park homer. Burgos had one in the first inning. He smashed a line drive that soph SS Jose "Tito" Colon came within inches of catching with a well-timed leap. The ball kept rolling all the way to the fence in deepest left-center. In the fifth, jr. 2B Ivan "Tiger" Colon tripled for Olney, but was an easy out at the plate on a relay from jr. RF Carlos Perez to Alicea to sr. C Carl "Pudge" Bender. Olney is being coached by history teacher Jeff McKenna because Barry Strube is serving his country in a reserve unit. McKenna is very high on jr. RHP Edwin DeLeon, who maintains a straight A average. "I can put him anywhere up the middle -- short, second, center -- and he's excellent," McKenna said. "He has to be as good as any kid in Division A at those positions. It's not just his skill. It's his form, too. He does everything right." Bob Levy is assisting Mastbaum coach Ralph "Bones" Schneider. I watched the game with Jose Colon, Tito's father and a former Kensington athlete. We reminisced about all kinds of 1980s "Pub" athletes. Jose knows his stuff!

APRIL 16
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 5, Malvern 4
   Not wanting to melt, I sat in the shade. Since when is April spelled A-u-g-u-s-t? PC and Malvern are long-time Inter-Ac toughies and they went at it with reasonable gusto. For PC, sr. RHP Gerry Sasse went the distance in an eight-hitter. He changed speeds well and mostly kept the ball down and, considering the heat (upper 80s?), it probably wasn't surprising that he struggled to some degree in the seventh. It was in that frame that Malvern finally posted a flyball out. Sasse fanned six. He also made an outstanding leaping stab of a comebacker. Sr. C Aaron "Moose" Greenfield, who is being eyed by Penn State and other D-I schools, went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI singles. Jr. 1B Taylor Baum hit a rocket to right for a single. Freshman 2B Zack Zeglinski had a single, two steals and a nice sacrifice bunt that moved up two runners. Jr. SS Matt Ryan, who is now a shade under 6-6, showed agility and a strong arm. A star quarterback (and not a bad basketball player, either), he has already been offered a scholarship by Purdue. One of the guys who has helped to mold him, former Wisconsin and PC QB Mike Samuel, was among the spectators. Mike's brother, John, is a PC sub. Fresh CF Ryan Nanni drew a pair of walks. Sr. LF Aaron Mittica walked and singled and scored a run. Batting in the fifth inning, soph DH Dave Skinner ducked to avoid a curve. Sasse, a true character, hollered, "Wear that!" As in he wanted Skinner to sacrifice his body and absorb the pitch. Someone must have reminded Sasse that Skinner had been plunked in his first two at-bats. Gerry quickly said, "That's OK. You probably have enough bruises!" For Malvern, sr. RHP Steve Burns struggled. He surrendered all five runs in 1.2 innings. He was a painfully slow worker with runners on base and, honestly, it became tough to pay attention. In fairness, Burns might have been distracted by the situation involving sr. C Matt Skellan. Skellan, a Lafayette signee, is high quality, but he's still not at full strength after returning from a football-related shoulder injury. Skellan did not throw to second after Burns made his warmup tosses in the first and did not throw again when Zeglinski quickly stole a base. He only caught the first five innings. I hope the shoulder isn't hurting him. Maybe it's just stiff. At bat, the renowned PC killer went 2-for-3 with a pair of hard-hit singles. Soph SS D.J. Reagoso had two RBI while fresh 3B Wyatt Roland had a double (the ball was slightly misjudged) and a sacrifice fly (a liner, actually) and made a very nice play on a bunt. Malvern's other two pitchers, jr. RHP Paul Keldsen and soph RHP Will Romanowicz, were impressive. Both had a few high-MPH fastballs. Keldsen fanned five in 2.1 innings. Romanowicz fanned three in two innings.

APRIL 15
CATHOLIC NORTH
La Salle 3, Judge 1
   Ah, now this was a goodie. The pitchers were La Salle sr. RHP John Reifsnyder and Judge sr. LHP Paul Koenig, and they're among the best in the league. Also, the weather was good and the afternoon just had a great-to-be-here feel. Reifsnyder is batting back and elbow problems (nothing major, hopefully), and his pitches did not have quite their usual zip. But he was still mostly in command and his brass/smarts got him through. He allowed five hits and three walks while striking out five and received help from excellent fielding. Jr. SS Andrew Carnevale ended the third by going behind the bag for a grounder, then twisting his body to get a force before throwing to first for a doubleplay. Jr. 2B Tony Liberatore had done something similar the inning before. In the fifth, Judge had first and third with two out. Sr. CF Dan Graf hit a chopper down the 3B line. Soph 3B Pat Riley probably should have let the ball go; it appeared headed to foul territory. But he instead made a play and it turned out to be a nice one as Graf was thrown out. The other fine play was made in the fourth by jr. CF Jim Harkins, who sprawled forward to catch a sinking liner. La Salle scored twice in the second as jr. RF Dan Waters doubled, Riley reached on an infield single, sr. C Chris Jeffers was hit by a pitch and sr. 1B Chris Ladley lashed a two-run double to left-center. The inning could have gotten ugly, but Koenig logged three straight outs with two whiffs and a flyout. Koenig had serious pop on some early pitches. However, he told coach Joe McDermott he could not pitch anymore after five innings and spent the sixth at first base. Sr. RHP Drew Mammarella had an effective inning. He showed a dive-bombing sinker. Something that had me wondering: Are La Salle's first two batters, Liberatore and sr. LF Mark D'Angelo, very fast, or were Judge's infielders a little too nonchalant while fielding grounders? There were some plays at first that were closer than they should have been, it appeared. Strange play: Harkins was called out by plate ump Carlos Deno for stepping on the plate while bunting. Carlos is an old buddy from his days of playing for Olney. He sent balls back to the pitchers with good zip! Judge jr. 2B Don Winterbottom, the No. 9 hitter, had two good shots. He ripped a double to left-center in the third and scored on Graf's single. He also smacked a single in the seventh, giving Judge first and second with one out. Reifsnyder removed the suspense by retiring sr. SS Harry Crane (fly to left) and Graf (comebacker to Reifsnyder).

