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Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Breaks, Calls Don't Go Shillington's Way
Greater Reading, PA
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By: Dave Conard
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Photo(s) By: Dave Conard
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fall 3 - 1 to Spring City
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the Dodgers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Collin Hecker tripled to drive in Snyder who had singled. Kyle Hartman followed Hecker by drilling a ball down the line which first basemen Ricky Gorell tossed home, it appeared that Hecker had beaten the tag but he was called out at the plate.
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Breaks, calls don’t go Dodgers way in set back
By David Conard
A mere 24 hours after the jubilation that followed Shillington’s 14-2 win over West Lawn to advance to the winner’s bracket final, the mood was quite different Monday night as the Dodgers fell 3-1 to Spring City.
In a rematch that featured the two teams that played for the Spring City regional title last week, the game had some eerie similarities. The Dodgers did not take advantage of early chances to put the game away, they got strong starting pitching, a great defensive effort, and unfortunately the officials had far too much to do with the outcome of the contest.
Led by an outstanding pitching performance from Brandon Snyder (only allowed four hits through the first five innings), the Dodgers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Collin Hecker tripled to drive in Snyder who had singled. Kyle Hartman followed Hecker by drilling a ball down the line which first basemen Ricky Gorell tossed home, it appeared that Hecker had beaten the tag but he was called out at the plate.
“Collin got a big hit there,” said coach Zach Williams. “Unfortunately we couldn’t get him in from there. We had chances to put a few more on the board early but didn’t get that one key hit when we needed it”
Shillington (39-5) carried the 1-0 into the home half sixth, which is when it seemed like deja vu all over again. After getting up 1-2 on five-hole hitter Andrew March, Snyder zipped a fastball into the glove of catcher Ryan Topper. A surprising “ball” call from home plate umpire John Long set up the 2-2 pitch. Snyder again placed the ball in the leather mitt with out Topper moving it an inch and again it was called a ball. After a brief conversation on the mound, the battery of a visibly perplexed Snyder and Topper went back to work. March took the 3-2 offering and laced it down the third base line. It appeared to be foul but was signaled in play, and before you knew it March was standing on second representing the tying run with a double.
“There is not really anything I could do,” said a disappointed Snyder. “Sometimes they squeeze you like that. As a pitcher, I just have to keep putting it where Ryan has the glove.”
After a curve ball scooted to the back stop to move March to third, the 16-year-old hurler regained his composure and got Mike Oczypak to groundout, but March scored to tie the game. Spring city tacked on two more runs to takes the lead on consecutive doubles, as it appeared the strike zone had shrunken to the size of a quarter.
The Dodgers challenged in the seventh as Joe Palange led off with a single, but Shillington was unable to get a run across, and a golden opportunity to have an automatic berth in the championship game had disappeared.
“We didn’t come out like we should have tonight,” said Snyder (3-for-3, run scored). “ We’re not called the comeback kids for nothing. Tomorrow we have to come out and hit the ball better than we did today.”
The Dodgers defense was outstanding again on Monday. On three separate occasions, Spring City (40-6) had two men on with less than two outs and was unable to score thanks to solid play in the field from the boys in blue.
“It tough when you feel like it’s out of your hands,” said Collin Hecker. “You have to swing at anything close since the plate calls were not consistent. You have to be more aggressive than we were tonight.” “We are a little more fresh than we were a week ago,” said coach Tim Gombar. “Hopefully we get another chance at them in the championship game. We had a chance to win tonight but didn’t execute when we needed to.”
Shillington will battle Schwoyersville (19-7), who finished second to West Lawn in the Eastern regional last week, on Tuesday at 4PM. It is win or go home time as the winner of this contest will battle the winner of the West Lawn/ Spring City game for the right to play for the State title on Wednesday afternoon.
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