Diamonds brilliant in Game 1 victory over Packers

NORRISTOWN >> Game One of the Norristown-Nor-Gwyn Perkiomen Valley Twilight League semifinal playoffs series was rained out, pushing the series start back to Tuesday night.

That meant the Packers could not start ace pitcher Joe Harris, who had work commitments.

So the assignment fell to lefthander John Santoianni, a Villanova pitcher who is still learning to pitch after spending most of his high school years as a first baseman and designated hitter.

But all he learned Tuesday night is that he still has a little more learning to do.

Norristown jumped out early, parlaying Santoianni’s control problems into five first-inning runs.

It didn’t get much better from there, as the Diamonds strolled out of Latshaw-McCarthy Field with an 11-1 win, and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Game Two is slated for Nor-

Gwyn’s Hostelley Field Wednesday night (7:30).

“We came into tonight feeling pretty good about ourselves,” said Nor-Gwyn manager Tony “Pep” DiBricida, “but then we gave up five runs right away, and it set the tone for the night.”

Mixed in the first-inning damage were two hits, six walks and three run-scoring wild pitches.

It wouldn’t get much better for the Packers, who despite leading the league in offense this year, managed only three hits over six innings off Diamonds starter Matt Sperling, who other than a second-inning double to Jon McGlone and a fourth-inning double to Dave Tatoian that led to the Packers only run, gave the visitors very little to get build a rally on.

“Nor-Gwyn, obviously, has a pretty potent lineup,” Sperling said. “But any time you’re staked to a big lead early, you just want to pump strikes and stay out of trouble.”

Which is what Sperling and Norristown did.

“You look at (NorGwyn’s) offensive numbers, and they look pretty good,” said Norristown manager Vince Elsier. “So, really, we came in here not knowing what to expect.

“This is only one game, but Matt Sperling was a great neutralizer .”

Sperling neutralized the Packers, and meantwhile the Diamonds went back to work against Santoianni, adding six more runs in the fifth, in an inning keyed by RBI singles by Andrew Huebner, Sean Phelan and Lenny DelGrippo and Bryan Mulhern’s run-scoring double.

“In John’s last three

or four starts, he pitched well,” DiBricida said. “Tonight, he had trouble with walks, and it came back to hurt him.

“He’s a work n progress, and the ability is there. He just has to harness it.” *** Meanwhile, the Diamonds are pleased, but not content with their Game One fortunes.

“We have to keep our foot on the gas pedal,” Sperling said.

“We were able to take advantage of some wildness from John,” Elsier said. “But it’s only one game.

“Tonight, (Sperling) was the difference maker for us,” Elsier said. “I know his name gets brought up a lot for league MVP, which it should, but he does so many things for us.

“He hits over .400, plays anywhere in the field. And tonight, he put us a game up in the series.”