Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day

Enjoy the parades, the barbeques, the long weekend, family, and friends.

But most of all, remember and honor all who served, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Potluck #8

Bulldogs Beat Bristol in Baseball


DISTRICT ONE CLASS A BASEBALLBulldogs rally past Warriors

Print
Font Size:
Default font size
Larger font size
Posted: Friday, May 27, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 9:58 am, Fri May 27, 2011.
Morrisville 9, Bristol 5
Morrisville moved a win away from its first District One crown since 2002 by erasing a four-run deficit.
FRAZER - Morrisville baseball coach Dave Vaccaro paid a visit to his pitcher, Eric Wilcox, in the bottom of the fourth inning, with the Bulldogs' District One Class AA semifinal playoff game against Bristol on Thursday about to completely unravel.
Already trailing by four runs, Wilcox was in another jam - runners on first and second and nobody out.
"Coach came out and said, 'Eric, you want me to take you out this inning?'" said Wilcox. "I told him, 'No coach, I got this, coach.'"
Wilcox stayed in, the Morrisville offense got cranked up, and, after their come-from-behind, 9-5 triumph at Great Valley, the Bulldogs will now play for a district title against Cavalry Christian at West Chester Henderson on Wednesday.
"He was a bulldog," said Vaccaro, of Wilcox. "He took the approach that the game's not over 'til it's over. He's been in that position before. We've been down by three, four runs mid-game. We just kept getting into him to have confidence in his offense. They've come through all season. It's not the first time we've come from behind before."
Wilcox, a junior left-hander, escaped the troublesome fourth with the help of a nifty double play turn by first baseman Matt Cookson, who fielded a slow roller in front of first base, threw to second then got back to first to accept the relay from shortstop Tyler Quill.
Wilcox wasn't completely out of the mess, yet. With a runner at third, Vaccaro ordered back-to-back intentional walks to Bristol's Nos. 4 and 5 hitters, Derek Whitfield and Kenny Reitz, to load the bases. But Wilcox got Carman Scalzo to ground to third, where third baseman Joe Sesar hustled to the base for the final out.
"I had to keep my head in it," said Wilcox, who allowed just one more hit after the fourth inning. "I didn't want to let the team down and just give up. (Coach) kept me in and I kept fighting and fighting, and I had my team behind me the whole way. That's pretty much what did it for me."
Morrisville then began chipping away at its 5-1 deficit.
Warming to the task was senior Charlie Colon, who had an RBI single in the fifth, then a two-run single in the sixth when the Bulldogs scored four times to take a 7-5 lead.
"Thankfully, my bat actually woke up in my third at-bat, and I got a nice little single that helped us out a little bit," said Colon, who will attend West Chester University in the fall. "But our whole team came up big at the plate. We were a little sluggish in the beginning."
Over the final three innings, Morrisville scored a total of eight runs.
"We were looking good with a 5-1 lead, and it just fell apart," said Bristol coach Tony Mangiaracina. "My pitcher (Kelvin Ortiz), his pitch count was high, he started to get tired, and they put the ball in the right spots. A couple times, we should've made some plays we didn't make, but I think our youngness bit us in the butt. But it's a good experience for them."
Everybody except senior first baseman Reitz and shortstop Jason Gonzalez returns for the Warriors next season.
By then, however, Morrisville may have won its second district title. The only other one in the program's history came in 2002, although the Bulldogs advanced to the district final 2004 and 2008, only to lose to Christopher Dock.
Ed Kracz can be reached at 215-345-3069 or ekracz@phillyBurbs.com
Follow Ed on twitter at http://twitter.com/kracze
Morrisville 9, Bristol 5
Morrisville 100 024 2 - 9 12 2
Bristol 014 000 0 - 5 7 4
WP: Eric Wilcox. LP: Kelvin Ortiz.
Doubles: M-Cord Stastolla; B-Derek Whitfield, Sean Coughlin.
RBIs: M-Charlie Colon 3, Wilcox 2, Raimy Valdez 2, Matt Cookson; B-Kenny Reitz 2, Angelo Tisone 2, Michael Petrino.
Multiple hits: M-Tyler Quill 2-for-2, Colon 2-for-4, Steve Driscoll 2-for-4, Valdez 2-for-3.
Records: Morrsivlle (14-6), Bristol (10-7).

Thursday, May 26, 2011

M.R. Reiter to Close for Good


M.R. Reiter to close for good

Print
Font Size:
Default font size
Larger font size
Posted: Thursday, May 26, 2011 12:00 am
MORRISVILLE SCHOOLS
The school has been vacant since a furnace blast in 2008.
The future of M.R. Reiter Elementary School has been set: it will permanently close.
The 8-1 vote to close it came at Wednesday's school board meeting after years of the school being vacant since a furnace blast in 2008. The lone vote against closing the elementary school came from school director Gloria Heater.
The decision was made because enrollment has declined and the district has been able to conduct educational programs with the same efficiency as it did when Reiter was open, said William Ferrara, acting superintendent.
"In the future we don't foresee a need for that school building in the Morrisville School District," he said.
Even though the school has been thoroughly cleaned, Paul DeAngelo, the district's business administrator, said he doesn't feel comfortable "putting our students, our teachers and our parents back in that building."
To reopen Reiter would cost at least $4 million and that's not including air quality testing, officials said.
Reiter was one of two elementary schools in Morrisville until the furnace blast made it unusable in December 2008. Board members moved grades four and five into the same building as middle and high school students after the explosion. Students in lower grades were sent to Grandview Elementary.
That arrangement will continue.
Officials were unable to provide cost savings for the school closure or insurance claim numbers because they didn't have that information with them Wednesday night, but said they would provide that information this week to the newspaper.
In other school district news, it was announced that kindergarten will remain full time for the 2011-12 school year.
That was in limbo earlier this year, when the board announced that it would cut back to half days.
The district was considering taking such a step after Gov. Tom Corbett announced his proposed cuts to education for the upcoming school year, officials have said.
In March, the board decided to table the decision and find other avenues. Those avenues weren't discussed at the meeting.