Opening salvo ignites easy win for Marple Township
BROOMALL » Chip Mathes has tremendous faith in his lineup.
From leadoff man Kevin Henrich down through pinch hitter Matt Beaty, Mathes believes his Marple Township lineup can give opposing pitchers fits and jump on them when they miss their spots.
It’s one thing to have confidence in your players but when they’re swinging the bat with the consistency and power that they were against Newtown-Edgmont, it’s hard to argue with the head coach.
Marple Township hit three home runs in its first five at-bats and did not look back on its way to a 16-2 victory over NewtownEdgmont in a District 19 Little League Majors matchup.
Henrich hit a dinger over the left-field fence on the first pitch of the game from starter Middy Moore. Two batters later, Owen Mathes, the skipper’s son, launched a two-run homer to push the lead to 3-0. Two batters after Owen, Jonny Small hit his first of two home runs and Marple Township was up by five runs without recording an out.
Chip Mathes, whose team sent eight batters to the plate in that opening inning, feels any player in the lineup can drive in runs but knows the top of the order was the catalyst in the win.
“The top of the lineup gets us going and that was evidenced tonight. They hit some really good balls and a couple of home runs got us on the board,” Mathes said. “Our lineup, up and down, is what gets us going.”
It was much of the same in the second inning as Marple Township (2-1) came out with three straight singles, including an RBI by Justin Brennan, before Owen Mathes rocketed his second dinger, this one a three-run shot, over the centerfield fence. Next, Jake Micewski came to the plate and delivered another single before Small hit his second blast on the day, which pushed the Marple Township lead to 11-2.
Owen Mathes, who finished 2 for 3 with five RBIs, said the huge outburst in the first two innings changed the outlook of his team, which had not been getting the timely hits it had been hoping for in the first two games of the tournament.
“It builds the entire team’s confidence, especially because we hadn’t been hitting the ball very well. In the next few games, we’ll have to bring that back,” he said.
Newtown-Edgmont (0-2) fell behind early and never really had a chance to rally. After Moore surrendered five runs, Jack Ferry relieved him and was able to get his team out of the first inning without giving up any additional runs. Moore redeemed himself by driving in his team’s only runs on a two-run single to cut the Marple Township lead to 5-2.
With the additional momentum from putting a few runs on the board, Ferry came back out but was unable to capitalize in the second. Ferry threw 60 pitches over three innings, giving up nine runs while walking two batters and striking out one. Newtown-Edgmont head coach Darren Grande hoped his team learned a lot during this tournament, which began with an eightinning loss to South Marple.
“We ran into a really good team and you need to tip your hats to a great organization. It was not the most talented group but they’re really good kids,” Grande said. “We want them to continue to play inspired baseball and get ready for next year.”
Chip Mathes stressed how Marple Township’s impressive offensive day was felt up and down the lineup. Alex Bruno, who started the game and pitched two solid innings, hit a pair of singles as did Jay McDonnell, the first of which drove in two runs. Marple Township will take on Aston Middletown on Thursday and Coach Mathes hopes the timely hitting from one portion of his lineup will continue to fuel the entire team.
“Our guys in the middle and in the back can hit, which gets the top going. All the way through the lineup we can score runs. It’s a huge advantage for us,” he said.