It’s Mercer vs. Burlco for spot in Carpenter Cup final
PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA. » Mercer County’s all-star baseball squad is not ready give up on capturing the Carpenter Cup Classic just yet.
After finishing second to another New Jersey squad, Tri-Cape, last season, Mercer guaranteed that at least one N.J. club will be in this year’s championship game by defeating Bux-Mont., 6-5, in 12 innings Friday in a 2022 Carpenter Cup Classic quarterfinal, played at Villanova’s Ballpark in a last— minute change.
By surviving, the team in its first season under manager Dave Angebranndt will head to Citizens Bank Park on Father’s Day to play a 12:30 p.m. semifinal against its old nemesis, Burlington County.
Burlington also advanced by defeating, Philadelphia Catholic, 9-6, Friday at Archbishop Carroll High in Radnor, Pa.
In creating the head-tohead semifinal matchup, Mercer and Burlington also ensured that one local team will return to the Cup final, which will be played at Major League Baseball’s Urban Youth Academy Showcase Field in Philadelphia’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park at 1 p.m. Monday.
Sunday’s other Carpenter Cup semifinal will pit Pennsylvania’s Inter-Ac/ Independents team (an 8-6 winner over Delaware County, Pa.) against defending champ Tri-Cape (a 9-2 winner over Delaware South) at 9 a.m. at Citizens Bank Park.
This tri-state, singleelimination event put on by the Phillies and presented by Nike over the course of the last 36 years brings together some of the top high school baseball allstar teams from Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
year after year to determine who will take home the top prize.
Mercer, which has won the Cup twice, saw BuxMont. rally to tie the game at 3 in the eighth inning when Central Bucks South’s Owen Wheeler doubled in Upper Dublin’s Nick Harley, who had walked with two outs.
Hightstown High product Aaron Winzinger made sure no further damage happened to send the game to extra innings. The Rider University-bound righthander held Bux-Mont. in check for the next three innings, allowing just two hits, while striking out four.
Likewise, the Central Jersey squad could not get much going against Souderton High senior righthander Will McCausland over the next three innings, but things changed when North Penn’s Jack Picozzi moved from the field to the mound.
After Winzinger finished his stint on the hill, Hun’s Tyler Tucker singled, then advanced to third base as two balls got away at the plate.
With one out, his high school teammate, Carson Applegate, singled in Tucker before another Hun
grad, Jackson Kraemer, was hit by a pitch.
Notre Dame junior Jack Hughes followed with a resounding triple to the rightcenter field fence, which gave the visitors a 6-3 advantage.
“My approach was more calm in that at-bat,” Hughes said. “I went up there think- ing, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose.’ I was calm through the zone (with his swing). It felt good to barrel a ball that was not way up in the air.”
Hughes’ hit carried to the fence in right-center, yet Mercer was unable to add another run.
When Applegate moved from the field to the mound, he was greeted by the third hit of the day by Upper Dublin junior Jared Levis, who then moved to third base on a throwing error.
“I was just trying to get on base,” Levis, whose twin brother, Joe, was also a catcher for manager Ed Wall’s squad. “I wanted to work the at-bat and have a chance to help our team. I knew we had a lot of good pitching and hitting, so this is a tough way to lose.”
Making the ending tougher was when Souderton senior Shanley Wall walked, and Central Bucks
West senior Aidan Quinn doubled off Applegate to chase home both runners.
Kraemer took over on the mound at that point and proceeded to strike out Souderton senior Luke Pollock and Harley before Allentown catcher Joe Butera gunned down Quinn trying to steal third base to end the game.
“I was ready to pump another one in there,” said Kraemer, who had two strikes on Wheeler when Butera made the throw and Notre Dame’s Ryan Mignogna made the tag. “I was amped to come in and pitch. I had a lot of adrenalin going. I wanted to help out my teammates.”