No ifs, ands or bunts, Annas lifts B-N

RADNOR » Chris Annas considers himself to be a pretty good bunter.

“Usually, I get them down,” the Broomall-Newtown player said. “They may not be perfect, but I usually get them down.”

That wasn’t the case Monday night. Annas failed to get a bunt down in two separate at-bats against Wayne in the losers bracket final of the Main Line Senior Legion Tournament at Odorisio Park, and that turned out to be a good thing on the second try.

Instead of merely moving up Corey Woodcock and Vince Sposato, who were on first and second, respectively, Annas chased both runners home when he ripped a two-run triple in the top of the sixth inning to power Broomall-Newtown to a 12-2 victory over the Wolverines.

“I got a little mad Annas said.

His triple snapped a 2-2 deadlock and ignited a three-run rally that put Broomall-Newtown up for good. B-N added seven more runs in the top of the seventh inning to cruise into a championship-round meeting with Springfield Tuesday at Springfield High School. First pitch is 5:30.

If Broomall-Newtown can win that game, the if necessary game will be at myself,” Wednesday evening Thomas Field.

“It was a great piece of hitting,” Wayne manager Bill Moore said of Annas’s game-changing triple. “It looked like he was jammed on the pitch and he still muscled it out there. You have to give him credit.”

Annas climbed out of an 0-2 hole, thanks to the failed bunt attempts, but fought back to make it 3-2. Wayne starter Jack Dougherty tried to get Annas out with a nasty pitch on the outside corner, but Annas was able to foul that pitch off.

On the next game changed.

“With the count 0-2, I’m just looking for anything to hit,” Annas said. “With a full pitch, at the count and two runners on base, I know something good is going to come so I just put my weight back and drove it.”

Kevin Merrone followed with a successful squeeze bunt to chase Annas home to stake B-N a 5-2 advantage.

“It was a great at-bat by Chris,” Broomall-Newtown manager Rick Woodcock said. “He actually had a bunch of great at-bats. He really came through for us. It was what we lacked (in a 1-0 loss to Springfield Sunday) and he was there to deliver today and really spark the team. Everyone really came alive after that.”

By the time it was over, eight of the nine players in the B-N lineup had at least one hit and all nine scored at least one run. Annas finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Scott Hahn was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs. Alden Mathes, Luke Zimmerman, Corey Woodcock and Vince Sposato had two hits each.

That was more than enough offensive support for Alden Mathes, who came out of center field to pitch 5⅔ innings one-hit shutout ball in relief of starter Vince Greco. Mathes got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the second inning.

“In an elimination game, you can’t take a chance of getting down three or four runs,” Woodcock said. “It’s too big a hole to climb out of against teams of this caliber. Alden stepped up.”