Haulers rally from big deficit in legion win

Jul 02, 2010

By: Times Herald Staff

By TOM KERRANE

Times Herald Staff

WORCESTER — There was a chance Thursday’s first inning would not be completed – due to darkness.

First pitch for Thursday evening’s Greater Norristown American Legion Baseball League game between J.P. Mascaro and Paul’s Auto was thrown at 6:03 p.m. The last pitch of the inning came at 6:49.

A lot happened between those two pitches.

Combined, the first inning included 30 batters, 19 runs, 14 hits, eight walks, three errors, five runners left on base, 118 pitches thrown and the 46 minutes to be completed.

In the middle of the first, visiting Paul’s Auto owned an 11-run lead. The Spark Plugs would almost be 10-runned, the Haulers mounting one of the wildest comebacks in recent memory to win, 20-12.

The entire seven innings ended up being played — without needing to import lights for the field at Methacton High. The game had 35 hits, 11 players getting multi-hit games and the defensive highlight of Mascaro’s Nick Sun starting a triple play, Sun to Eric Seiple to Anthony Civitello.

“I was more concentrating on the double play, so I wanted to make sure I caught the ball and flipped it to second,” said Sun, who had never turned a triple play before but actually hit into one when he was younger. “Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guy was off first, so I started yelling to Seiple to throw over to first.”

The liner to the shortstop came off the bat of Alex Katz, Bobby Slagle caught off second and Dave Contosta off first. Sun was actually a part of two double plays, as well, during the game. He also went 2-for-3 and scored four runs for the Haulers.
“A game like this, it gives you a little confidence boost,” he said. “When you are able to win a game like this, you are never going to feel like you are out of a game. It’s a great comeback.”

The win left JPM at 13-4 on the season, with 26 points, one point up on Valley Forge (12-5-1) for first place and the top seed in the playoffs next week.

“It’s a never-say-die kind of thing,” Haulers manager Denny DeWane said. “We’re a playoff team, they’re a playoff team. At this time of the season, a win is a win. You don’t want to give a game away.”

The Plugs have to feel like they gave one away. The 11-run lead was short-lived, PA giving up eight runs to Mascaro in the home first. After one run in the second, the Haulers put up seven in the third and Paul’s Auto was trailing, 16-11, just that fast.

At 9-7-2, the Plugs are in a third-place tie with Whitpain, just two points ahead of Collegeville in the battle for the final two playoff berths.

“That was the craziest game I’ve ever seen,” Plugs manager Brian Ricci said.

Paul’s sent 17 batters to the plate in the top half of the first. John Sczepanski had a big game for himself in just that first inning, hitting a double and a single, driving in three runs and scoring twice. Sczepanski ended up 4-for-5 on the day.

Taylor Runyen was 2-for-2 in the first, scoring twice and knocking in a run. Runyen would be brought in to pitch for starter Matt Crone in the third inning.

Mascaro starter Shane Burke needed 57 pitches to get out of the first inning. Burks would go four-plus for the Haulers, credited with the win. Just two of the 11 runs he allowed were earned.

In the bottom of the first, Mascaro sent 13 to the plate. Sal DiPrinzio tripled and walked, each plate appearance bringing home a run. Drew Schaffer and Ben Maniscalco both had two-run singles in the inning, which saw Crone toss 61 pitches.

Kevin Burke and Jason Kushner both had three-hit days for Mascaro, each scoring three runs. Kushner drove in three while Burke had a six-RBI evening, a three-run bloop single in the third and a two-run homer in the fifth among the highlights.

“I got hurt in the spring, which basically ended my season (for Methacton),” Burke said. “When I came back, I didn’t do much for the team, so I was waiting for a big game like this to come out of it. It feels pretty good.”

Burke walked and hit into a fielder’s choice that netted a run in the first, along with singling in the third, another inning in which he batted twice.

“This was important for him,” DeWane said of Burke’s night. “He gets real excited to play the game. I think he’s disappointed he hasn’t produced like he did last year, so this was a big game for him, to see that Kevin Burke can still do what Kevin Burke knows he can do.”

First pitch came at 6:03 Thursday evening. The game ended a few minutes before darkness, with a full complement of innings having been played. That did not seem possible after that first inning.

Then again, almost anything seemed possible after what was witnessed in that first inning.

FOUL TIPS: Burks and Kushner had three hits each, with Mike Fontanella, Sun, Schaffer and Seiple all having two-hit games for Mascaro. … Sczepanski had the four-hit game for the Plugs, with John Loughery and Contosta getting three hits apiece while Runyen and Slagle had two hits each. … Seventeen of the 18 starters scored runs in the game. … Paul’s had just 10 players for the game. The only non-starter, Tommy Highland, recorded the only one-two-three inning in the game when he pitched a perfect sixth, striking out two of the three hitters he faced. … Mascaro will take on Mt. Carmel Friday evening while the Plugs are at PC Saturday morning.

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