Aleardi, B-N slide past Springfield
NEWTOWN SQUARE >> Broomall-Newtown shortstop Ryan Cuthbertson lets his play do the talking.
On the field, the rising St. Joseph’s Prep junior doesn’t say much, but he doesn’t have to. Not when he’s ripping doubles down the third-base line, knocking in runs, causing havoc on the bases and turning double plays at short.
“He’s a fantastic player,” said Mike “Fox” Volpe, who plays second base for B-N. “He doesn’t talk much, but he’s a fantastic player nonetheless.”
Cuthbertson was B-N’s main man in Game 1 of an Intermediate EDCO quarterfinal round series Tuesday night at Gable Field. He was 2-for-3 with two doubles, four ribbies and two runs scored to lead B-N to a 10-6 victory over Springfield.
Oh, and for good measure, Cuthbertson was intentionally walked in his third plate appearance after doubling his first two times. Springfield wanted no part of him a third time around.
For Cuthbertson, all he wanted to do to was put together a few good ABs and look to barrel the ball.
“I’m just staying back on the baseball,” Cuthbertson said, “i was looking to hit it down the line and make real solid contact with the ball.”
Cuthbertson pulled a pitch down the line in left field and trotted into second base with a leadoff double in the bottom of the second. He scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Justin Smith to give Broomall a 1-0 lead.
His next hit, a basesclearing double in the third, was virtually identical to his second-inning knock. This time, Cuthbertson drove in three runs to extend B-N’s lead to 4-0.
“We just wanted to go out there and hit, score some runs against them,” Cuthbertson said.
B-N didn’t exactly knock around Springfield starter Ben Kaminski, who was plagued by some shoddy defense and five walks. Kaminski gave up seven runs, but only two were earned, and four hits while striking out six.
“I know this team can hit the ball very well,” said Volpe, who plays high school ball at Archbishop Carroll. He went 1-for-3 with a walk, RBI and two runs scored Tuesday. “We’ll have some off nights but we’ll come back and have these kind of games where it’s, like, ‘bang’ and everything clicks for us.”
B-N appeared to have the game in the bag, leading 7-0 in the top of the sixth. However, Springfield didn’t quit, even when the odds of it winning were very slim. B-N starter Mike Dempsey didn’t allow a hit through the first four innings, but Josh Kilgallen led off the fifth with a hot-shot single up the middle to spoil Dempsey’s no-hit bid.
In the sixth, Springfield cracked the scoreboard and then some, plating six runs on four hits. The big blow was a bomb off the bat of Kilgallen.
The rising junior from Springfield High went after the first pitch he saw from Dempsey and blasted one over the fence in right-center field for a grand slam. Kilgallen, who said he has never hit a home run prior to Tuesday, pumped his fist in celebration as he trotted between first and second base. At the time, Kilgallen had trimmed B-N’s lead to one run at 7-6.
“I did not think the ball would go out at all. It was my first home run ever,” said Kilgallen, who also plays Main Line Senior Legion during the summer months. “It was pretty cool.”
Kilgallen, whose three older brothers all excelled at baseball, is looking forward to getting back on the field this week. While the team fell short in Game 1, Kilgallen believes the lateinning rally Tuesday will give Springfield confidence heading into Game 2.
“It definitely gave us a boost,” he said. “We rallied with two outs and we haven’t been the type that could do that. It was nice to get all of those runs.”
Broomall-Newtown tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to cap the scoring. Jake Alreadi stole home and a throwing error enabled Ethan Law to cross home plate to make it 9-6. Volpe added an RBI groundout to put B-N ahead by four runs.
B-N hopes this is the first step in successfully defending its Intermediate EDCO championship.
“We feel really good right now,” Volpe said.
For Springfield, Brian Layton smashed an RBI double and walked twice, while Ron DeLollis chipped in with a run-scoring single.