On the Trail With Ted
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    Some observations, notes, etc., on games I've seen during the 2001 season . . .

JUNE 23
CARPENTER CUP
Lehigh Valley 10, Bicentennial/Inter-Ac 4
   This semifinal was something of a stinker. LV jumped to a 3-0 first inning lead against Chestnut Hill jr. RHP Spencer Smith and added two more in the third against Malvern sr. RHP Derek Duclos. Much of the starch was thus removed from the game. The squad's best pitching performance was turned in by Malvern sr. RHP Ross Barna, who worked two perfect innings and allowed just one ball out of the infield. Hitting heroes were scarce. Malvern jr. 1B Joe Milani completed a fine tournament by going 1-for-3 with a double. Episcopal sr. 2B Ian Wallace, likewise a solid performer throughout the Cup, had an RBI double on a shot into the LF corner. Penn Charter sr. CF Kenny Devenney got two runs home with a sinking liner to 3B. The play was ruled an error, so no
RBI were credited. Well, folks, this game wraps up my 30th school year of covering high school sports. It's still as much fun as ever. Even more fun, most of the time.

MAY 30
CATHOLIC LEAGUE SECOND-ROUND PLAYOFF
Kennedy-Kenrick 3, O'Hara 2 (9 inn.)
    One thing that bothers me in sports is when a great game is decided by a misplay. I know it has to happen every so often, but why in a playoff? O'Hara made no errors in the first round and none in this game until the ninth inning. Then . . . jr. OF Dan Rafferty doubled to left-center against sr. RHP Kenny Grant, who was in his second inning of relief after pitching a FULL game the day before. Sr. OF Nick Sacony hit a comebacker. Rafferty was almost halfway to third and Grant could have, I feel, trapped Rafferty in a rundown. He looked long and hard, then decided to go for the out at first. Unfortunately for O'Hara, Grant fired the ball wildly past the bag and Rafferty trotted home with the game-winner. Overall, K-K probably deserved the win because it hit the ball better and harder through the course of the game and received decent pitching from three guys -- sr. RHP Brett Heselpoth, soph LHP Chris Lubanski and sr. RHP Matt Johnson. But in the field, O'Hara was spectacular. Sr. CF B.J. "Butch" Hogan made a diving catch of a blooper. Jr. SS Mike Essery made a series of sensational, deep-in-the-hole plays. Sr. RHP Ted Rydesky caught a line drive while dropping to his knees. And then, there was THE capper, a doubleplay that in the eighth that was truly amazing. With runners on first and second, K-K sr. C Marc Wagner sent a liner deep to right and the ball kept tailing toward the line. Sr. RF Ryan Barksdale made a diving, stretch-out catch and then made a relay to jr. 2B Fran Burbidge. Burbidge threw to 2B, trying to get sr. SS Jason Connor coming from first, but Essery was a shade late and he got tangled with Connor as the ball whizzed past. It wound up behind 3B, where it was picked up by jr. LF Mark Barrar. Barrar threw home and Lubanski was an easy out!! Grant, who began the game at 1B, hit a 400-foot homer to dead left-center in the second. But in the eighth, with two out and the bases loaded, he fanned on an 0-2 curveball from Lubanski (after four straight fastballs). K-K scored its first two runs in the fifth on RBI singles by Johnson and Lubanski. Wagner might have had the toughest 0-for-4 in history. He hit the balls that yielded the great catches by Hogan and Barksdale; he also lined out to short and hit a ball way back in center. Ryan "DOC-side" Dougherty, K-K's scorekeeper and TedSilary.com contributor (when he's not studying for advanced placement exams, or chasing girls -- smile), was in attendance. He might even do a report. Some O'Hara fans argued bitterly that Rafferty should not have been sent home on the play that ended the game. The call was correct.