APRIL 11
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Roman 6, Bonner 3
   This was a fun day. Very good game. Atmosphere to match. Mike "Best Fan Ever" Kozak and his buddies were beyond the centerfield fence grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, yelling funny comments and getting their pictures taken by dot.com colleague Ed "Huck" Palmer. After jr. LHP Kevin Horning began the game by striking out jr. SS Chris Corkery, "Koz" bellowed, "I think I smell a no-hitter!!" (Horning already had one vs. West.) Um, no. The next batter, sr. 2B Dennis DiGiovanni, slammed a home run to dead center. The ball landed on the closest corner of the monastery building's roof. Dennis and a few other Roman players had arrived at the game before the rest of their teammates. Guess what I was telling them -- that I'd seen two balls hit on the roof in my assorted visits to Bonner games. Then Dennis joined the club right away! How cool was that? (Well, not for Bonner, but for Roman). Soph CF Jerry Reed, the No. 9 hitter, smacked a solo homer in the third. The ball hit about halfway up the monastery. Koz scrambled over, picked up the ball and fired it back toward the infield. It landed maybe a foot short of second base. Good arm! In the sixth, Roman got a tie on a sacrifice fly by jr. LF Anthony "I Promise Never to Bother Ted Again -- Well, Maybe Not Until Next Week" Capella. (Just kidding, Ant. You're behaving very well this year.) With one out in the seventh, Corkery walked and DiGiovanni singled. Sr. 1B Pat Trunfio then powered a no-doubt, three-run homer to centerfield. The Cahillites were extremely juiced as they greeted Trunfio. (Meanwhile, Koz again threw the ball back, but this time he uncorked a dribbler. Maybe his arm was sore from all that grilling.) Roman's pitcher, jr. RHP Matt Daley, was often very impressive. No guns were in the house, but I'd have to say his best FBs were in the mid-80s. I heard some Bonner guys debating whether Daley throws as hard as Carroll's Mike Costanzo. The consensus: yes. Daley has a very smooth delivery and doesn't have to labor/grunt to throw as hard as he does. The ball kinda explodes out of his hand. He also has attitude. I like this kid a lot! He finished with nine strikeouts and allowed six hits and his mates played errorless ball. Corkery, DiGiovanni and Trunfio twice turned doubleplays. The best duel of the game featured Daley and sr. 3B Tim D'Orazio. With one out and the bases loaded in the fifth, Daley had D'Orazio buried at 0-2. But Tim battled hard and worked a walk. Sr. RF Randy Milia then hammered into a doubleplay. Sr. LF Nick Condo did a great job for Bonner in the leadoff slot. He went single, double, single, walk and scored twice. Aside from his walk, D'Orazio smashed an RBI single to right and lined out to right. Sr. 2B Paul Kollhoff made an outstanding play to his non-glove side on a grounder and smacked a double to deep right as well. Sr. C Jason Smith gunned down a would-be basestealer by at least 10 feet, then muttered when he came to the bench, "What, are you crazy? Tryin' to steal a base on me with two out? Are you CRAZY?" The mother of a Roman player kept sounding an air horn when the Cahillites did something nice. The Bonner guys kept yelling, "Shut up!" It didn't phase her.

