|
Dragons come up short vs. SWS
By TODD RUTH
Ephrata Review
Published: Jul 16, 2008 10:40 AM EST
EPHRATA - After earning a dramatic nine inning 6-4 win over Rheems Blue in the
opening round of the New Era Tournament, the Ephrata Dragons had a shot to
punch their tickets to the finals Monday with a win over SWS
Cardinals.
However, Monday night at Kunkle Field in Mount Joy, there
wasn't any magic left against the team that frustrated Ephrata all season
long.
SWS, the number one seed in the tournament, handed the Dragons
three, one-run losses during the regular season. Monday night, the
Cardinals used timely hitting and outstanding pitching to knock off
Ephrata, 5-1, and earn a trip to the championship game.
Starting
pitcher Matt Wright pitched five strong innings for SWS, allowing just
three hits and one earned run, while striking out four. Brett Brooks
pitched the final inning for SWS, striking out two as SWS advanced to face
Manheim Maroon - a 12-3 winner over Mountville - Tuesday at Kunkle Field,
beginning at 7 p.m.
"We knew they were a tough competitor, that's
why they were the No. 1 seed coming in and tonight they showed why,"
Ephrata Coach Dave Albright said.
Ephrata let a golden opportunity
slip away in the top of the first, and that may have set the tone for the
rest of the game.
The Dragons loaded the bases as Logan Rutt got an
infield hit, Colin Albright reached on an error, and Steve Long walked.
After Josh Gehman struck out, Brandon Miller hit a ball to shortstop which
hit Albright running to third. That wiped out a run because Rutt, who
scored, had to return to third base, and then Trevor Seibel ended the
inning with a fly out to left.
SWS then went on top 1-0 in the
bottom of the first when Regan Hershey reached on an error, stole second,
took third on a ground out and scored on Jared Horn's RBI ground out to
first base.
Ask if it may have been a different ballgame had his
team scored in the first, Albright said, "I think so. I think it would have
put a little more pressure on them."
Ephrata did score its lone run
of the game and tie it at 1-1 in the top of the third as Long worked a
one-out walk, stole second and third bases, and scored on a wild pitch. It
remained that way until the bottom of the fourth when SWS struck for three
key runs off Dragons' starter Gehman.
Brett Brooks stroked a one-out
single to center field, went to second on an error and then stole third.
Josh Wright followed with a walk, and after a strike out, Conor Groff drew
another free pass to load the bases. Gehman's wild pickoff throw to third
base allowed Brooks to score the go-ahead run, and then Brandon Cox
followed with a back-breaking two-run single to right field.
"They
have a top team, top to bottom, in their order," Albright said of SWS.
"They are solid throughout. Their number nine hitter was the one who got
the big hit tonight, the two-run single. They don't really have any holes
that you can work."
SWS added their final run in the fifth to make
it 5-1 as Hershey scored from third on an RBI single by
Horn.
Ephrata couldn't get its offense going and never really
threatened again. For the game, the Dragons had just three hits off the
strong SWS pitching: Logan Rutt's first-inning single, Anthony Embiscuso's
second-inning base hit, and Seibel's fourth-inning base hit.
The
Dragons close out the season at 15-11 overall.
"We played them tough
every game and we knew it was going to be a tough battle tonight coming
in," Albright said. "It was the same thing that has plagued us against
them. It just seems like (they got) the little nubber hit and one thing
leads to another. They didn't pound the ball around on us by any stretch.
But it's just the little seeing-eye base hit here, a walk here and before
you know it you're down three runs because they play very tough ball. They
don't give extra outs. They have good defense, they have good pitching -
that's why they're the one seed."
Overall, Albright said he was
pleased with the season.
"We have a very solid team. We don't have
any superstars," he said. "We have a good competitive team, and I think to
a large degree, we kind of overachieved this year. We really played above
where I thought we'd be at the beginning of the season. We played in the
toughest league. This was the first year that these guys played in Section
1A which is the top six teams in the county. And we were the three seed. So
we accomplished more than what we really thought would be a good season -
we were a notch above it. We were one of four teams playing in the county.
To have that means that you have a pretty solid team."
Ephrata
advanced to the semifinals by virtue of last Thursday's exciting 6-4 win
over Rheems Blue at Kunkle.
Gehman's two-run homer in the top of the
fifth tied the game, and his two-run shot in the top of the ninth won it
for the Dragons.
Long pitched six innings of outstanding relief for
Ephrata, allowing just one hit and not runs to earn the victory.
|
