Wallace’s 1-hitter puts Marple one win away
It was one of those nights where everything went Marple’s way Friday night and the top-seeded Tigers are one win away from claiming the Senior EDCO League baseball championship because of it.
Grant Wallace took care of things on the hill, and T.J. Luskin, James Luskin, Pat Shevlin and Brendan Tate supplied the offense as the Tigers took control of the championship series with a 6-1 victory over Briarcliffe.
Marple can wrap up the series and the title with a win in Game 4 of the bestof-five set Monday night at Briarcliffe.
Wallace allowed one hit, a second-inning single to Russ Trojan, and fanned five in a complete-game effort. He had plenty of support as Marple broke the game open with three runs in the top of the third inning and two more runs in the top of the fourth.
Shevlin’s two-run double was the big blow in the fifth inning. He finished with two hits. James Luskin also drove in a run in the third inning. Luskin’s brother, T.J., ripped a two-run double in the top of the fourth inning to seal the victory. He had three hits. Brendan Tate got the scoring started for Marple with a fielder’s choice in the second inning.
Delco League
Starter Greg Krug may have come away with a nodecision, but he certainly factored into the outcome as the Tribe opened its bestof-five semifinal series with a 5-1 triumph over Middletown.
Krug pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the fifth inning and the Tribe rewarded him with a four-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth inning to break the game open. The Lions loaded the bases after Dan Haley hit a solo homer to tie the game, but Krug recorded back-toback strikeouts to end that threat.
Randy Milia drew a bases-loaded walk to break the tie in Narberth’s half of the sixth inning. Steve DeBarberie followed with an RBI single and Connor Hinchcliffe ripped a tworun single to break the game open. Kevin Giffin pitched two scoreless innings to nail down the victory.
Game 2 is 4 p.m. Saturday at Narberth Park. WAYNE 5, CONCORD 3 >> The two-time defending champions scored all five runs in the first inning to move within one game of a return trip to the championship series. Game 3 is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Garnet Valley High School.
Ben Burman and Bryan Rubin delivered the big blows in the first inning for Wayne. Burman belted a two-run single and Rubin added an RBI double.
Starter John Bernhardt allowed three hits and two earned runs in 6⅓ innings, but got into a little trouble in the seventh inning. Reilly Degen got the final two outs to earn the save.
Diving
The summer season is not over for Nassau’s Jami McIlhenney, Ridley Park’s Brianna Costa, Lawrence Park’s Steve Szarthmary and Ridley Township’s Mason Beck. They have one more meet before they call it a summer and it’s a big one.
All four are headed to the Elite Meet next Monday night at Ridley Township Swim Club.
McIlhenney and Costa finished first and second, respectively, at the Delco Diving League senior division championships at Ridley Township to earn a spot in the Elite Meet. McIlhenney won the overall title with a score of 312.35. Coata was second in 267.80, followed by Emily Wolfe of Karakung (263.00), Megan Lynch from host Ridley Township (262.20), Allie Rosengarten of Karakung (258.00) and Marcianna Tavani from Ridley Township (152.55).
Szarthmary won the boys senior title with a score of 286.95. Beck (253.90) was second followed by Ben Knower of Knowlton (194.10), Ridley Township’s Rand Bachman (188.95) and Colin Conmy from Glenolden (176.75).