Early changeup can’t save Delco Christian in loss

MIDDLETOWN >> One inning and four runs into its District One Class A semifinal Thursday afternoon, Delco Christian manager Jeff Wisnewski made wholesale changes. More than half of the lineup swapped positions, including a brand new battery, before Jenkintown battled in the bottom of the second.

The tinkering didn’t work, resulting in an 11-1 win for the second-seeded Drakes at Penncrest High School. But it illustrated the challenge that injuries have imposed on the third-seeded Knights.

Kyle Winters got the start and lasted an inning, allowing three hits, walking two and surrendering four runs (one earned). He also watched six Drakes steal bases.

That led to the shift change, with Winters going behind the plate, catcher Luke Butler heading to second and Cody Moorhatch jumping to the mound. The alterations — plus seven errors and six walks — led to seven Jenkintown runs before Moorhatch recorded an out, though he then got nine outs on the next 12 batters.

“It’s always tough battling back,” shortstop Josh Van Meerbeke said. “We suffered a lot of injuries this year, so it was hard to switch around and find people in positions where they were comfortable and play to the best of their abilities.”

Foremost among them was catcher Dylan Campbell, which hastened Jenkintown’s swiping of 10 bags. Van Meerbeke and Tyler Rossini, who pitched the Knights (11-8) past Faith Christian in Tuesday’s quarterfinal, recently fought off injuries to get back in the fold.

That was of little consequence to Jenkintown, which edged DC 3-2 in extra innings early in the season, then thumped an injury-depleted squad 17-1 three weeks ago.

Thursday’s encounter more closely mimicked the latter.

That feat required patience by Jenkintown. The Drakes collected just four hits, plus a few hard-hit grounders booted on the infield and a fly ball missed in center field in the second that scored two.

“Our approach is to never walk, be aggressive in the zone, don’t take fastballs in the zone,” cleanup man John Contoudis said. “Just try to put runs up early and often is what our coaches tell us and that’s what we try to do.”

Every spot in the order save for the nine-hole scored, and nine-man Jameson Kolb provided two hits and two RBIs. The Drakes (14-5) batted around in the first two innings, sending 18 men to the plate before the Knights had recorded the game’s fourth out.

Catcher Alec Griffin drove in two and scored twice. Christian Geer and AJ Labella scored twice apiece. Contoudis was the beneficiary of the runs, working the first three innings to collect the win before Kolb navigated the final six outs.

“It makes a world of difference,” Contoudis said of the support. “Free and easy, and I don’t have to worry about runners on.”

Rossini led off the second with a walk, stole second, got to third on a passed ball and came home on Daniel Nichols’ groundout. Rossini got into scoring position in the fourth, as did Moorhatch in the final frame, but the decisive spark never materialized for the Knights.

“Sometimes it takes just one play to change the momentum,” Van Meerbeke said. “We made a couple good plays. Cody pitched great and kept going, but still it’s tough. Baseball is a game of failure, a game of humility, and we’ve got to learn to push through it.”