MAY 29
CATHOLIC LEAGUE FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF
Judge 4, Conwell-Egan 0
   Not much drama in this one, troops, once the thunderstorm rolled through and the field dried out. To some extent, I think the 47-minute delay removed some of the players' enthusiasm. Plus, there was not exactly a throng on hand. Judge received a strong performance from jr. RHP John Keller, who spun a four-hitter (all singles) with seven strikeouts and allowed just one runner as far as third base. Keller used a hopping fastball and hard slider and had hump-up ability when he needed it. At 6-3, 195, he'll bear watching next season. Keller did his best work in the second after C-E's first two batters, sr. LF Kyle Lorenz and jr. 1B Jim Coon, reached base on a single and walk, respectively. He blew away the 7-8-9 hitters with strikeouts. Keller also fielded his position well, getting five assists. C-E soph RHP Todd Puzycki probably weighs no more than 140 pounds, but it's hard not to like him. In the third, sr. CF Mike Gimpel walked and jr. SS Harry Crane put down a bunt. Crane had the play beat as Coon slipped on the grass. From his butt, Coon made an off-line throw and Gimpel continued to third. Keller popped out, Crane stole second and sr. RF Anthony Cione popped out. But the next non-liner, off the bat of sr. LF Chris Muessig, was a blooper instead of a popup and it fell into right-center for a two-run single. Back-to-back doubles by sr. C Mark Dickson (a true blast; maybe 400 feet) and sr. 1B Matt Evanitsky produced a run to start the fourth and the crafty Crane later got Evanitsky home with a squeeze bunt. Evanitsky had an up-and-down game. Though he doubled, singled and walked, he got doubled off first base on a popup that had to be seven stories high and, while fielding, he came off the bag too quickly on a not-close play to lose the out.

MAY 23
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Lincoln 8, Washington 2
    Not to oversimplify things, but this game came down to control. Sr. RHP Ron Clarkson had it for Lincoln; sr. LHP Charlie Ritterson did not for Washington. Clarkson, showing a wicked sidearm sinker, walked none and gave up seven hits while striking out five. Ritterson walked seven and three of those guys scored. Lincoln posted a six-spot in the third. Jr. RF Tim Szychulski, sr. LF Brad Deeley and Clarkson had RBI on singles; sr. 3B Joe Helverson and jr. DH Mike Rodriguez had them on walks; and jr. SS Steve Gallo had one on a fielder's choice. Gallo had an RBI double in the fifth. Sr. C Jeff Kern went 3-for-4 with a run scored and did an excellent job handling Clarkson. Szychulski made a tumbling catch in RF. For Washington, sr. SS Ivan Kosty crushed a solo homer to CF and jr. C Rob Ritterson, Charlie's brother, showed a good arm on between-innings throws to second. Lincoln attempted no steals. La Salle Univ. coach Larry Conti was in the house. My assumption was that he was looking at Clarkson. Maybe Kosty as well.

MAY 18
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Episcopal 5, Gtn. Academy 4
   Another day, another tripleplay. Roxborough turned one May 17 on a liner to shortstop. Episcopal turned one in this tilt as sr. LHP Mike McGillian scrambled forward to catch a popped-up bunt, then whirled and fired to jr. SS Adam Murray, who in turn fired to jr. 1b Tucker Huckscher (his older brother is nicknamed Tripper; cool family or what?). Murray also made a spectacular play in the sixth inning. A hard groundball squirted out of his glove, but he made a barehanded snatch almost immediately and gunned to first for the out. In the game, sr. 2B Ian Wallace briefly lost concentration on a grounder and bobbled for an error. But during infield, he put on a show-and-a-half of hands and footwork around the bag -- not to mention a gun for an arm. Also, it was his triple in the seventh over the head of sr. CF David Montague that helped Episcopal score what proved to be a very necessary run (Heckscher brought him in with a sacrifice fly). Heckscher (triple), jr. LF Matt Sutter, soph 3B Jason Brown and McGillian (all on singles) had RBI in a four-run fourth. McGillian allowed just two hits and fanned five. He's a decent pitcher, but will try to make Delaware's squad as a walk-on centerfielder. GA's team meal is baby formula. The Patriots started four freshmen and a soph and the roster included just one senior, Montague. The coach is Craig Conlin, the former La Salle High and University basketball star. (He was a good baseball player in high school, too.) I liked fresh LHP Sean Grieve, the grandson of ex-GA football coach Jack Turner and the nephew of current coach Michael "Pup" Turner, Jack's son and GA's pitching coach as well. Grieve mostly threw tight curves, but he also showed a quality fastball. When he threw it, he often had guys swinging late. In the seventh, soph 3B Ivan Aber took a fastball on the helmet, frosh SS Matt Bruderek walked, Montague grounded out and frosh C Alex Kaplan lined a two-run single to right. Kaplan came around as jr. DH Paul Hermany reached second on an infield throwing error, and then pinch-runner Jeff Azarva got to third on a wild pitch. But there he stayed as McGillian humped up and recorded a strikeout. Thanks to the Episcopal loyalist who let me have a Tootsie-Pop. Virtually every Episcopal fan had one. "They're our good-luck charm," she said. I hung out for a while with Ian Wallace's parents, Bill and Sheila, old family friends. They own a Heavenly Ham store in Marlton, N.J. I told them I'll be a regular customer when they open a Heavenly Hamburger.

