D’Addesi’s sac fly gives Methacton walk-off win over Pope John Paul II
FAIRVIEW VILLAGE >> Methacton senior first baseman Mario D’Addesi would have been happy if he never stepped to the plate in the bottom of seventh inning Wednesday against Pope John Paul II. In fact, he was quite sure he wouldn’t need to.
After Warriors’ leadoff man Kevin Trafford led off with a double and an intentional walk to Nolan McCloskey, D’Addesi, the Warriors’ cleanup hitter, assumed No. 3 hitter Tyler Weil-Kasper — who already had two hits — would knock in Trafford for the winning run.
Then came an errant pickoff that moved runners to second and third and another intentional walk to Weil-Kasper. Suddenly, D’Addesi was in the batter’s box with the bases loaded and nobody out.
D’Addesi was ready for the moment and came through in the clutch for the Warriors. After three foul balls, he hit a liner to centerfield that was deep enough to bring home Trafford for a 2-1 walk-off win over Pope John Paul II in Pioneer Athletic Conference crossover action.
FINAL: Methacton 2, Pope John Paul II 1. … Mario D’Adessi sac fly scores Kevin Trafford to give Warriors a walk-off win. pic.twitter.com/Br3ETObwIZ
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) April 28, 2021
“I had a lot of confidence in (Weil-Kasper). He’s one of our best hitters, if not our best,” D’Addesi said. “I really thought he was going to get the hit there and put them in, but when they walked him, I was like, ‘All right, time to show up.’
“I was really excited to be put in the opportunity where we could score the run. Kevin Trafford made a great play, got home. It’s amazing to catch a win like that.”
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Scoring was at premium on Wednesday. Freshman catcher Dylan Simeone’s two-out blooper put the Golden Panthers ahead 1-0 in the top of the second before an infield single by Methacton (2-4 Liberty, 5-4 PAC) sophomore shortstop Mike Christian knotted the game 1-1 in the bottom of the inning.
With the pitchers on both sides dealing, that was it for the game’s scoring until D’Addesi’s sacrifice fly drove home Trafford for the winning run.
Junior Adam Yarrison tossed his second complete game of the season for Pope John Paul II (2-3 Frontier, 3-5 PAC). He allowed two runs on eight hits, while striking out three and walking four.
Methacton sophomore Mark Griffith gave up one unearned run on two hits in 6.2 innings, striking out eight and walking two. Griffith’s left-handed fastball-curveball combination gave PJP hitters fits throughout. He kept PJP hitless after the second inning.
“My fastball was in the zone, so I could always throw the curveball for a strike and it felt really good today,” Griffith said.
“I got myself into a hole when I was walking some guys, but we played as a team and got out of it,” he added.
Aside from the second inning, the Golden Panthers had runners in scoring position two other times in the contest.
Following a walk and hit batter with one out in the top of the fourth, Griffith got a strikeout and groundout to get out of the inning.
In the sixth, PJP’s Gavin Feulner reached third after being hit by a pitch to get within 90 feet of the go-ahead run with one out.
The Golden Panthers unsuccessfully attempted a squeeze and Methacton catcher Mike Lamalfa picked off Feulner at third to end the threat.
“I took a shot there with the bunt,” Pope John Paul II coach Charles DeLuzio said. “I took a shot and we didn’t get it down.”
“We’ve gotta get the bats going,” he added. “We’ve got some young guys going up against 18-year-old pitching. We just can’t get two, three hits in a row. We gotta do the small ball to try and get the win.”
Before Trafford finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh, the Warriors left runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
“(Yarrison) was throwing strikes, he was throwing really good,” D’Addesi said. “His move, he was keeping us honest on the bases. He did a helluva job. Luckily, we were able to get some knocks off him and we were in a nice position to win the game.”
Wednesday’s win improved the Warriors to 3-0 in crossover action this season. It was the second time this season they walked off against a Frontier foe.
In a 5-4 win against Pottsgrove last Monday, Lamalfa’s sacrifice fly to centerfield scored Weil-Kasper for the game winning run.
“The guy who was up next after me, Mike Lamalfa, he did the same exact thing,” D’Addesi said. “It’s deja vu but I’m so glad that we’re winning games right now.”
“I think this is really going to help us out moving forward,” Griffith said. “We just gotta play as a team moving forward, and I think we’ll be good.”
Pope John Paul II has a young group in DeLuzio’s first official season on the field with his team after he got the job before the beginning of the 2020 cancelled season.
Wednesday’s game is another lesson for the young group, which was on the wrong side of walk-off against Pottsgrove in a 4-3 loss last week.
“We played them tough, we just can’t get over the hump,” DeLuzio said. “We just make too many mistakes. We’re young. … This one hurts because that’s a big school. You need a win like that.”
“We’re almost there, we’re building. We’re just not there yet. We’re gonna get there sooner or later.”
NOTES >> Weil-Kasper and Trafford both had a pair of hits for the Warriors. Mike Wimmer had a hit and scored a run. … Simeone and Frank Dimaio had PJP’s hits.
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