Phantoms Let Dawgz Slip Away in First Place Showdown

BUCKTOWN-When the Phantoms traveled to Owen J. Roberts to take on Norchester on Wednesday the pressure was sitting squarely on the shoulders, like a 500-pound monkey, of the Big Dawgz.

Entering the game with a 9-4 league mark, Phoenixville, who more importantly held the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning their previous meeting, led Norchester by a half game in the race for top spot in the Twin County American Junior Legion Baseball League.

For five innings it looked as though the Phantoms, who played flawless defense during that stretch and got a great effort from starter Dave Palmen, would cruise to the victory and claim sole possession of first place.

Starting the bottom of the fifth, unfortunately an error, as the ball slipped through the webbing of a glove at first base, started the downfall. That led to the first Dawgz run and a ball that squirted through the infield to start the fateful sixth inning, which would prove to be fatal, as Norchester rallied with five runs in the sixth to slither from the clutches of the Phantoms with a 6-5 win, moving the Dawgz a half game ahead of Phoenixville.

“These are the game you want to play,” said Norchester centerfielder Ben Condello. “This was such a big game for us to win and it really affects your momentum as a team. We never gave up and just had to keep hoping the hits would come.”

Norchester starting right-hander Tony Gruenling was solid even after allowing three runs in the second inning on two Phantoms hits. Gruenling, who will be a sophomore at Malvern Prep High School, settled in and at one point retired 10 consecutive Phoenixville batters en route to racking up 11 strike outs, while allowing just six hits and walking three.

“He had more pop on his fastball today than I remember,” said Dave Palmen, who went 5 1/3 innings for the Phantoms, striking out four and walking two. “I felt good today. I didn’t have my best stuff, but overall I felt pretty good. This is an important lesson for us—we have to stomp on a team when we have them down. We just allowed them to hang around after we came out pretty up. We kind of went into a lull when we had the 4-0 lead.”

To his credit, while trailing 4-0, Gruenling seemed un-phased as he mowed though the Phoenixville line-up through the middle innings, allowing a double and two singles in the final five innings, all in the sixth, as the Phantoms tacked on a run to increase their lead to 5-1. 

“We let one get away, plain and simple as that,” said Phoenixville manager A.J. Gray. “We have said it all year: we have to play seven innings and today we gave them a game. We have Boyertown tomorrow and just have to put this one behind us and focus on playing seven innings.”

Norchester, for the second consecutive game, managed to have one big inning carry them as it sent 11 men to the plate in the sixth, posting five runs on four hits with Condello crossing the plate with the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice fly by Kutter Endy (1-for-3, RBI) following an RBI double by Tony Salerno and single by Clay.

“It’s easy to coach when you have great kids,” said Norchester manager Ken Long. “I can teach and coach them in game situations, but when you have quality kids like we do, it is special to see them get themselves going and respond in a situation like that. I could not be prouder of these guys right now. Tony [Gruenling] kept us in and our bats eventually came through, giving us a chance to win.”

“We need to work on staying out of holes like the last two games,” added Long. “We get that taken care of and I fell pretty good going forward. Now it’s on us to stay in first place.”

The Norchester win negated an outstanding defensive performance overall by the Phantoms, as sensational plays from third basemen Mike Anthony and shortstop Cameron Cook helped strand seven Dawgz runners in the first five at bats.

Six of those runners were in scoring position, and two runs were cut down at the plate and another prevented by a diving catch by centerfielder Rob Purcell with the bases loaded.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

R

H

E

Phoenixville

1

3

0

0

0

1

0

5

6

2

Norchester

0

0

0

0

1

5

X

6

8

1

Phoenixville

AB

R

H

RBI

Norchester

AB

R

H

RBI

Arney 2b

4

1

2

1

Salerno 2b

3

2

2

1

Furr rf

3

1

0

1

Condello  cf

2

1

0

0

Purcell  cf

4

0

1

0

Clay  c

3

0

2

1

Demey c

3

0

0

2

Beebe  lf

3

0

0

2

Anthony  3b

2

0

0

0

Endy 1b

3

0

1

1

Gallow  1b  p

2

0

0

0

Gruenling p

2

0

0

0

Palmen  p  1b

3

0

0

0

Zeborowski  rf

4

1

2

0

Landis  lf

2

2

2

0

Line ss

3

0

1

0

Cook  ss

3

1

1

0

Raymond 3b

3

1

0

1

McCourt, C pr

0

0

0

0

McCourt, B pr

0

1

0

0

Line rf

2

2

2

3

McCourt, C  3b

1

1

0

0

Totals

28

5

6

4

Totals

26

6

8

6

IP

R

ER

H

SO

BB

Palmen (L)

5.3

5

3

8

4

2

Cullen

.6

0

0

0

0

0

Gruenling (W)

7

5

3

6

11

3

2B-Endy, Salerno, Landis   3B-Zeborowski   HR- none      LOB- PHX -6   NOR-10

time of the game 1:52   game temp 84 degrees