MAY 17
PUBLIC LEAGUE
ROUND-OF-16 PLAYOFF
Lincoln 11, Roxborough 1
    Well, well. Look who's back. As Lincoln came off the bus and I saw sr. 2B Brian Corbett in uniform, I was thinking, "This guy really is amazing. Not eligible and he STILL goes all out." Instead, in a strange, only-in-The-Pub twist, Corbett had been declared eligible even though Lincoln's seven forfeits stood. (My story is in today's Daily News.) The Railsplitters won this one with an 11-run outburst in the fifth (and last) innings. They sent 16 batters to the plate. With the bases loaded and nobody out, jr. SS Steve Gallo drilled a three-run triple to center. Sr. CF Steve Mooney then lined contributed the first of what would be two RBI singles to center. Sr. RHP Ron Clarkson followed with an RBI double. The other big hit was a two-run triple by sr. DH Mike Rodriguez. Sr. RHP Steve Horvat allowed just three harmless singles before the roof caved in. And in the second inning, the Indians turned a tripleplay as sr. SS Brian Lavala, moving to his left, caught a liner at his shoetops, stepped on second and threw to jr. 1B Chuck Richardson. (I once saw Roxborough turn a tripleplay in a Pub final on a liner to left. The second out was a tag at the plate. The third was at second. This TP was much more tame compared to that one.) Clarkson finished with a six-hitter and seven strikeouts. He escaped bases-loaded jams in the fourth and fifth innings. For Roxborough, jr. CF Michael Gibbs went 3-for-3 (two infield singles) and made an impressive catch far toward leftfield while bumping/falling into the fence. He also did some hard running in the fifth while chasing assorted flyballs/popups; couldn’t quite come up with them, though. Corbett was impressed that some of his teammates had written his number 34 on the sleeves of their jerseys with black marker. "It's like my number's retired," he bubbled. "It'll always be on the jerseys."

MAY 15
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern 6, Penn Charter 4
    Both teams had a chance to clinch a tie for the title, and Malvern proved to be best. As in the first meeting, this one matched Malvern sr. RHP Derek Duclos and PC jr. RHP Gerry Sasse. Duclos, bound for Richmond, showed an excellent fastball and when little things went wrong, he maintained his composure (unlike the first meeting). Duclos allowed five hits in six innings and struck out seven. Against jr. DH Aaron Mittica, a righthanded batter, he twice got called third strikes with nasty, NASTY heaters in the very last inch, out and down, of the strike zone. Also, Duclos declined to get involved in a macho game with sr. CF Kenny Devenney. With two out and the bases loaded in the second, just after walking two guys, Duclos threw CURVES to Devenney on the first two pitches. With the count at 3-1, he walked Devenney on another curve. Duclos said later, "He's the guy you don't want to lose the game to." Sr. RHP James Freeman pitched an eventful seventh for Malvern. Soph 1B Taylor Baum singled, soph SS Matt Ryan got plunked and Mittica, showing good spunk after his earlier miseries, smacked an RBI single. Freeman fanned sr. RF Andrew Hylan, then experienced some good fortune as frosh 2b Zack Zeglinski lined into a doubleplay to end it. Sr. CF Pat Clary mashed a three-run homer -- the ball landed beyond the incline in dead left -- and jr. C Matt Skellan went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI singles. He loves going against PC: He went 3-for-4 with two RBI in the teams' first meeting and last fall, as an emergency starter, he QB'd the Friars past PC for the football title. Sr. DH Mike Treston went 2-for-2, walked and scored twice. Sr. 3B Kevin Waddy made quiet, but important contributions with a sacrifice and a move-him-up groundout to the right side. For PC, Sasse wasn't bad, but neither was he sharp (witness that he recorded no strikeouts). Also, he was victimized by an infield error that led to three unearned runs in the third (the three that scored on Clary's homer). Baum went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Jr. C Aaron Greenfield had an RBI double and twice sent deep flies to center. While scoring a run in the fourth, with the ball nowhere in the vicinity, Greenfield did a headfirst slide/tumble/sprawl. When he stood up, he laughed and said, "Hey, fix that pothole!" Meanwhile, I put my lawn chair in a spot behind the screen that just happened to be near a water fountain. There was a slight hole in one of the pipes and when Sasse went to get a drink --- spritz! My left side got kind of soaked and my clipboard got sprinkled, too. Sasse apologized profusely.

