Wall's Comeback Falls Short As Knights Tumble In Sectional Final

WALL – Trailing Allentown 6-2 in the top of the fifth inning of Friday’s NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III final Wall rallied for three runs in the bottom half of the inning to pull within one, 6-5, but that’s as close as they would get as Allentown held on to defeat Wall and defended their sectional title in the process.

However, the Knights didn’t go out without a fight putting the tying run on second with two outs in the bottom of the seventh with one of the top hitters at the plate.

With one out in the seventh and trailing by one run, junior Grant Schulman lined a clutch single into centerfield putting the tying run at first. Allentown Freshman reliever Dan Merkel, who entered the game in the sixth inning and struck out the side, then struck out senior Andy Lenneper for the second out bringing sophomore Teddy Sharkey up to the plate.

Sharkey, who was already 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and reached on an error, quickly fell behind in the count 0-and-2 before Merkel uncorked a wild pitch allowing Schulman to move into scoring position at second.

Sharkey then drilled Merkel’s next pitch for what initially looked like a potential game tying hit off the bat, but the ball hung up in the hot-and- humid air for left fielder Mike Zupko to make the catch.

“We had the fight in us all along,” Wall head coach Todd Schmidt said. “We didn’t strike out a lot today and we were putting the ball in play. We had some bad swings on some good pitches and popped them up. We had that resiliency to grind through and battle for all 12 outs.”

Allentown threatened to turn the game into a laugher scoring four runs in the top of the first inning off junior starter Ryan Napolitano, whose walk to Matt Tannenbaum leading off the game was indication that he might not have his best stuff.

Napolitano, who entered the game with a sterling 7-0 record and 2.33 ERA, struggled in his short stint on the mound Friday. In the four-run first he gave up four hard hits, including a double into the right-centerfield gap by No. 2 batter Brandon Gaul, two bases on balls and a sacrifice fly that led to the four runs.

Chris Reeder got Allentown on the board first with a two-run single followed by Justin Marcario’s RBI single down the right-field line before Austin Ferrier capped off the inning with a ground-ball single past a diving Tanner Powers at first for another run.

Merkel led off the top of the second with a shot off the top of the left-field wall for a double and after Tannenbaum drew a free pass Schmidt decided Napolitano was done for the day.

“Nap has been great for us all year long,” Schmidt said. “He didn’t have his stuff early today, which happens to every pitcher. The only other game it happened was to Colts Neck and we battled back to take the lead in that one. We battled today too; we just couldn’t quite get back.”

Wall made it a two-run game putting up two runs on the board in the bottom of the second. Sharkey and Powers produced one-out singles that led to two runs scored on an error and a wild pitch.

In the top of the third with two outs Allentown added a run off of Powers, who came in for Napolitano and kept the Knights within striking distance working four innings allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks. He gave up two singles and a walk to load before a wild pitch let in the Redbirds fifth run then got Merkel on a line dirve to right to end the inning.

Powers got into trouble again in the fifth after getting two quick outs when Ferrier one-hoped a double off the wall in right-center and Merkel brought him home slicing a single into right field for a 6-2 lead.

However, the Knights answered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to pull to within 6-5. Number nine batter Doug Wetzel started things off rifling a one-out double into the left-field corner. Juniors John Volpe and Dylan Richey followed with singles to load the bases before Schulman unloaded on a 3-and-2 count drilling a two-run double into the left-centerfield gap to close within 6-4.

Wall then made it a one-run game when Sharkey reached on a two-out error to score Richey but the Knights were held scoreless the rest of the way in their quest for their first sectional championship in ten years.

It’s probably not much of a consolation for the Wall players and coaches after such a tough loss but chances are Wall just might get another shot at the title next season.

Eight of the 10 players in Walls starting lineup are penciled in for next year and if you add in junior second baseman John Iradi, who entered the game in the sixth inning, that’s nine of ten players not including pitcher and Shore Conference MVP candidate, Trey Dombroski (7-1, 0.16 ERA), who will be back on the mound for his senior year.

“It’s hard to get here while we have a lot of guys coming back, there’s no guarantee we’re going to be back next year. Schmidt said. “When you get here you want to make the most of it and we lost a couple of one-run games (in post season), so that’s disappointing. For those guys who have a shot to come back next year, they know what it takes to get this far and then not be able to get it done.

“I feel bad for our seniors because we like to send them out on a good note,” Schmidt added. “We won 20 games and a division championship, but we kind of pride ourselves on winning the next championship. We have five guys who all contributed somewhere along the way over the past four years, and it’s a tough way to end a season.”

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