APRIL 9
CATHOLIC NORTH
Dougherty 10, North 9 (8 innings)
   This one had everything, including rain that ranged from drizzle to rather hard right near the end. It had coaches bitching at umpires. Coaches bitching at each other. Misplays. Good plays. A player's ejection (for slamming a bat in disgust). One player collecting inside-the-park homers on consecutive at-bats . . . That was North jr. SS Dan Paluch, who finished 4-for-4 with a walk, the two homers and five RBI. The starters were Dougherty sr. RHP Sean McGovern and North jr. RHP Justin Etsell. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt because of the bad weather. Both had some brassy moments in tough situations, but overall they struggled. Neither was sharp. McGovern several times did show VERY good pop (and an out-to-in tail) on his fastball. Etsell several times did show a good 12-to-6 curve. A key moment occurred in the fifth. North was ahead by two runs, but for some reason played the infield in with the bases loaded and nobody out. Sr. C Dustin Overturf hit a grounder to short. At normal depth, a doubleplay easily could have resulted. Instead, the ball went through for a run-scoring single. The Cards added five more runs on a sac fly by soph RF Dan Metague, an RBI single by sr. SS Gary Susko, an RBI single by soph 2B Joshua Guevara (he handled himself very well in the field) and a two-run triple to left-center by our ol' website legend, sr. LF Ed "The Terminator" Hilbert. McGovern departed after six innings and jr. RHP Jose Medina got two quick outs in the seventh. But North scratched for three runs on a two-run single by Paluch and a run-tying, two-strike single by sr. 1B Mike "Pio" Piotrowicz. Medina departed and yielded to jr. RHP Chris Jackson, who wound up getting the win. In Dougherty's eighth, Hilbert drew a leadoff walk and sr. CF Tom Kee (3-for-5, RBI) send a hard shot to right. The ball hit in front of backup RF Scott Kessler, a junior, and skipped right under his glove and kept rolling. Hilbert scored to "terminate" the game. The defensive play of the game was a diving catch by Metague in the fourth inning. He ran toward center (his non-glove side) and stretched out fully. Dougherty coach Jim "Dwight From Lawncrest" McCaffrey had some vintage, dry-humor comments, like always. When plate umpire Ed Grove appeared to miss a pitch or two, a fan began yelling from afar. Grove glared at the guy and McCaffrey said, "You OK in there, Ed? Blood pressure all right?" Two of our dot.com legends were also in attendance. Pat the Stat kept the book for North. Dan the Salamander also kept a scorebook (though Chris O'Donnell, McCaffrey's girlfriend, is CD's official scorer.) "Sal" is juiced for the Fan Tourney. Unfortunately, North has a non-league game Saturday afternoon, so "Pio" and others will be unavailable for the Fan Tourney. Hey, what's more important?? (smile)

APRIL 8
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Northeast 12, Roxborough 3
   I got mixed signals before the game even began. As Roxborough's players got off their bus, I asked sr. RHP Mike Gibbs, a 6-5 fireballer, whether he was pitching. He said no, that his arm was feeling a little tender. Coach Cliff Hubbard then said yes. Hmmm. As it turned out, Gibbs split his day between 1B and SS and went 1-for-2 with a hard-hit single to left (and two HBPs) out of the cleanup spot. Northeast's pitcher was sr. righthander Ari Bluestein, who doubles as a SS-3B. Bluestein got off to a shaky start as 'Borough went single, single, single, HBP (Gibbs). Bluestein, throwing visibly harder, then went whiff, whiff, whiff. He allowed 11 hits, but fanned 12 and forced the Indians to strand 10 runners. Jr. LHP Steve Sandberg had three K's in a "four-out" seventh (there was a passed ball after the first K.) Sandberg batted third, played 1B and went 3-for-4 with a walk, triple and two RBI. Jr. 2B Kamil Harris, the leadoff batter, darn near stood on the plate. He went 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI, four steals and three runs scored. Sr. CF John Clancy had two RBI and scored three runs. Bluestein went 2-for-3 with a walk, sacrifice fly, double and four RBI. Sr. 3B Ken Wlodarczyk was the victim of tough discipline. While making an out on a semi-liner to the pitcher, he cursed in frustration and was ejected by the plate ump. He'll have to sit one game. For Roxborough, the highlight came in BP when Gibbs slammed a homer off a house far beyond the LF fence. Everyone could clearly hear the "ding!" of the ball hitting against the aluminum siding. Very cool! He then sent a rocket off the top of the CF fence. Sr. LHP Chuck Richardson threw all kinds of offspeed stuff. I have to wonder if his arm is bothering him. Some of his pitches were brutally slow. At bat, Richardson went 3-for-4 with a double. I liked the stroke shown by jr. RF Andrew Stridiron. The lefty leadoff man went 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored. Roxborough has identical freshmen twins starting in the infield. Shane Salley plays third. Shawn plays second. Oddly, Shane appears to be about four inches taller. He claims Shawn is the bigger eater, though. Beforehand, Northeast coach Sam Feldman insisted he could turn in a batting order with 10 guys. I told him I'd never heard of that rule. He said it's the "extra player rule." Maybe in softball, I told him, but I've never heard of it in PL baseball. I told him he could use a DH, but that one guy in the field wouldn't be able to bat. He kept insisting, yes, he could have a 10-man batting order. "It's called an extra player!" He was yelling. I gave up. When Cliff Hubbard later told him, "There's no extra player rule," Feldman finally became a believer. Incredible. It was nice meeting Mike Dinicola, who's doing a heavy-duty job covering Roxborough-area schools (and residents) for a paper called The Review.