MAY 14
PUBLIC LEAGUE
FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF
Franklin LC 7, Olney 6 (8 inn.)
    I'd been led to believe Olney would have back five players -- Nos. 1 through 5 in the order, with the top three pitchers among them -- who'd been suspended for breaking school rules. Not true, but this game was very entertaining anyway. Jr. RHP Cody Worthy took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and the first hit, a triple by sr. RHP Jeremiah Fulton, was a tainted triple. The ball appeared to land a few inches foul. Olney went on to score four runs and create a 4-4 tie. In the seventh for FLC, sr. 3B Terrell Harris lined a one-out triple and jr. LF Billy Griffiths followed with a two-run homer to left-center. The ball went to the right of the tennis courts and kept rolling along the track surrounding the football field. It was smoked! In the bottom half, seconds after he had almost been called out, which would have ended the game, sr. Jiovanni Ramos smacked a two-run homer into the tennis courts, making it 6-6. Great moment! FLC won it in the eighth when sr. CF Jeff Bragg (3-for-5) doubled and then consecutive walks were milked by Harris, Griffiths and sr. C Joe Holt (3-for-3, double, sac fly, three RBI). Those last two walks were issued by jr. RHP Danny Martinez. Worthy finished with 13 strikeouts in a six-hitter. He's only 5-7, 140 pounds, but he's gritty and confident. On some of his curves, the break is Wiffle Ball-sized. His fastball doesn't exactly smoke, but it had good movement. Jr. SS Chris Bragg showed a pretty good arm. A kid named Rodrigo yelled funny, high-volume comments from FLC's bench area throughout the game. Late in the game, he was offering "shiny SEPTA tokens" to any Bobcat who could get a hit. Some Olney observers tried to generate snappy comebacks, but failed miserably. Rodrigo Rulz!

MAY 8
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Carroll 25, West Catholic 3
    Frustrating day on the trail, folks. I started in Norristown, hoping to see Neumann/Kennedy-Kenrick, but the game had been switched to Neumann's home field. My next thought was to rush to La Salle and catch the Explorers' game with Dougherty. En route, though, I got stuck in traffic on Germantown Pike and I was fearful of not getting there by 3:30. Last alternative? Hop on the Blue Route and go to Carroll. Oh, brother. West got there late and then proceeded to struggle big-time. Carroll scored two in the first, nine in the second, zero in the third (hooray!) and eight in the fourth. I'm not sure how the total got to 25 because I had to leave to cover a basketball all-star game in nearby Conshohocken. By the way, the Carroll folks called in the score to the Scholastic Scoreservice as 15-3, even though two reporters were in attendance. Why do guys do that? The West kids knew they lost by 22 runs. (This isn't the first time Carroll has under-reported a victory margin; it happens in the Public League, too.) Let's say a score is under-reported. I guarantee this happens at the losing school the next day. "Hey, I saw you lost by 10 runs," a non-player says to a player. "Ten? It was really 20," the player responds. Then they have a good laugh and take another bite out of their hoagies. Kids are so resilient. Here's another reason coaches should be discouraged from under-reporting scores: It can make papers look bad. If the Norristown paper covers the game and, of course, publishes the correct score, the Inquirer and Daily News will look bad if they publish the fabricated score. We don't need that. And vice versa. Anyway, before I left, sr. SS Mick Hannan and sr. CF John Zamichieli hit three-run homers, sr. 1B Ted Piotrowicz picked up three RBI on a pair of singles and sr. C Jim Gillin had three RBI on a single, triple and fielder's choice. Sr. RHP Dave Omlor allowed just one hit in the first five innings, a solo homer to jr. 2B Greg Scannapieco. The lefty swinger sent a blast two-thirds of the way up the trees in dead centerfield.

