Take A Walkoff
Fulmer’s RBI single makes Norchester walkoff winners over Boyertown
BUCKTOWN » His night didn’t get off to the best of starts Tuesday.
But Josh Fulmer made up for the nondescript debut with a memorable, timely final at-bat in Norchester’s game with Boyertown.
Fulmer put his 0-for-2 start in the rear-view mirror with a single to left field. The slashing hit, with bases loaded and none out, plated the pivotal run in the Bulldogs’ 3-2 walkoff victory over the Bears in the latest installment of their Berks County League rivalry.
“I was happy to get down on it,” Fulmer said of the pitch he got from Boyertown’s Trevor Waldman. “I had made contact before, but scoring a run at the end was the biggest priority.”
Fulmer’s hit ended what had been a close-to-the-vest affair between the area rivals, who met for last summer’s Berks County League championship.
Boyertown struck first in the top of the second inning, only to see Norchester (8-1) plate the equalizer in the bottom half of the frame. The ‘Dogs then saw a 2-1 lead in the fourth last only until their guests came to bat, scratching out a run to even things out once again.
“It’s always nip-and-tuck between us,” Norchester manager Rick Harrison noted. “We kept at it, and got on base at the end.”
The Bulldogs got their seventh inning at-bat off to a promising start with Ryan Cusic and Andy Fisher (2-for-3) hitting singles — the former moving up to third off a wild pitch. The Boyertown coaches then opted to have Waldman intentionally walk Austin Levengood, setting Fulmer up for game stardom.
Norchester’s second baseman, whose early at-bats consisted in an infield fly out, a fielder’s choice play and a walk, took hold of the opportunity. His solidly-hit shot toward third base brought Cusic home to support the complete-game pitching of teammate Cal Endy, who weathered the Bears’ eight-hit offense by racking up five strikeouts against three walks.
“The key part was Cal’s pitching,” Harrison said.
Waldman had a tougher time with the Bulldog bats, which collected 12 hits. On the upside, the Bear southpaw gave up just one walk against a pair of strikeouts.
“When you see a pitcher two or three times,” Fulmer said, “you get your timing down. You get confident.”
Boyertown got on the scoreboard with Nick DiCiacco drawing a one-out walk and moving to second off Mike Xanthapoulos’ single to right. Designated hitter J.T. Cooley then singled to left, with DiCiacco coming home.
Norchester’s answer came in the form of an Andy Blum double, the first baseman advanced by Riley McGinley’s sacrifice bunt in front of home plate and Brian Siket (2-for-3) with an infield single. The ‘Dogs went long-ball for their fourthinning lead, Siket crushing a triple to center field before coming home off Leif Wergeland (2-for-3) singling to right.
In the fifth, Boyertown’s Mike Raineri walked with one out and got to third when Mike Martin singled up the middle. A walk to Tyler Kreitz loaded the bases before Raineri scored off an error.
“Boyertown played a good game,” Harrison said. “It was nice to see Josh get a hit at the end. He’s been struggling.”
Both teams were notable in the field, each turning double plays and gunning down runners attempting to steal second base.
Fulmer had Norchester’s twin-killing in the third, initiating a 4-3 double-up while Raineri got a 4-3 eliminator for the Bears in the second.
In addition to his pickoff in the first, Siket turned in a key defensive stop in the sixth. He fielded Gavin Mourar’s foul pop along the backstop to quash a Boyertown attempt at a go-ahead run with DiCiacco walking and stealing second.
“There were a lot of different momentum-changers for us,” Harrison said. “The double play, and Brian’s catch.
“I felt with us being the home team,” he added, “we could have a chance at the end.”
NOTES » Norchester had a 9-8 edge in runners left on base, primarily due to the bases-full situation in the seventh . ... The Bears had runners get to third base in the fifth (Martin) and seventh (Raineri). Dawson Stuart and Austin Levengood did the same for the Bulldogs in the third and fifth, respectively; none of them were able to cross the plate in those instances, however.