Titan bats come to life
Hatfield-Towamencin pulls away from Nor-Gwyn
Greg DiPippo’s towering triple deep to right field capped things off in proper fashion for Hatfield-Towamencin Thursday night against rival NorGwyn.
“The bats came alive at the end of the game,” said DiPippo, a rising senior at North Penn.
The Titans’ eight-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth sent this one into the win column with authority, as Hatfield-Towamencin pulled away to a 14-4 victory over the Hawks to raise its early-season record to 2-1.
Nicky DiPippo and Jacob Martinell each had RBI singles earlier in the inning, and then with two on, Greg DiPippo smashed his triple to boost the margin to 13-4.
“It felt good. It felt good off the bat — finally,” said Greg DiPippo, who gave a fist-pumping salute to the bench upon rolling into third.
“I struggled early in the game but came back. It was a fastball right over the middle and I just jumped on it.”
Justin Egner then smacked a single to right to score Greg DiPippo, pushing the lead to 14-4 and enforcing the 10-run mercy rule.
Early on, it was back and forth. EARLY SURGE » Both starting
pitchers came out firing.
Titans right hander Peter Cooke retired the first two, walked Ryan Sullivan, and then got John Milligan to fly out to right.
Lefty Gavin Ridge struck out the side to start things off for the Hawks (0-3).
Nor-Gwyn dented the scoreboard in the second.
Ben Criger hit a flare to right and Connor Rassmusen lined a single to left.
Hayden Wagner grounded out but that allowed Criger to race home for a 1-0 Hawk lead.
Cooke then prevented further damage, striking out two in a row to close out the inning.
Ridge continued to fire,
striking out two more in the second to keep it a 1-0 contest.
Nor-Gwyn added to its early lead in the third, with John Milligan’s sac fly scoring A.J. Bertucci. ROARING BACK » The Titans came to life in the third.
Charlie Wetzel’s infield single got it started, and he would eventually come in to score on Quinn Marett’s sac fly to center.
Jacob Martinell, who had drawn a walk, came in to score on a wild pitch, making it a 2-2 contest. GOING AHEAD » The Titans drew four consecutive walks in the fourth against Hawk reliever Jake Sparra, taking a 3-2 lead.
Sam Oulette came on for the Hawks, and the Titans were able to push three more across on a wild pitch, a groundout and a fielder’s choice, making it 6-2.
Oulette then struck out three over the next two innings to keep the margin at four.
Nor-Gwyn cut it to 6-4 in the sixth, pushing runs across on a wild pitch and a balk, setting up the Titans’ outburst in the bottom half.
UP NEXT » Hatfield-Towamencin hosts Upper Moreland
at 7:30 p.m. on Monday and Nor-Gwyn hosts Central Perk at 6 p.m. on Monday.