MAY 4
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Neumann 10, West Catholic 0
   Knowing the Burrs had been struggling badly, I didn't expect miracles from this game. Still, I wanted to get a look at both teams. The most impressive person on the field was Gaeton Lucibello, Neumann's first-year coach (and a former Bucco infielder). He was into the game on EVERY pitch, keeping up a steady stream of encouragement/instruction without being overbearing. The player who most caught my eye was sr. CF Bill Loskiewictz, a lefty swinger and thrower. He's 6-2, runs well with a long stride and has a quick bat. He chased some down-low pitches, but was otherwise impressive. He went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Sr. LF Chris Renzi had a two-run single and sr. 3B Pasquale "Pat" Narducci, playing C because sr. C Bob Houck was away on a trip, stroked two doubles down the leftfield line in four trips. Sr. RHP Rob Zioli allowed two hits in five innings and then yielded to soph RHP Justin Lannutti. Before Lannutti began pitching, Lucibello said, "Watch this kid. He's gonna be a good one." Lannutti, showing a live FB, fanned four in two perfect innings. Sr. RHP Jason Roman went the distance for West, allowing 13 hits and eight walks while striking out seven. Sr. C Rich Dinella made an impressive block-and-tag after taking a relay from sr. 1B Mike D'Elia and later gunned a throw to second for a strikeout/caught stealing doubleplay. D'Elia and jr. 2B Dennis Morrow (both singles) had West's hits. It's sad to see how far the Burrs have slipped. There are only 13 players in the whole program and the JV team has been disbanded. First-year coach Fran Kehoe, saddled with walking pneumonia, was not on hand. The way the population in SW Philly is changing, I can't imagine West will ever again have a decent team (unless it somehow convinces kids from South Philly and near Delaware County not to go to Neumann or Bonner.)

MAY 3
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Furness 9, King 0
    As the team he once coached crumbled, King athletic director Joe Stanley, the PL baseball chairman, said, "In Division C, that's what you always fear, the one 'Division C inning.'" If not for the visiting fifth, Furness would have won, 2-0. But in that half-inning, King committed SIX errors and Furness sent 12 guys to the plate while posting a seven-spot. Folks, this was some ugly baseball. Five of the miscues were made on rollers -- two in the outfield and three in the infield. And the balls were not even rolling/bouncing quickly. Oh, well. At least the rest of the game was decent. Tim McKenzie, a chunky sophomore righty, allowed just two hits for Furness, a triple by jr. 2B Rory Collins and a single by sr. P Chris Thompson. McKenzie fanned 10. The Furness attack was led by sr. CF Michael Pacienza (2-for-5, two RBI), jr. SS Dan Gold (2-for-5, one RBI), sr. 2B Ed Vargas (3-for-4, double), sr. 1B Chris Cimini (three RBI) and freshman 3B Rob Felker (2-for-4, triple). King jr. Robert "Rico" Bernard had a solid day at 3B, making three plays flawlessly. If you go to Special Photos, you'll see pics of lefthanded sr. C Dennis Goslee and sr. 1B Willie Graves, a backup who goes a cool 340 pounds. Furness coach Bob Weidinger formerly was an assistant at Temple. When one of the Furness players got an extra-base hit, his teammates kidded him that he could have gotten another base if only he weren't a smoker. Also, the little kid coaching first base kept chanting, "F-U-R-N-E-S-S, Furness is the very best!" At one point, a teammate hollered, "Shut up. This ain't softball. That's a girls' cheer." Every so often, King's players made noises that sounded like police sirens. Ah, that's entertainment.

