Cardell, Interboro cruise to key Del Val win over Academy Park

GLENOLDEN >> In the fourth inning of a game that the scoreboard showed to be drained of intrigue, the Interboro bench lined the third-base fence at South Avenue Sports Complex. Instead of quietly waiting out a game destined for mercy-rule abbreviation, the Bucs were up and boisterous, yapping with each pitch and cheering on teammates with volleys of banter.

At every juncture of what amounted to a 15-0 win over Academy Park Monday, everyone on the Interboro roster remained active, a level of involvement they hope will extend well beyond the crucial Del Val League clash.

“We like to stay intense,” leadoff man CJ Cardell said. “It’s one of our key words that we came up with. Don’t get lazy or fall asleep. … You should be up and into the game even if you’re on the bench.”

Monday’s win was one of the last high hurdles faced by Interboro (12-0, 10-0) in its search for a league crown. It’s the third time the Bucs have beaten the Knights (9-4, 7-3), the second-place team in a top-heavy league and a squad in position to make the District One Class AAAA tournament.

Interboro’s goals this season have evolved beyond merely repeating as league champs, and the commitment has necessarily followed suit. Anthony DiNicola’s team can only win the games placed in front of it, but can tick off those wins in a manner that scales up for the more daunting postseason.

Hence the noise Monday, as Interboro kept its foot on the gas to dismiss the Knights in four innings. The speedy resolution bears symbolic significance of the distance between the top seed in District One (per Sunday’s power rankings) and its nearest Del Val foe. But requiring Jason Lincoln for just four one-hit innings on the hill also has a practical benefit in a four-game week.

The offense never set down the bats, continuing to barrage four AP pitchers until the game ended with two outs in the bottom of the fourth and the bases loaded and ready to produce more scoring. Part of that was the memory of the teams’ last meeting, when an 8-0 lead turned into a nervy 8-6 Interboro survival.

“I feel like we came out very intense,” catcher Josh Encarnacion said. “We knew what we had to do today. They were only two games behind us in the standings.”

The margin on the field was wider. The Bucs batted around in the second and fourth innings. Every spot in the batting order save the four-hole scored a run. The Bucs were content to take what a lackadaisical AP squad gave them, capitalizing on three walks and two errors in the first inning to score four times, the only hit a two-run single by Encarnacion.

But they also smacked the ball around. Zac Sarkis clubbed a two-run double in the second. Cardell and Brady DiGiacomo followed a two-run single by Dante Milbert in the fourth with resounding RBI triples.

Jeff Finley finally ended matters with an RBI single, chasing home DiGiacomo with the requisite 15th run.

“Right off the bat, we came out to play, right from the first pitch,” said Cardell, who went 3-for-4 with four runs scored and two RBIs. “You could just tell after the first inning that they didn’t want to be in it anymore. We scored four runs in the first, and they just wanted to get home right after that.”

Academy Park, which was seeded 22nd for the 26-team District One field in the latest batch of rankings, couldn’t get much going. Cornell Suber singled in the first for what turned out to be the Knights’ only hit. Five of the six strikeouts registered by the hard-throwing Lincoln were looking.

Sophomore Matt Thomas was thrown into the fray by personnel changes that have blighted Nick Russo’s staff. The manager’s gambit to start a busy week didn’t pay off, Thomas failing to get out of the second inning. Steve Huff’s wildness ended his day an inning later. While Jared Harzi got four quick outs, the relentless Interboro bats caught up eventually.

While all the effort and offense doesn’t count for any more than Monday’s victory, the Bucs hope that it’ll have an effect further down the line.

“Just playing every pitch, competing every pitch, being in the game 100 percent of the time, that’s what we need to do,” Encarnacion said. “I feel like if we do that for the rest of the way, I think we’ll be successful in the long run.”

Also in the Del Val League:

Glen Mills 4, Penn Wood 3 >> Andrew Dvorak worked into the sixth inning, and Isaac Lemos came on to get the final five outs for the Bulls. Will Fulkerson doubled and drove in a run for Glen Mills.

Zimir Seals tossed six solid innings for Penn Wood as well as doubling and driving in two.