Lansdale’s bats come alive
LANSDALE » The Tigers didn’t merely improve their footing atop the Perky League standings but rather sank their claws in pretty deep with a 10-3 victory over perennial power Ambler Thursday night.
“We’re not done yet. We wanna keep winning and stay hot, but it’s huge to be halfway done and be able to say we’re in first place,” said Lansdale’s Bryce Cunningham, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, triple and three RBI as part of a robust hitting performance for the Tigers. “We just wanna keep the bats going, keep it all going until the playoffs.”
Lansdale overcame an early 1-0 hole and led 9-1 by the third. The Tigers racked up 10 hits, including homers by Cunningham and Lenny DelGrippo, and got a bases-clearing double by Joe Casselberry that cracked the game open in the third.
“Great win,” Cunningham said of his squad, which improved to 12-2-1. “It’s a good way to close out the week, against a good Ambler Brewers team. And it was nice to see the bats come alive and get a lot of extra-base hits. A lot of guys are swinging hot bats, and that’s good, especially going into the second half of the season.”
pushed one across in the first, beginning with Pete Moore smacking an infield single deep into the hole at short.
Jim Fasano followed with a single to right center, moving Moore over to third. Nick Fasano then came through, singling to left to drive in Moore and make it 1-0 Brewers.
Back-to-back errors gave the Tigers two men on in the bottom half, and that’s when DelGrippo, the cleanup man, smashed one over the fence in left center, putting the Tigers in front, 3-1.
Cunningham later connected for a two-out, solo homer in the second, extending Lansdale’s lead to 4-1 against right hander Doug Brown.
Said Cunningham: “I saw a slider three times in a row. I took it twice, and had a feeling it was coming again. I saw it, he hung it, and I was able to put a good swing on it. It felt good giving us some insurance runs heading into
the later innings.”
In the third, the Tigers pulled away.
Casselberry’s bases-clearing, three-run double widened the gap to 7-1, and then Cunningham stayed hot, belting a triple over Casey’s Saverio in center, knocking in a pair to give Lansdale a 9-1 advantage against Ambler reliever Seth Greene (son of former Phillies pitcher Tommy Greene).
“I was seeing the ball real well tonight,” Cunningham said. “He was a hard thrower so I knew I didn’t wanna try to do too much and try to pull it so I just tried to stay nice and relaxed and hit it where it was pitched.”
Ambler trimmed it to 9-3 in the fifth, as Nick Fasano (3RBI) belted a tworun homer to left. Lansdale, getting a win on the mound from Ryan Bergh, capped the scoring with Rob Zinsmeister’s RBI single in the sixth that brought in Kyle Wenger (double).
SOAKING IT IN » Cunningham, a Lansdale Catholic grad headed to Maryland this coming year, is enjoying his time in the sun.
“I met a lot of great guys, a lot of really good baseball stories,” Cunningham said of his time with the Tigers. “A lot of great baseball people to be around. As a young guy, someone who just graduated high school, it means everything to be around these guys, who have been around the game so much longer than I have. So just hearing them talk about their experience and their college experience, and their experience after college, it’s huge.
“It’s a huge learning experience and I’m really thankful I have a great group of teammates. And it’s been a lot of fun.”
Both teams have NorGwyn next on their schedule: Lansdale hosts the Packers Monday at 8:30 p.m. and the Brewers travel to Hostelley Field Tuesday for a 7:30 start. Lansdale 10, Ambler 3
WP: Ryan Bergh (5IP, 3R, 3ER, 10H, 5K, 1BB). LP: Doug Brown (21⁄3IP, 7R, 4ER, 4H, 0K, 1BB). HR: A-Nick Fasano; L-Lenny DelGrippo, Bryce Cunningham. 3B: L-Cunningham. 2B: L-Joe Casselberry, Kyle Wenger. Multiple hits: A-Jim Fasano 2-for-3, BB, R; Nick Fasano 2-for-3, BB, 3RBI, R; Bob Drozdowski 2-for-4; Sam Plaugher 2-for3; L-Rob Zinsmeister 2-for-3, BB, 2R, RBI; DelGrippo 2-for-4, 2R, 3RBI; Cunningham 2-for-3, R, 3RBI.