Barnum’s grand slam sends Souderton past Christopher Dock

LOWER SALFORD >> Luke Barnum had a good feeling what pitch was coming.

“I know the pitcher (David Keller) personally, so I kind of knew what pitches he had,” the Souderton left fielder said. “So, I was pretty sure he was going to come back with a fastball, so I was just looking fastball, ready to hit and got the pitch I wanted and swung away.”

Barnum crushed the 3-1 offering enough to get it over the right-field fence at Vic Alderfer Memorial Ball Park for a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, extending the Indians’ one-run lead to five over visiting Christopher Dock.

“Felt good. Felt really good my first home run on the big field. So, good feeling,” Barnum said.

Souderton used the long ball for all of its runs in the non-league contest Monday afternoon. Along with’s Barnum’s slam, Aaron Gulibon belted a three-run home run in the third as Big Red ended a three-game skid with a 7-4 victory over the Pioneers.

“Get the ball rolling. We have four league games that matter and one more non-league, so it’s nice to get back on the winning track today,” Souderton coach Mike Childs said.

Christopher Dock (12-2, 10-1 Bicentennial Presidents) took a 2-0 lead with two runs in the top of the third on a Tim DiLoreto RBI single and a double steal. But the Indians (9-6, 6-4 Suburban One League Continental) went up for good in the bottom of the frame when Gulibon connected on the first pitch he saw with two outs and runners on the corners and knocked it over the fence in right.

“After the first at-bat, I tried to make some adjustments as far as the swing was concerned,” Gulibon said. “And I was looking for a pitch that I knew I could hit and I got all of it which was good to see.”

Barnum’s grand slam made it 7-2 Souderton in the fourth before the Pioneers pulled within three by scoring two runs in the fifth. Dock put runners on in both of the final two innings, but could not bring any home to mount a late rally.

“I told the guys we’re going to find a bump in the road no matter what,” Pioneers coach Ed Melendez said. “If you look at the result, it’s two home runs out of nowhere, so that basically defined the game. My guys threw well, but unfortunately this happens, this is baseball.”

Souderton used five pitchers, with Mike Morgan picking up the win, allowing no runs and two hits while striking out one in two innings after taking the mount with two on and no outs in the third. Cole Niles earned the save, striking out one as he pitched the seventh.

Thylar Summarell, who started for the Indians, did not give up a hit in two scoreless innings. He struck out four and walked one.

Tyler Alderfer, Dock’s starting pitcher, took the loss as the left-hander gave up three runs — all earned — in three innings. He walked two and struck out three.

“I think he did pretty good, he crossed the signal with the catcher and they nail him. It is what it is,” said Melendez of Alderfer. “So that arm from the left side is very important for me if I’m going to good into the season, which is good now to start throw him out.”

Souderton is back in action Tuesday for the second of four games this week as they host SOL Continental leader Central Bucks South at 3:45 p.m. South sits in first at 7-2 after beating Pennridge 4-0 Monday. Souderton and Pennridge are tied for second at 6-4.

“Anything can happen, anybody can beat anybody as we all know that,” Childs said. “I’m sure they’re going to be bringing their best cause we beat them the first time and we’ll hopefully be bringing out best and we’ll see what happens.”

Christopher Dock also plays Tuesday, hosting Church Farm School in a BAL matchup at 3:45 p.m.

After two scoreless inning Monday, the Pioneers opened scoring in the top of the third. Ryan Nichols and Sam Gwiazdzinski led off the inning with back-to-back walks with a Tim DiLoreto — who finished 2-for-3 — singled to plate Nichols from second.

After DiLoreto was forced out at second on Alderfer’s fielder choice, the Pioneers executed a double steal — Alderfer taking second while Gwiazdzinski coming home for a 2-0 lead.

Dock, however, did not leave the third with the advantage. Connor Lennon started Big Red’s half of the frame with a double then went to third on a wild pitch. Souderton could not score Lennon on the next two at-bats, but Barnum drew a two-out walk to bring up Gulibon, who needed just one pitch to put Souderton up 3-2 with his three-run home run.

The Indians tacked on four more in the fourth thanks to Barnum. After Brett Moyer led off with a double, Derek Freed single to put two on with no outs. Keller got the next two batters out, but Jack Despain drew a walk to load the bases for Barnum, who made it 7-2 with his grand slam to right.

“That was awesome on Luke’s part,” Gulibon said. “Luke’s been hitting the ball hard the entire year and it was cool to see him put one out, especially a grand slam like that.”

Christopher Dock pulled to within 7-4 in the fifth. Alderfer walked with one out with Rashid Saint-Fleur reaching on an error the next at-bat. With two outs, Nolan Bolton singled up the middle to score Alderfer, while a Souderton error on Justin Burkholder’s grounder allowed Saint-Fleur to come home.

The Pioneers had two runners on with one out after a DiLoreto single in the sixth, but Miles struck out the next two batters. Andrew Walters began the top of the seventh reaching on an error before Niles got a strikeout, fly out in foul territory and Walters forced out at second on a fielder’s choice to seal the win.