Lupoli, Burba handle heavy lifting for Garnet Valley

CONCORD >> As Garnet Valley’s baseball season nears its midway point, the Jaguars’ roles are undergoing the natural definition process.

When Matt Lupoli’s on the mound, for instance, he knows his job. As does Matt Burba when penciled into the nine-hole in the lineup.

And when those pieces of the puzzle fall into place as manager Rudy Shiller designs, the finished product isn’t necessarily pretty, but it’s usually effective.

So it was Wednesday, when three hits and four Radnor errors added up to five Garnet Valley runs and a 5-1 Central League victory.

Most of the heavy lifting was done by Lupoli. The lefty hurler tossed six outstanding innings to notch his third win of the season, scattering six hits and striking out nine. His only walk came to his last batter leading off the top of the seventh, before he gave way to Will Wesolowski.

Though Wesolowski made it interesting, allowing the inherited runner to score on Martin Connor’s single, loading the bases and bringing the tying run to the dish, he retired the potential tying run with a lazy pop fly to center that sealed the win.

Lupoli embodies what makes Garnet Valley (7-2, 6-2 Central) so dangerous. Only one of those wins this season has come courtesy of ace Mike Bechtold, saddled with a pair of tough-luck losses when matched against opponents’ top pitchers.

But the ample supply of quality innings provided by arms like Lupoli and Monday’s winner Mason Miller have filled the back end of that rotation.

“It’s crucial,” Lupoli said. “Mike’s a No. 1, he’s a great pitcher, and then it’s our job when he’s not out there, we’ve got to do our job and get the wins any way possible. I think we do a really good job of rallying together and putting together team wins like we did today.”

Danny Sweeney corrals Andrew Austen’s pop out. Final: Garnet Valley 5, Radnor 1 pic.twitter.com/VZJv8cfZQe

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) April 20, 2016

For the batting order, that meant taking what Radnor starter Will Hoysgaard and a shaky defense was giving. Hoysgaard walked six, including the game’s first two batters, which scored on an error off the bat of Lupoli as part of a first-inning three-spot.

Burba singled in the second, scoring on Brendan Van Belle’s thumping triple to left-center field. He walked in the fourth, stranded at third with the bases loaded as Hoysgaard recovered to strike out three-hitter Dom Bertone and Lupoli back-to-back. Burba also walked and scored off Connor in the sixth, coming home on another fielding miscue.

Will Hoysgaard strikes out Bertone, then Lupoli looking with the bases loaded. After 4, 4-0 Garnet Valley pic.twitter.com/95SNe68ICd

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) April 20, 2016

“Every guy on the team has got a job, and my job is to get on base, steal bases, run around and get the runs for the big guys at the top of the lineup,” Burba said. “… We’ve got to take what they give us, and if they’re going to give us a free base at first, we’ve got to take that every time.”

Radnor outhit Garnet Valley, 7-3, yet the Jaguars surrendered more outs on the bases. Lupoli was cut down at the plate in the third on a fielder’s choice, helping Hoysgaard strand two. Van Belle was twice punched out on the bases: On a 4-3-2 double play in the second and when Conor Rinehart relayed to third in the seventh after the error that plated Burba.

What Radnor (3-6, 2-6) couldn’t do was string together hits to sustain a rally. Andrew Austen and Hoysgaard singled twice each, but the Radiers left four men in scoring position, not helped by Miller gunning down Matt Schaefer at the plate in the fourth.

Lupoli took care of the rest. He struck out five of the first seven hitters he faced, sticking with his fastball most of the way. He induced a 4-6-3 double play started by Burba to escape a bases-loaded jam in the third, then coasted through the sixth.

“I just like to attack with my fastball, try to get ahead, look that way first,” Lupoli said. “And if they can’t catch up, that’s what I’ll stick with the rest of the game.”

The silver lining in a three-game slog of a week for Radnor is that they got something going, albeit too little, too late. Hoysgaard battled through four innings, striking out five but issuing the six free passes. Evan Moore followed with a clean inning, and Connor allowed an unearned run in the sixth.

But heading into Thursday’s action without being shut out could be meaningful consolation.

“It’s definitely good to take momentum into tomorrow,” Connor said. “That’s how we know that we can hit off a great pitcher like him, we can hit off anyone. We’ve just got to put hitting, pitching and fielding together in one game.”