Ump's Controversial Call Sinks Cougars in Extra Innings

The pitchers were the stars of the show yesterday at Kennedy High School but in the end Carey escaped with a 2-1 extra-inning victory over the Cougars.  

After rain delayed the start of the game for 30 minutes, the two teams had to play nine innings to decide the winner as Kennedy's Kevin Archbold and Carey's John Daddino kept bats cold all game long.

The Seahawks winning run scored on a controversial call by the home plate umpire.

Archbold was the hard-luck loser after pitching all nine innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits while striking out 14 batters.

Daddino pitched the first seven innings of the game for Carey, and allowed an unearned run despite not allowing a single hit. He also had 14 strikeouts.

"The pitching was unbelievable," Kennedy coach Eric Passman said. "We had no answer for Daddino, and they had very little answer for Archbold. A very controversial call at home ended the game. But that pitcher was just awesome."

Hits were scarce in this game, and runs were even scarcer. However, the Seahawks got on the board in their first turn at bat.

Kyle Denico led off the game with a ground ball that went under the glove of second baseman Mike Crispino. After Tom Rydzewski hit a single to advance Denico to third, he would score on a wild pitch by Archbold to give Carey an early 1-0 lead.

That score held up most of the game, as both pitchers continued to make opposing hitters look foolish.

"I was feeling really good today," Archbold said. "I thought everything was working."

Daddino retired the first 15 batters he faced, twelve of them via strikeout. He didn't allow a base runner until Justin Gutterman led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk. Pinch runner Matt Garber replaced him, and he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.

Daddino, who had been flawless all afternoon, then threw consecutive wild pitches that allowed Garber to advance to third and then score to tie the game at one. The Cougars scored a run before they even got their first hit.

After pitching one more inning, Daddino left the game after the seventh.

"This was probably the best game we've played all year," Daddino said. "And definitely the best that I've pitched all year. It was just a great win."

The Seahawks (8-5) would strike again in the ninth, but not without controversy.

With two outs, Ronnie Cicchardi hit a double down the right field line. The next batter, Anthony Zeppieri, hit a ground ball that was knocked down on a sensational diving play by shortstop Noah Shulman. Upon getting back up, Shulman realized that Cicchardi had not stopped running and was heading for home.

Shulman fired the ball to catcher Joseph Gallito who seemingly applied the tag on Cicchardi, but the umpire claimed that Gallito had bobbled the ball and called the runner safe. The ruling was met with heavy argumentation by the Kennedy side, but ultimately stood.

The Cougars (5-8) got the tying run on third with one out in the ninth, but Crispino and Shulman would strike out to end what had been a phenomenal pitchers' duel.

"When you have Archbold and Daddino you kind of expect something like this to happen where runs are going to be at a premium," Carey coach Marc Hedquist said. "These are two of the elite pitchers in the league. We kind of stole one there at the end, but it was as even as you can get with two real quality pitchers that have a great future."

It was a tough loss for the Cougars, who take the field again tomorrow when they host Freeport at 4:15 p.m.