DISTRICT ONE CLASS A BASEBALLBulldogs rally past Warriors
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).
2 comments:
so proud of our boys!!! We are forever fighting bulldogs no matter the sport! Congrats guys, go get em on Weds! We are all rooting for you, you deserve a big win and good news for the district!!!
Congratulations Bulldogs!
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