Brian McPeak’s clutch hitting helps Upper Dublin top Cheltenham in 8 innings
CHELTENHAM >> Everything was happening around Upper Dublin’s Brian McPeak.
The senior was up to bat with two strikes and one out in the eighth inning and the game tied.
The Cardinals ran a successful double steal and Cheltenham players and coaches stopped the game, arguing that Nick Lombardo should have been called out at third base.
After that settled down, the Panthers changed pitchers.
On the first pitch from reliever Alex Bugg, McPeak roped a single into left field, scoring two runs and leading the Cardinals to an 8-6 Suburban One League American Conference win at Cheltenham High School Tuesday afternoon.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” McPeak said. “I knew they had a new pitcher coming in with two strikes. I knew if he was going to throw something that’s a strike, I’m just going to put the bat on it and see what happens.
“I was trying to watch the pitcher (warm up), time him up, see what he’s throwing and make sure that I put the ball in play and see if something can happen.”
After blowing the save in the bottom of the seventh inning, Sean Curran pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth to give the Cardinals a 2-0 record in league play and drop Cheltenham to 2-1.
“Tough,” Cheltenham coach Tory Wergelis said. “A back-and-forth game like that it comes down to making plays, making the right pitches. I think mentally we got caught up in our emotions today and I think that became a distraction rather than helping us in the end with things. I talked to the guys about the difference between playing with intensity and then losing control of your emotions. Unfortunately, we have to find that fine line that’s between those two areas.”
Bugg played a big role for the Panthers offensively. The senior was 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. He singled in the bottom of the seventh, took second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at six.
“Massive,” Wergelis said of Bugg’s impact. “We actually switched his order in the lineup today. He was hitting two — a simple switch to three — him and Kieran Versaw-Barnes flip-flopped and seemed to work out. (Bugg) is a very vocal leader on the team and has been with this group of guys for a couple years already. It was really good to see him come through today and really break through and really get some solid at-bats today.”
The SOL American rivals traded runs throughout the game.
Upper Dublin struck first, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. McPeak singled home Elijah Peck and Karan Acharya grounded out to score Lombardo.
Cheltenham cut its deficit in half in the second inning when Eddie Kelly singled, stole second and scored on a Ben Kaplan single. The hosts took the lead in the bottom of the third, 3-2, when Bugg tripled home Versaw-Barnes and scored on a Lukas Nukkulah single.
The Cardinals came right back in the next half-inning to tie the game. Alex Goldenberg reached on a dropped third strike and courtesy runner John Kolhbrenner stole second and scored on an error to make it 3-3.
Cheltenham took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth when Versaw-Branes tripled and scored on a Bugg single, but Upper Dublin responded with a three-run sixth.
Peck hit a sacrifice fly to score Carter Pestrack to tie the game at four. After a pitching change, Jarrod Matz laid down a safety squeeze to score Kyle Rizzo and put the Cardinals on top.
“We put it on during the (pitching change),” Upper Dublin coach Ed Wall said. “We were talking about it and I knew that Matz was facing a pitcher he could handle in the at-bat and he’s a good contact hitter, putting the ball in play, but he’s such a good bunter. It was a great opportunity to try to take advantage and once again our boys executed.”
They added the third run when pinch-hitter Chris Greve singled home Matz to make it 6-4.
Cheltenham used a two-out rally to cut its deficit to 6-5 in the sixth. Riese Weir battled back from an 0-2 count to get a base hit and advanced to third on an error. He crossed the plate on a Kaplan single.
“This is one of the best games we’ve played in maybe the last few years,” Wall said. “The diversity of pitching — three different guys came out and did a job. They way that we hit, squeezed, bunted, moved runners, stole, big spots — I can’t be more proud of these guys and the way they battled. It was all them. They’re the ones that executed and did the job out on the field.”
The three pitchers were Acharya, Peck and Curran. Acharya started and went 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits. Peck surrendered one run on three hits over 1 2/3 innings and Curran allowed one run on one hit in two innings.
Cheltenham — which is off until next Tuesday — used four pitchers. Nikkulah started and gave up three runs on three hits in three innings. Kaplan followed, giving up two runs over 2 1/3 innings. Brennan Park took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits in two innings and Bugg finished the game, throwing 2/3 innings and giving up one hit.
