Neumann capitalizes on chances, holds off Immaculata

EAST WHITELAND » Baseball can be a fickle game, but the participants accept that fate may, or may not, work in their favor.

On Tuesday, visiting Neumann gladly accepted some breaks and came away with a gritty 2-1 Colonial States Athletic Conference victory against hard-luck Immaculata. The host Mighty Macs had an edge in hits (9-5) and extrabase hits (2-0), but the Knights capitalized on their chances and have solidified the second place position in the league standings.

“We got the two runs and it happened to be enough to win the game,” said NU head coach Dan Di Bartolomeo.

“(Neumann is) second in the conference and I thought we outplayed them,” added IU head coach Kevin Schneider. “We had chances every inning and they didn’t have many except for one, where we gave them chances. But that’s baseball.”

The Knights improve to 7-2 in the CSAC (16-17 overall). Immaculata has now dropped five straight and falls to 3-6, 8-17. The Macs probably need to win at least six of regular season’s final seven in order to work their way into the top four and slip into league playoffs.

“I still think we have a chance,” Schneider said. “We need to get over this one as quick as possible. We may need to win out but it there may be a little wiggle room. But we’re put ourselves in a tough spot.”

On a breezy day with the wind blowing in, starters Joey Gorman and Billy Manzo were dominant. Neumann opened the scoring in the fifth inning with two runs on just one hit against Manzo. But IU helped out with two errors, a walk, a passed ball and a wild pitch. And the Macs got a diving play by shortstop Brad Misialek, who gunned down a runner at the plate, or it would have been worse.

“It happened to be a pitcher’s duel,” said Gorman, who wound up going five-plus scoreless innings and registered the win. “It was a grind with the weather, but it’s actually kind of nice compared to what we’ve had earlier this season.”

In all, Immaculata stranded 12 base runners, including two

in the ninth with the tying run at third base and the winning run at second. A single and a two-base error by Neumann set the stage, but the heart of IU’s lineup weakly popped out twice to end the game.

“If you had told me we’d

have second and third and one out and our number three hitter up, I’m taking it in the bottom of the ninth,” Schneider said. “We have to be better, but it’s been one of those seasons and that was one of those games.”

The Macs sabotaged a bunch of scoring chances. They had a runner thrown out trying to steal in the first inning, botched a bunt with two on base in the second,

stranded a pair in scoring position in the third and left the bases loaded in the fifth.

“If I give up 100 hits and they don’t score, then I’m happy,” Gorman pointed out. “I try and pitch to contact and trust that we are going to make the play, and I had good defense behind me.”

Immaculata finally broke the scoring drought when

Tristan Ryan led off the seventh with a triple and scored on a passed ball. But in the eighth, with runners on the corners, IU tried a delayed steal that resulted in an out at the plate.

“We always talk about avoiding the big inning and you do that by taking care of the ball and throwing strikes,” DiBartolomeo said. “For the most part we did that.

“Our pitching was great. I can’t ask for more.”

Manzo was solid in eight innings of work, allowing zero earned runs, five hits and eight strikeouts, but was still saddled with the loss.

“Billy threw awesome, but he’s been great all season,” Schneider said. “This was a game where you shake your head. (Neumann) didn’t have many scoring opportunities. You can’t ask for more out of a start.

“(Gorman) is a veteran, crafty guy. But we have to take advantage of opportunities. So when you have that happen, it’s easy to press and put more pressure on yourself. The game is hard enough as it is – it’s a game of failure – so adding more pressure is going to make it tougher.”