Hoover's grand slam helps propel Philipsburg to win over Nor-Gwyn
Saturday, June 23, 2012
By Jon Christoff Sports Writer
PHILIPSBURG - Through the first 11 innings of the Bellefonte Wood Bat tournament on Friday, Philipsburg American League head coach Dusty Minarchick's team had struggled to plate any runs and were three outs away from going 0-2 on the first day of the event.
After getting 10-runned by Upper Deck (R.I.) in the opener, the Phils trailed Nor-Gwyn 5-4 going into the top of the seventh in the nightcap.
How quickly the complexion of a game can change on one swing of the bat.
An RBI single by Aaron Lidgett knotted the game at five just three hitters into the frame, and Shane Hoover's grand slam put an exclamation point the Phils' eight-run seventh en route to a 12-5 win.
"We kind of broke out with the wood bats finally," said Minarchick. "Going from aluminum to wood, it took us some innings to really get going. We were able to battle back and tie it at (five) and that really got us going. We had a big inning."
Parker Watson, who was 4-for-6 on the day, opened the seventh with his third single of the contest in front of Cody Lee getting plunked by an Anthony Cameron offering.
Lidgett came up clutch for the second time in the contest - following up a 2-run triple that rallied the Phils from a 4-1 deficit in the fifth - by smacking a 2-ball, 2-strike pitch to left to plate the tying run.
"We started with some small ball to scrap for some runs, and then we put the ball in play and good things happened," Minarchick said of Lidgett, who drove in four runs in the contest.
With runners on first and second, Curtis Baugh laid down a sacrifice bunt that went right between Cameron's legs to load the bases and set the stage for Hoover, who was 2-for-3 with a double entering the at-bat.
After flying out to the deepest part of the field in the fifth, Hoover wasn't going to be denied in his final appearance.
Hoover and Cameron battled the count until it was full, where the Philipsburg third baseman fouled off several 2-strike pitches. Hoover didn't leave any doubt whether or not the one kept between the lines would clear, as he put his team up emphatically.
"I just told him to relax because he's been struggling the last couple games," said Minarchick. "I told him to stay back, be patient and work the counts a little bit better. I think he was able to take that and hit the ball hard somewhere. He did a great job."
Billy Edminson shut down Nor-Gwyn in the seventh to pick up the win in relief of Lee and Luther Harlow.
Lee struggled with his command and left trailing, 4-1, but the Phils tied it back up with Lidgett's triple.
Harlow was on the hook for the loss after walking the only two hitters he faced in his second inning of work, but Philipsburg's offensive onslaught got him off of it.
The Hawks had just five hits in the contest, but benefited from eight free passes.
"We were able to be behind our pitchers when their hitters did put it in play," Minarchick said. "Parker came up with a big play for us - a couple actually. We played sound defense."
The Phils (5-3) are back in action today for the second day of the tournament. Philipsburg will host Corning (N.Y.) and Keystone, beginning at 3 p.m.
Upper Deck 11, Philipsburg 1, 5 innings
Upper Deck rebounded from a first-game loss to Clearfield to smack 12 hits off a pair of Phils pitchers en route to the Mercy Rule win.
Philipsburg, in turn, only had four against Upper Deck hurler James Meizoso, who fanned eight hitters in five innings of work.
The Phils got to him with a run in the first half-inning when Robbie Smith scampered home on a wild pitch. It was the lone bright spot for Philipsburg, which committed five errors in the contest.
"We just weren't ready and I'll take the blame for that," said Minarchick. "It was one of those games where we just weren't ready at all. That's baseball, and games like that are going to happen. We'll learn from it and go forward."
Lidgett was saddled with the loss in the tournament opener, as he surrendered eight runs on eight hits. The Phils righty, who walked a pair, only allowed four earned runs in three innings of work.
Joe Yankee doubled, tripled and scored three runs for Upper Deck. Game 2
Philipsburg-12
Smith c 3200, Watson cf 4331, Lee p-2b 3110, Lidgett lf 4234, Baugh ss 4111, Hoover 3b 4135, Johns eh 3120, Greene 2b-1b-rf 3000, Edminson rf-p 4110, Ammerman 1b 2000, Harlow p-1b 1001. Totals: 35-12-14-12.
Nor-Gwyn-5
A. Cameron cf-p-cf 2101, Yacopino 2b 1000, Kalisky 2b-cf 2001, Davey p 0000, Kersey lf-2b 2010, Heller p-1b 4000, Billetz c-rf 3000, Bertucci 3b 4110, Finley eh 3110, S. Cameron 1b-c 1100, McFadden rf 1100, Lashkevich lf 1000, Campbell ss 2022. Totals: 26-5-5-4.
Score by Innings
Philipsburg 100 030 8-12 14 1
Nor-Gwyn 100 301 0- 5 5 3
Errors-Smith; Kersey, Campbell, A. Cameron. LOB-Philipsburg 12, Nor-Gwyn 11. 2B-Hoover. 3B-Lidgett. HR-Hoover (grand slam, 7th inning). SAC-Lee, Baugh, Greene; Kalisky. SB-Bertucci, Finley, Campbell. HBP-Lee, Johns, Harlow (by A. Cameron); Kersey, S. Cameron (by Lee). WP-Edminson 2, Lee 1.
Pitching
Philipsburg: Lee-3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 0 SO; Harlow-1 2/3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO; Edminson-2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO.
Nor-Gwyn: Heller-5 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO; A. Cameron-1 1/3 IP, 4 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO; Davey-2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO.
WP-Edminson. LP-A. Cameron.
Game 1
Philipsburg-1
Smith 2b 1100, Watson cf 2010, Lidgett p 2010, Johns p 0000, Baugh ss 2010, Harlow 3b 2000, Greene c 2000, Hoover eh 2010, Belko 1b 2000, Pepperday rf 1000, Golemboski lf 1000. Totals: 17-1-4-0.
Upper Deck-11
Yankee lf 3322, Spader rf 2112, Santanello ss 2110, Meizoso p 0000, Gardner dh 2100, O'Dell 2b 2121, Joubert 3b 3120, Calibra 1b 3110, Laz cf 3121, Travers c 2111. Totals: 22-11-12-8.
Score by Innings
Philipsburg 100 00- 1 4 5
Upper Deck 203 33-11 12 1
Errors-Greene 3, Golemboski, Belko; Yankee. LOB-Philipsburg 2, Upper Deck 4. DP-Philipsburg 1; Upper Deck 1. 2B-Yankee, Spader, Joubert. 3B-Yankee. SF-Spader. SB-Watson; Yankee, Santanello, Gardner. CS-Hoover; O'Dell. HBP-Gardner (by Lidgett), O'Dell (by Johns).
Pitching
Philipsburg: Lidgett-3 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO; Johns-1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.
Upper Deck: Meizoso-5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO.
WP-Meizoso. LP-Lidgett.
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