Hun romps past Lawrenceville in prep clash

LAWRENCEVILLE » Sometimes when a former reliever becomes a starter a year later does not go so well.

That was not the case for the Hun School’s Chris Murdock Thursday.

The senior right-hander had no reason to fret with the Raiders’ impressive hitting attack behind him.

Hun banged out 15 hits on the way to defeating Lawrenceville, 12-1, at James C. Waugh Field.

Murdock was just as impressive as his team’s offense, tossing a no-no for five innings before surrendering back-toback safeties and a run in the sixth. HUN

LAWRENCEVILLE abr hbi abr hbi Tuffy ss 5 1 1 0 Conyers ss 2 0 0 0 JErbck rf-lf 4 3 3 0 Venizels 1b 2 0 0 1 Pntrlla cfrf 5 1 3 3 Dreyer c 3000 DlGrcio 1b 4 2 2 0 Packrd 3b 2 0 0 0 Melnick c 4 2 2 2 Burke cf 3000 Sloss dh 3 1 2 1 McMilln lf 2 0 0 0 Patel cf 0 0 0 0 Monfre rfp 2 1 1 0 Wijaya 3b 3 1 1 0 Simms p 1000 Soper lf-p 2 0 0 1 Garrett dh 1 0 0 0 Zucatti prcf1 1 1 3 Simpson rf 1 0 1 0 Petrone 2b 4 0 0 1 Kane 2b 1000 Totals 35 12 15 11 Totals 20 1 2 1

Hun (1-0) Lawrenceville (1-1) 105 100 5 — 12 0000010—1

That, plus the fact that Murdock did not get to finish the game (after reaching his pitch count with two outs in the seventh), were the only blemishes on an otherwise dynamite opening day for coach Tom Monfiletto’s team.

“I was just happy to be out there,” Murdock said. “I’ve been a starting E — Reynolds; DP — Hun 1, Lawrenceville 1; LOB — Hun 6, Lawrenceville 3; 2B — Pontrella 2, Tuffy, Melnick, DelGuercio, JErbeck; 3B — JErbeck, Zucatti; SF — Venizelos; SAC — Kane; SB — JErbeck, Melnick.

IP H

R ER BBSO HUN SCHOOL

Murdock W,1-0 6.2 2

Soper 0.1 0 LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL Reynolds L,0-1 3.0 8 6 6 1 2 Monfre 3.0 6 6 6 2 1 Simms 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 Monfre faced 4 batters in the 7th inning. HbP- by Monfre (Wijaya); WP — Reynolds 2.

1 0

1 0

3 0

9 0

pitcher for my travel team, the New Jersey Jays, since the end of last season, so I was ready for this.”

So were the rest of the Raiders.

Chris Pontrella doubled in Jack Erbeck, who had singled and stolen second base, in the top of the first inning. Then, in the third, Hun put together five more hits, including doubles by McGwire Tuffy, Pontrella and Dan Melnick, to spark a five-run frame.

“Something clicked today,” said Pontrella, who went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs. “When we were down in Florida, we hit the ball, but we weren’t driving in a lot of runs. So I knew it was coming.”

A triple by Erbeck and an infield hit by Pontrella gave Hun a 7-0 lead in the fourth inning as Evan Monfre took over for Lawrenceville starting pitcher Trey Reynolds.

That was all Monfre would allow through six innings, but the home team could get nothing going against Murdock.

“Evan kept the game close for us,” Big Red head coach Steve LaRochelle said. “We’ve got to work on our approach to offspeed pitches.”

Finally in the bottom of the sixth, Monfre led off with a single and Jake Simpson followed with another. Both were sacrificed by Aidan Kane, then Chris Conyers walked. But when Will Venizelos lofted a sacrifice fly, the Raiders were able to cut down Simpson at third base to end the rally.

Hun came back with another five-run surge in the seventh, ignited by a Frank DelGuercio double and capped by a basesloaded triple by Adam Zucatti.

When Murdock reached his pitch count after two outs and two walks in the seventh, Blane Soper ended the game with one pitch.