Murphy pitches old and young Knights past Chester
ASTON » Aston Valley player/ coach Jarad Carney is by no means an old man, but as the Delco League gets younger, he keeps aging in the opposite direction.
Make no mistake, the former Sun Valley High and Neumann University standout has plenty left in the tank. That much was evident Tuesday night when he blasted the go-ahead RBI double in the Knights’ 1-0 victory over Chester in Game 1 of a firstround playoff series at Buggy Field.
“I started playing as a sophomore in high school and I was on some of those championship teams back in the day,” Carney said. “If you look out there now, me, (catcher Matt) Domian and Murph (Chris Murphy) are the only non-college guys on the team. They’re all young now and the older guys are trying to keep up.”
Murphy, a 2015 Houston Astros draftee who set all sorts of pitching records at Millersville, allowed one hit and struck out seven over five dominant innings. But the Knights’ bats had trouble generating good contact against Chester starter Justin Brooks, who was excellent through five innings.
“Attacking with the fastball and getting ahead with the slider if I needed to,” Murphy said. “But, really, just getting ahead of the hitters and dictating the counts was important. One too many walks (two), but in the end we got it done and that’s what’s important.”
Carney and the Knights knew they couldn’t waste a superb start from the big righthander.
“He’s been unbelievable and
we’re blessed to have him on our team,” Carney said of Murphy. “He’s been our ace all year. We know that every time he gets the ball, we’ve got a shot to win and tonight ... he keep putting up zeros.”
Domian and Carney gave the Aston Valley offense a jolt, delivering back-to-back doubles in the sixth off Brooks. Domian’s laser came on a 1-0 count and Carney jumped on a firstpitch fastball and shot it down the left-field line. Before the “old guys” delivered at the dish, the Knights had been limited to two hits, a double by Aidan Duda in the second inning and a fifth-inning single off the bat of Brett Lesher.
“After Domian got the hit in front of me, I knew I had to keep up and come through,” Carney said. “Someone said – it was one of the young kids – that the over25 guys are carrying us tonight.”
The game ended in a breezy one hour and 35 minutes. Save for the late heroics by Domian and Carney, both offenses were stagnant. It was all about pitching in this crucial Game 1.
“I think early in the game we were being a little passive. We were looking for that spark the whole game and Matt gave it to us,” Carney said. “I just tried to be aggressive, to get something going early in the count. Veteran leadership by Matt, coming out and getting us. It took us a little while to adjust, Justin’s a hell of a pitcher and he mixes it up real well and is always around the zone. He’s got three good pitches and throws three wherever he wants, whenever he wants. The last at bat was
a third time through the order type of thing and we had a little different game plan, which was to attack early.”
Jacob Stretch, a recent Avon Grove graduate, pitched 1.2 innings in relief of Murphy. After issuing a walk with two outs in the seventh, Ridley High grad Jack Liberio got the final out of the game, a strikeout of Chester catcher Brian Protesto.
Edwin Lee had a double for Chester.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series continues Wednesday at the Chester Athletic Complex. First pitch is 5:45 p.m.
In another first-round game: SPRINGFIELD 7, NARBERTH 3 » Cole Palis’ three-run homer in the top
of the first inning set the tone for the Colonials in Game 1.
Andrew Cantwell pitched six solid innings to earn the win. He scattered three runs on seven hits and struck out four. Nick Wiesendanger tossed a scoreless seventh for Springfield.
Will Kelley ripped a two-run double and Matt Shepherd went 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored.
Evan Sinclair finished 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Mudcats. Ryan Tecco went 2-for-2 and scored two runs.
Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday at Church Road Park in Springfield. The game will be streamed live on delcoleague. com. First pitch is 5:45.