Diamonds draw first blood vs. Lansdale
Sperling leads way in Game 1 victory for Norristown
According to Matt Sperling, the best team in the Perkiomen Valley Twilight League is not the team that finished the regular season in first place.
Instead, it’s the team Sperling’s Norristown Diamonds are playing in the league’s playoff semifinals.
“I think Lansdale is the best team in the league,” said Sperling after he and the Diamonds blanked the Tigers, 9-0, Tuesday night to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series. “Their pitching rotation is deep, they hit the ball and they can play with anybody in the league.
“That’s not a knock against Ambler, I just think Lansdale is the best team.”
In Tuesday’s opener, the Diamonds took a 5-0 lead after two innings, then coasted behind the four-hit pitching of Sperling, who gave way to Rich Cavazza in the seventh.
The Diamonds touched up Lansdale starter Brett Moyer for a pair of runs in the first inning via Matt Altieri’s solo homer and Lenny DelGrippo’s
RBI double, then stretched that advantage to five runs in the second when Kyle Wenger slugged an opposite-field, three-run homer off the Tigers starter.
From there on, Norristown was in command behind Sperling, who allowed just four singles through six.
“Getting Game One was important,” Sperling said, “because we don’t have the pitching depth we’ve had in years past.
“It was really important to win this game.”
Lansdale got its first hit from its leadoff hitter, Matt Hanson, in the first inning, but he was quickly erased on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Ricky Gorrell.
Then after Rob Zinsmeister flied out to center, Gorrell was thrown out attempting to steal second, and the Diamonds and Sperling were out of the first inning.
In the Norristown second Dan Hull doubled and Ben Lippincott was hit by a pitch in front of Wenger’s homer to left.
Meanwhile, the Tigers could do nothing against Sperling.
The 43-year-old righthander retired 12 straight Tigers before Joe Casselberry reached on an opposite-field single in the fifth.
Singles by Matt Albaugh and Andrew Check loaded the bases before Sperling retired Nick Strizziere on a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
In the Norristown sixth DelGrippo removed all doubt about the verdict when he clubbed a grand slam off Tigers reliever Mike Ferrier.
Cavazza retired the Tigers in order in the seventh, and Game One belonged to the visitors.
“We’re not going to suck on each other’s popsicles just yet,” Sperling said. “But it’s good to get Game One, and now we go home for Game Two.” Norristown 9, Lansdale 0