Lapp, Dock too much for Jenkintown

JENKINTOWN » Nate Lapp didn’t need much offensive help from his teammates Wednesday afternoon, but the rest of the Dock Mennonite Academy lineup delivered anyway.

Lapp went 3-for-3 from the plate with two RBI and three runs while pitching all five innings in the Pioneers 13-1 Bicentennial Athletic League win over Jenkintown at Jenkintown High School.

Lapp got things started with a bang. He led off the top of the first inning with a solo home run to left-center field.

“It was a 3-1 count and I knew he wasn’t going to throw me a curveball,” he said. “I knew he was going to throw me a fastball. All I had to do was just be on time with it and bang.”

He hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning to make it a 3-0 game. He singled and scored in both the fourth and fifth innings, extending Dock’s lead to 8-1 and 13-1, respectively.

On the mound, Lapp had his best outing of the season. He scattered three hits across five innings, striking out six batters to one walk. All six strikeouts were looking, including three-up and threedown in the bottom of the fourth.

“I was able to throw them off by throwing different pitches,” Lapp, who threw his fastball early and off-speed later, said, “and just keeping them on their toes.

“Sometimes I have problems coming open. For me being able to stay closed and for me to just have confidence, throw the ball over the plate and trust my fastball on the outer half — it really helps.”

“(Lapp) was certainly on today,” Dock coach Joe Mascio said. “It was by far the best game he’s thrown for us this year. In the strike zone a lot and his energy is really good. (Catcher) Sam (Laux) calls a good game for us back there. The two of them click very well and he was on today.”

Everyone in the Dock lineup contributed in the win by either scoring a run or knocking one in.

Deven Ross went 3-for-3 with two RBI and three runs.

“He’s been hitting sixth all year for us, which is a joy because he’d hit one, two or three in any other lineup in the league,” Mascio said. “He’s really dedicated trying to hit the ball the other way and that’s why we keep him at six — because he’s really good with runners on base and making solid contact, just staying true and not trying to hit the ball out of the park.”

Logan Hinnershitz added two hits and an RBI while Brayden Kratz knocked in two runs.

The Dock offense scored doubledigit runs for the seventh time in 10 games this season. In addition to Lapp’s homer, the Pioneers got triples from Ross and Laux and a double from Kratz.