Coca-Cola kids
Allen rolls past Dieruff 12-0 before hundreds of elementary school students
It would obviously be more convenient for Dieruff than Allen for Coca-Cola Park to be its home baseball field.
But considering the Canaries have now won their last three games at the home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, it’s probably something worth exploring.
Allen routed Dieruff 12-0 in five innings as part of the annual Eastern Pennsylvania Conference schedule of games at CCP and the Canaries win excited a large number of elementary school students in attendance.
“We’ve definitely had some rough games where we kind of came here and looked like deer in the headlights, but we’ve also had some really good games and we played an outstanding game today,” said Allen coach Rob Leskosky. “We played really good defense and had some good pitching and it took awhile to get the bats going, but we finished strong with a big last inning.”
Sophomore Jorge Inoa, who pitched 6.2 scoreless innings in a 2-0 win over Emmaus on March 25, pitched another gem on the biggest stage local baseball has to offer.
He worked four scoreless inning, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out one. Adrian Garcia got the last three outs, including a double play grounder to end it.
Allen, meanwhile collected 10 hits and took advantage of eight walks. It was 4-0 entering the top of the fifth when the Canaries scored seven times to put the mercy rule into effect.
Senior leader Aaron Schneider had two doubles, scored a run and drove in one.
“It’s always a blast playing here and we have won the last three after we lost in my freshman year,” Schneider said. “It’s always special and having the youth here and being able to give them something they can enjoy and maybe spark something in themselves that will make them want to get out and play a sport and do something … that’s what it’s all about.”
Inoa gave Allen another spark with his performance on the mound.
“That kid has some stuff and it’s been fun to see him come along since seventh grade,” Schneider said. “He has progressed tremendously and he’s going to be big for us the next few years.”
Inoa said it was about throwing strikes.
“I was just pounding the zone and letting the guys make the plays behind me,” he said. “It’s a beautiful field and a beautiful mound. I got really anxious to pitch but I know my guys got my back. I was just amped up and doing my thing.”
Dieruff had a band behind its dugout to make some noise during the game, but Allen had a lot of the elementary school kids screaming and yelling and the Canaries players seemed to thrive in the noisy atmosphere.
More than 500 elementary school kids were on hand as part of the 21st Century after-school program that is designed to help Allentown kids with home homework, tutoring, academic enrichment and fun activities.
“We provide a safe space for kids with meals after school,” said David George, the 21st Century Community Learning Center project manager who previously was a girls basketball coach at Dieruff. “I love seeing the kids here today. Toomey Anderson, in conjunction with our coordinators with the elementary school programs in the school district, have worked to provide this event for the students and their families. Toomey wants to promote student-athletes in the district and an event like this helps. We also had two varsity basketball games at Allen during the winter.”
George said that for many of the kids, this was their first exposure to Coca-Cola Park.
“They never get to see the IronPigs; they don’t know that this is here,” he said. “Even when we took the kids to the Allen basketball games it was a new experience because they didn’t realize that this is what we have and this what takes place in the Valley. So, this is a great opportunity to let them know what we have. We’re very thankful for the IronPigs to allow us to do this.”
Anderson, who is the K-12 coordinator for athletics and activities in the Allentown School District, said it was not only about giving the kids a chance to see a game at Coca-Cola Park but also a chance for them to learn about a true baseball legend and celebrate Jackie Robinson Day.
“Jackie Robinson is obviously a very inspirational person and this idea came from Major League Baseball because they celebrate Jackie Robinson Day every April 15 and this was our opportunity to celebrate him today,” Anderson said. “We had everybody wear No. 42 as they warmed up for the game. It’s an awesome day to have Allen and Dieruff playing at this great venue and have our young students here and understand learn what Jackie Robinson was about and what he did for so many of us. It’s a day for our kids to embrace and participate.”
At 5-6 overall, 4-5 in the EPC, Allen has hopes of participating in the District 11 tournament for the first time in a long time. They’ll need more complete efforts like the one they had against Dieruff.
“Jorge can go toe-to-toe with anybody in the league, Leskosky said. “And we have another sophomore who can pitch well and some of the older guys that give us some pitching depth. We’ve just go to win the close games. We had a lot of tournament success last summer and fall and we are starting to get to the point where we’re learning how to win. We just need to finish it off and learn how to win at the high school level.”