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Twenty
years is a long time. An awfully long time to
wait between baseball titles.
It was
1956, about this time of year, when Downingtown,
thick in the era of Elvis Presley's gyrating pelvis,
bobby sox and the infamous DA haircut, won its first
Ches-Mont League baseball crown.
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Yesterday, the Carl Houp-coached Whippets picked up
their second. Meeting perennial league power
Boyertown at Pottstown's Enterprise Field,
Downingtown rode the crest of a splendid one-hit
pitching performance by fireballing right-hander
Timmy Hardy to an exciting 3-2 victory before a huge
crowd of boisterous spectators.
Boyertown had been to the big show eight times
previously, 1959, 1963, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973
and 1974, winning all eight. Yesterday, Dick
Ludy's Bears found themselves on the other side of
the fence.
The
Bears tallied two quick runs in the initial frame
and, by all indications, were set to explode and
literally bounce the Whippets off the field.
But,
after that, Hardy closed the door on Boyertown,
allowing a mere three base-runners in the final six
stanzas. At one point, he retired 12
consecutive batters, six via the strikeout route.
Downingtown, running the basepaths with reckless
abandon, scored one in the fourth and the decisive
pair in the fifth. |
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CONCERNED LOOK covers the face of
Downingtown coach Carl Houp
(windbreaker) as he watches the
action in yesterday's title game at
Pottstown. From
left to right: Assistant Coach Hurley, Jeff
Mull, Coach Houp, Mike Sciarretta, Bill Dague
(glasses), who scored one of
Downingtown's three runs in a 3-2
victory. Staff photos by Larry McDevitt |
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"I have
a great deal of respect for Boyertown," an elated
Houp said after the game. "When all the money is on
the line, Boyertown has always met the task head-on
in the past and come out strong.
"As I've
said many times before," he continued, "this team of
ours just refuses to quit. We fell behind
early and knew that this game was for everything,
that if we lost there was no tomorrow. The
boys simply went out there and played up to their
capabilities. Timmy (Hardy) was just out-a
sight."
Hardy,
who had beaten the Bears during the regular Ches-Mont
season, 5-1, firing a 12-strikeout, one-hitter,
mixed a blazing fastball, a hard slider and a change
of pace.
"I
didn't have my usual good curve today," Hardy said,
with a smile after the affair. "I was forced
to rely on my fastball and come with the slider in
key spots."
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Bears score pair |
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The
first inning was the only frame he had problems.
Hardy opened by walking pesky Pete Madeja and rugged
Pete Hiryak, setting the stage for left-handed Leon
Sendecki who roped Hardy's third pitch down the
right field line for a standup, two run triple.
From
then on, Hardy settled down, fanning six of the next
eight hitters using a minimum of pitches. He
tossed nine pitches in each of the next two stanzas
to dispose of the Bears and delivered a mere five in
the fourth.
In the
meantime, Downingtown was having trouble keeping men
on the basepaths. The Whippets put two runners
on via free passes from Boyertown starter and loser
Kevin Mackey in the first, but a delayed double
steal went for nought.
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Whippets break ice |
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The Whippets stranded another runner in the
second before finally breaking the ice with
a tally in the fourth and two in the fifth.
In the fourth, a walk to hard-hitting
Whippet Bill Dague
and two singles by Jeff Jull and Hardy chased the
run home, Dague scoring on Hardy's bloop hit to
left.
The
decisive tallies came an inning later when Scott
O'Neill drew a one-out free pass from Mackey,
waiting out a full count and Eric Miller entered the
contest on the re-entry rule as O'Neill's runner.
Leadoff man Joel Ashinhurst followed with a ground
single up the middle to move Miller to second and
set up the crucial play of the game.
With Jerry Klein at the plate, Mackey
whirled towards second. Miller,
leaning towards third, was a dead duck
except Mackey, in his anxiety to end the
potential rally, fired the ball far over the
head of shortstop Madeja. Miller moved to
third and scored when Boyertown
centerfielder Mark Nuscher kicked the ball.
Whippet right fielder Phil Mackey then
delivered what turned out to be the winning
hit, ripping a fastball to centerfield to
plate Ashinhurst.
Ludy, making no excuses, cited the botched
pickoff attempt as the turning point in the
game.
"We practiced that play all week," Ludy
explained. "We make the play, the man
is out. We didn't and he scored."
Sendecki's opening-frame triple was the only
hit Hardy allowed. The paunchy Whippet
fanned nine and walked five, fanning two in
the final frame.
Downingtown had seven hits off Mackey, who
was unbeaten with an 8-0 mark going into the
contest. Shortstop Greg Runyen led the
winners with two hits. Mackey fanned
eight and walked four.
Downingtown now meets the Lower Bucks
Champion on Tuesday at Plymouth Whitemarsh
as the District One baseball playoffs begin.
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SLIDING HOME with what turned out to
be the winning run for Carl Houp's
Downingtown Whippets yesterday
afternoon in the Ches-Mont title
game at Pottstown's Enterprise Field
is Whippet left fielder Joel
Ashinhurst (11). Boyertown
catcher Tony Lambert waits for a
throw which never came.
Ashinhurst scored on Phil Mackey's
single to give Downingtown a 3-2
triumph. Staff photos by Larry
McDevitt |
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©Daily Local News, 1976 |
