First inning sparks Upper Dublin past Upper Merion
UPPER DUBLIN >> Upper Dublin did all of its scoring in the first inning Monday afternoon in its season opener against Upper Merion.
The Cardinals pushed eight runs across the plate and that proved to be enough in an 8-5 win on a rainy day at Upper Dublin High School.
Upper Dublin (1-0) stepped to the plate in the first inning trailing, 2-0. The Suburban One League American Conference school responded by sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring eight runs.
“We had to keep our heads up,” UD freshman Nick Lombardo said. “We couldn’t let ourselves get down. It was the first inning. We knew we had six more innings to play. We just played hard and came back and won.”
The Cardinals first four batters and seven of their first eight reached base and scored. They took advantage of plenty of Upper Merion mistakes, capitalizing on two errors and three walks.
Karan Acharya plated the first run by working a bases-loaded walk. Jarrod Matz tied the game with an RBI groundout and a Vikings error made it 3-2.
Brian McPeak hit an RBI single, courtesy runner Kyle Rizzo scored on a first-and-third steal play and McPeak crossed the plate on a wild pitch to make it 6-2.
The final two runs came on a two-run Lombardo single.
“You come out and have an inning like that and set the tone,” Upper Merion coach Matt Mitchell said. “It’s going to be tough to come back. I don’t know if we left our poise on the bus or what it is, can’t have that kind of inning, though. That’s one of our focuses this year — poised baseball. We weren’t that in the first inning.”
Upper Merion (1-0) made a pitching change after Lombardo’s single, taking out starter Brandon Colon and putting in Ben Eyer. Eyer threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out one batter to one walk and allowing just one hit.
“Ben Eyer did a great job,” Mitchell said. “He threw incredibly well. We threw strikes, kept them off-balance and we made the plays behind him. We didn’t do that for Brandon. It’s amazing how different it is when you make plays for a guy and when you don’t, he has no confidence, starts getting a little tight, squeezing those corners a little bit. For Ben we were making the plays and he was confident.”
The Cardinals took a different approach with their pitching staff. Five different pitchers took the mound, with none throwing more than two innings.
Jared Lamberg started and allowed two runs on one hit while walking four batters in two innings. Peter Johnson also allowed two runs in two innings while striking out two batters to two walks and allowing two hits. Adam Overton, Sean Curran and Acharya each threw one inning. Overton struck out the side and allowed one run on one hit and one walk. Curran threw a scoreless inning while striking out two batters to no hits or walks. Acharya walked one batter to go along with two strikeouts and no hits in his scoreless frame.
“That’s pretty much everybody,” Upper Dublin coach Ed Wall said. “We’ve been doing that just to keep developing these guys and get them ready. It’s been a slow, slow start with — as always — the weather. We just want to make sure everybody is getting good experience, getting out here and getting some innings.”
“I think (our pitchers) threw very well,” Lombardo added. “Hitting their spots, good off-speed. Overall they only let up — three runs were unearned on errors.”
Upper Merion took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a two-out, two-run Zach Hooven single.
Two more came across in the fourth inning — the first on a Nick Marino groundout and the second on a failed pick-off attempt.
The Vikings picked up their fifth run in the fifth inning on a Justin Tornetta single.
The visitors left the bases loaded in the third and fifth innings and left two runners on to end the game in the seventh.
“Just didn’t come through in the clutch there,” Mitchell said. “It’s early in the season. A lot of times pitching is going to be ahead of hitting right now, but if we’re going to do something we have to find ways to come through in those situations. I’m happy our guys didn’t hang our heads and we did stay in the game and made it a contest in the end, but we have to play better baseball.”