MAY 1
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 5, Malvern 4
    Maybe I'm partial, being a PC grad, but for my money there's no better venue for high school baseball. The playing surface is always well-manicured and the sightlines are great from atop a small hill. Also, there's shade -- always appreciated on a hot day. This one featured loads of nice plays. The best was made by PC jr. RHP Gerry Sasse, who sprawled to his right to barehand a chopper and then scrambled to his feet to get the out at first. I put three stars on my scoresheet. That's the limit, folks. For Malvern, sr. 2B Jim Gehring also made a sprawling stop on a grounder. Sasse went the distance (7H, 3 BB, 3 K) and truly EARNED the win by escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh with a strikeout and routine flyball. Sasse was not overpowering, but he showed a certain tenacity and good movement on his fastball. He's a character and that helps him remain loose in the rough moments. Malvern went with sr. RHP Derek Duclos, a Richmond signee. By contrast, Duclos (4.2 I, 6 H, 5 BB, 2 K) had impressive stuff, but several times he became visibly upset when close pitches were not called strikes. A key sequence occurred in the fourth with the bases loaded and two out. With the count 2-1, Duclos threw a perfect curve for a called strike to PC's leadoff hitter, sr. LF Phil Elbaum. But he followed with a fastball and Elbaum inside-outed it down the rightfield line for a two-run double. Soph 1B Taylor Baum, a bull of a kid who looks like he just stepped out of the 1930s, had a solo homer for PC. Sr. CF Kenny Devenney, a Davidson signee, went just 1-for-1, but he flied deep to left and was retired on an absolute pea to left. Sr. RF Andrew Hylan wound up with the game-winning RBI on a single to left in a two-run fifth. Malvern jr. C Matt Skellan went 3-for-4 with two singles and a two-run triple.

APRIL 30
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Bonner 13, Judge 2
   Long drive! Outta here! Repeat that phrase six times after sprinkling some guys on the bases. The Friars scored all 13 of their runs on homers. Sr. LF Dan Auld launched two moon shots -- one cleared the monastery in CF. The other entered the trees in right-center at least 40 feet above field level. The first time I saw Bonner this season, sr. 3B Ryan McMahon was outstanding with the glove. This time, he had no fielding chances but went 3-for-3 with a three-run homer. He was probably glad not to have any balls hit at him. He recently got ding-dinged by a bad-hop grounder in the you-know-whats and they're still quite sore. As you can imagine, Ryan's teammates keep the funny lines comin'. Soph RF Frank Nunan went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer. Jr. RHP Randy Milia threw serious b.b.'s through the first four innings. Judge had only one hit, a groundball single by sr. 1B Matt Evanitsky. Milia lost velocity thereafter (and focus, undoubtedly, considering the score), but I still liked him a lot even though he was grunting like crazy and seemed to use every last ounce of energy to throw the ball that hard. Strangely, Judge's starters had trouble hitting, but coach Joe McDermott's pinch-hitters were outstanding. Matt Sawicki, Mike Gimpel and Paul Koenig laced singles. Sr. C Mark Dickson, the starter, hit a bullet off the monastery for a homer. Jr. RHP John Keller also showed good velocity, but Bonner easily solved him. Before the game, Bonner coach Bob Vent showed McDermott his ugly leg. Vent was hit by a line drive while coaching third base last week. The point of impact was down by his ankle. The black-and-blue markings went all the way up to almost his knee.

