Sabath helps SOL National/BAL shut out Jersey Shore in Carpenter Cup
PHILADELPHIA >> Handed the ball in the bottom of the fourth inning with SOL National/Bicentennial holding five-run lead, the first pitch Daniel Sabath delivered to Jersey Shore’s Johnny Zega was sent to center field for a triple.
“It was a fastball, it ran back in on the plate,” Sabath said. “And he was ready for it.”
But the Christopher Dock right-hander down and with a big lift from the defense behind him, Zega never got a chance to head home.
“It was just kind of trying to get them to hit on the ground, the sliders and stuff, to swing overtop of it,” he said. “As long as they keep it on the ground, that’s all I was trying to do.”
Sabath gave up another triple in the sixth, but worked out of that jam unscathed as well, as he and four other pitchers combined for a four-hit shutout Monday afternoon at FDR Park as National/BAL reached the Carpenter Cup Classic quarterfinals with a 6-0 first-round victory.
“It was nice. All the pitching’s good. It’s nice to be on a different team,” Sabath said. “Everyone did a great job, defense did a great job behind me too after the leadoff triples and stuff.”
SOL National/BAL recorded just three hits, but took advantage of walks and was aggressive on the base paths to earn a matchup with Olympic/Colonial – which beat Chester County 5-3 in 10 innings in Monday’s first contest – 9 a.m. Friday back in South Philly.
“Everybody wants to see doubles, triples, home runs, right? But we only had three hits but we manufactured runs,” said Pennsbury coach Joe Pesci, who is co-head coaching National/BAL with Abington’s Dave Torresani. “Ball through the middle scored a run, sac fly, couple wild pitches, but the wild pitches happened because our base runners were putting pressure (on Jersey Shore).”
Seth Leuz was the stressing out the Jersey Shore defense to most Monday. The Council Rock North senior stole second and third then scored on a wild pitch after walking in the top of the second. An inning later, he plated another run with an RBI single then went to third on a steal and error before eventually scoring on a Matt Carter double.
“He put us in position to win today. And he’s the type of kid you want on your team at all costs,” said Pesci of Leuz. “He’s going to give everything he has and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a really good kid and a really good player. So, he definitely set the tone for us.”
CARPENTER CUP: An RBI double by @mastathletics' Matt Carter puts SOL National/BAL up 4-0 T3 vs. Jersey Shore. pic.twitter.com/wxlQ5tZ00K
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) June 14, 2016
National/BAL scored twice in the second, added three in the third and tacked on another in the sixth, the output more than enough for the defending champ’s pitchers.
Neshaminy’s Billy Meyer started on the mound and after giving up two walks in the first inning, put down Jersey Shore in order in the second and third. Sabath gave up three hits and struck out two in his three innings. Abington’s Greg Troyer, Pennsbury’s Billy Bethel and CR North’s C.J. Kilgarriff each threw an inning to finish the 32nd shutout in Carpenter Cup history.
“The whole team played pretty good,” Abington’s Paul Poppert said. “All 25 guys contributed somehow. Solid hitting, as you said, no errors, solid all-around.”
After Zega’s triple to begin the bottom of the fourth, third baseman Josh Kim of Council Rock South made a nice play on a slow roller to throw out Ciaran Devenney. Sabath retired the next two Jersey Shore batters on line outs to second and shortstop, respectively.
In the fifth, Sabath gave up a two-out walk and infield single. The righty, however, got a fly out the next batter to fly out to the shortstop. In the sixth, Michael Nyisztor hit a one-out triple to right off, but Sabath wiggled out of the threat with a strike out and fly out to center field.
“Actually, my fastball was sort of working towards the end,” Sabath said. “Started off sliders and stuff.”
CARPENTER CUP: @DanSalbath talks about being 1 of 5 SOL National/BAL pitchers to shut out Jersey Shore in 6-0 win pic.twitter.com/6btNW5nYsl
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) June 14, 2016
Jersey’s Shore fourth and final hit came on Tom Ruscitti’s two-out double in the bottom of the ninth. Kilgarriff proceeded to get the next batter to fly out to Christopher Dock’s Rashid Saint-Fleur in right to seal the shutout.
Four walks by SOL National/BAL in the second and third innings led to its first four runs Monday.
Leuz led off the top of the second with a walk and stole second. With one out, MaST Charter’s Carter walked and both runners advanced on steals. Leuz scored on a two-out wild pitch while Carter came home to make it 2-0 as CR South’s Shaun Stackhouse reached on an error.
“That’s the kind of team we are. Small ball, take advantage of misplays, run the bases well. Did pretty well,” Poppert said.
Neshaminy’s Cory Joyce started the top of the third with another walk and after stealing second scored on Leuz’s single up the middle. Leuz proceeded to steal second with an error on the throw allowing him to take third. After Christopher Dock’s Tim DiLoreto walked, Carter doubled to right center, plating Leuz for a 4-0 lead.
The next at-bat, DiLoreto slid in safely on Poppert’s sacrifice fly to right for National/BAL’s fifth run.
“You got to go up there with an approach to drive the run in,” Popper said. “I was looking to get it to the outfield, fly ball, right field. Glad I could get it done.”
National/BAL tacked on one more run in the sixth as Pennsbury’s Justin Massielo – who drew a one-out walk – scored on a wild pitch.