APRIL 24
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
SJ Prep 5, Roman 4
   You gotta love coincidence. I decided to catch this game on a whim and making his season's debut for Prep was none other than website chirper Tim Brown, a sr. RHP, coming off a foot injury. Know what? He CAN pitch! He showed good velocity, worked quickly and lived on the outside corner at the knees. Very impressive. Brown allowed six hits. All were singles except for a three-run homer by sr. CF Joe McCourt in the third. The wind was blowing like crazy toward the rightfield line and the ball kept slicing and slicing and was inches fair as it went high over the fence, if it was fair at all. It was that close. Brown's stint ended with an excellent display of fundamentals by his teammates. With Prep up, 5-4, losing pitcher Pat Trunfio, a jr. righthander, sent a single past a sprawling stop-it attempt by sr. 2B Bill Carapucci. On the back end of the play, Carapucci took a relay throw and fired a strike to jr. C Joe Kerins. Kerins did a beautiful job of blocking the plate and tagged out courtesy runner Joe DiGiovanni. The seventh inning gave us 6-6 sr. RHP Mike McGann, the Temple QB signee, and he was BRINGIN' it!! If I were a scout, I'd think about drafting him and trying to steer him away from football. His body has all kinds of room to grow and he has a wicked sidearm motion. The first two batters were helpless against him. McCourt then lined out to second to end it. Meanwhile, McGann was excellent before the game also. He watered the mound area, brought out fresh dirt, packed it down, raked. What a performance! "Mike Dirt." Roman was borderline pitiful in the field, making six errors total in the two innings in which Prep scored its five runs. Kerins did have an RBI single, though, and sr. 3B John Kirchner somehow punched a hole through the wind with a solo homer to left. He CRUSHED that baby! The defensive play of the game was made by Prep sr. RF Brendan "Piece" Blake. (Or is it Brandon? Two rosters had different names and I didn't notice until last night). Anyway, he robbed sr. RF Matt Krimm of extra bases with a tumbling catch. Trunfio allowed four hits while doing a nice job. He also threw reasonably hard and had an effective deuce.

APRIL 23
PUBLIC LEAGUE
GAMP 8, Washington 8 (10 inn., suspended)
    Is there anything worse than a tie? Nothing I can think of. GAMP and Washington combined for 30 hits, then hit the road with nothing resolved. I liked GAMP soph RHP Anthony Caines. He's maybe 5-8, but he got some tough outs at key times while yielding just one run through five innings. He departed in the sixth after allowing the first runners to reach base. Sr. RHP Chris DeMarco, who started at 2B, went the rest of the way. He came within a whisker of an outstanding accomplishment when he entered the game with nobody out and the bases loaded, getting a strikeout and popout and getting to two strikes on jr. C Rob Ritterson. Ritterson managed an infield single, though, and Ruthian DH Andrew Farrell, a sr., followed with a two-run single. On a 1-2 count, sr. OF Matt Kane touched DeMarco for a two-out, two-run single in the eighth. Washington's final run, in the 10th, scored on a strikeout/wild pitch/bad throw trifecta. In the bottom half, GAMP "earned" the tie as a low pitch from sr. RHP Joe Sannutti to soph LF David Scirrotto caromed off Ritterson and floated high over the cage, allowing DeMarco to trot home from third. Oh, brother. Assorted stats are mentioned in my Daily News story. Here, I'll tell you that GAMP sr. CF Joe DeRosa made a nifty, sliding, fall-forward catch; that fresh 3B Andrew Challender made a couple of nice plays; that Caines got a homer when Washington LF Craig Mullen tipped the ball over a low, flimsy fence at the end of a hard run (and then tumbled over the fence himself; and that freshman RF Mario Malatino slammed the first pitch of the home sixth for a homer to dead left. Malatino's teammates kidded about sending the bat to the Smithsonian or auctioning it on eBay. After Caines, running between first and second, was hit by DeRosa's grounder, he said, "I tried to get out of the way. The ball just kept following me." Was it my imagination, or did EVERY parent who wound up watching the game in my vicinity pull out a pack of smokes and start puffing away? By the end of the 3-hour-plus game, they were bumming from each other. On a day when the temperature almost reaches 90 degrees, is there anything more enjoyable than sucking in second-hand smoke? Not that I can think of.

APRIL 19
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Lincoln 9, Frankford 2
    Quality pitching is often a rumor in The Pub, but Lincoln has a goodie in Ron Clarkson. The 6-6 sr. righthander throws three-quarter sidearm and, boy, does he have a nasty sinker. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get many calls at the knees and he wound up walking four. Clarkson is talking with D-II Mansfield and I'd imagine that some D-I schools will take a peek. How many 6-6 righthanders are running around? Especially with the ability to keep the ball down? Clarkson allowed four hits (all singles), struck out four and got 10 groundball outs. In the fifth, Frankford loaded the bases with nobody out. Jr. C Ambioris Puntier pounded into a first-pitch doubleplay -- sr. 2B Brian Corbett stepped on the bag and threw to first -- and jr. P-INF Glenn Labadie also grounded out. The Pioneers went in order thereafter. Corbett, a 245-pounder, is a pip. He constantly talks and has a very loud voice. He comes out with some funny stuff and keeps his teammates loose/informed/alert/involved, etc. In Lincoln's six-run fifth, Corbett scored just two steps ahead of jr. RF Tim Szychulski on a two-run double by sr. LF Brad Deeley. Corbett then said to Szychulski, "Good thing I didn't (pass gas)!!!" After the aforementioned doubleplay, someone yelled out to Corbett, "Good play!" His response, delivered at full volume: "I know!!" Before stepping into the batter's box, Corbett also chirped to Frankford coach Bob Peffle after Clarkson was issued an intentional walk in front of him. He then stroked an RBI single. Corbett had two RBI and reached twice on errors. Sr. CF Steve Mooney had a hit, two walks, a steal and a sacrifice and appeared to have good instincts/poise, though no balls were hit his way. Sr. C Jeff Kern showed a good arm and went 2-for-5 with a two-run double. For Frankford, Labadie, a righthander, had an off day. He was lifted after failing to retire the first four batters in the fifth. Sr. SS Tom DiBello and jr. 3B Joe Manini finished up. The Pioneers looked listless and made several errors of omission; plus three official errors. "I was trying my best to bite my tongue all game," Peffle said.

APRIL 9
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
O'Hara 10, Bonner 5
    Do you believe in omens? I do. I knew this had a great chance of being an interesting afternoon when O'Hara finished its infield drill and a groundball was hit to backup 3B Pat Gallagher. He came running in, briefly bobbled the ball and then, hey, what happened? The ball was no longer visible!! Sheepishly, Gallagher reached inside his slightly unbuttoned uniform top and pulled out the ball. His teammates loved it. The game? Pretty good, despite some annoying, wildly inconsistent work by the plate ump. For O'Hara, 6-7 sr. RHP Kenny Grant, who is verbally committed to Siena, had a mixed-bag outing. He struggled early (and wasn't helped by fielding), but retired the last seven batters in order and lifted his strikeout total to seven. Grant hit 88 on the radar gun, but was mostly in the 83 to 85 range. He could easily add 25 to 30 pounds and increase his velocity. His motion was rather fluid. O'Hara's OF had a good day. Sr. CF B.J. "Butch" Hogan and sr. RF Ryan Barksdale both started doubleplays by catching line drives. Also, Hogan went 2-for-2 with a triple, a walk and a got-plunked. Jr. 1B Ted Rydesky went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, three RBI and a got-plunked. Jr. SS Mike Essery, who bobbled two grounders for errors and drew coach Frank Allison's ire for failing to be at the right place in a cutoff situation, slammed a solo homer out of the No. 9 hole. (Allison did say wonderful things about Essery, and Rydesky, in a private moment. He loves their work habits, and he said they sometimes stay after practice until dark.) Backup sr. LF Shawn Wassell hit an absolute bullet for a two-run homer in the seventh. For Bonner, jr. SS Randy Milia, also batting ninth, slashed a three-run triple in the third; jr. 2B Paul Kollhoff went 2-for-4 (and pitched in relief); sr. 3B Ryan McMahon had an outstanding day in the field (he made three goodies); and sr. RHP Dave Shockey made a sensational self-defense catch of a line drive off the bat of jr. 2B Fran Burbidge. The best duels of the day were between Grant and sr. LF Dan Auld, a lefty swinger. Grant rarely gave Auld a hittable fastball. Auld walked, lined to center (after crushing a foul home run), hit a sinking liner for a double (though sr. LF Larry Waterfield did get leather) and popped to third. Bonner's field has a terrible gnat problem!! Buy some bug spray!! Coach Bob Vent was home sick, so good-guy aide Dick "Smooth" Mahoney directed the Friars. Bonner had a strong fan presence behind the CF fence. There was even a grill and a cooler filled with sodas. Also, after O'Hara's homers, a beefy kid not wearing a shirt threw the balls back toward the infield.