CHA, PCC softball head for showdown

by TOM UTESCHER

The Chestnut Hill Academy alumni team had captured an 8-6 victory in the opening game of the Club Softball Association finals, and last Thursday evening it looked as though the former Blue Devils might sweep the best-of-three championship series as they took an 8-3 lead over the first three innings.

The top-seeded Philadelphia Cricket Club squad wasn’t ready to lay down its bats, though. Shutting out CHA the rest of the way, the PCC crew slowly reduced its deficit and then churned out a total of seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings to win the contest, 13-8. The cricket clubbers edged their rivals in the hit column, 14-13, as they forced a decisive third game in the final round.

For Chestnut Hill, pitcher Norris Jordan recorded one strike-out and gave up nine walks, while PCC’s Larry Hyde didn’t collect any K’s while walking seven batters. Although there is no hint of rapidity in Hyde’s delivery, he did get the Hillers to make a total of 15 outs in the air (on fly balls or pop-ups), and CHA left 14 runners on base during the game.

Cricket had beaten the Chestnut Hill alums twice during the league’s regular season, and then reached the finals by sweeping the Haverford School alumni team in the semi’s. Third-seeded CHA also won its semifinal series in two straight, knocking off number two Merion Cricket.

Thursday’s contest, the second of the final series, began with walks to the first three Philly Cricket batters. They stayed put while CHA gloved a pop-up, then on a sacrifice fly to left by Warren Schmidt PCC got two runs home. The second man came in on the throw to the plate, as the ball caromed off the catcher’s mask and out of play.

Norm Wilde then singled home a third run for PCC, but Chestnut Hill evened it up in the bottom half of the inning. With one out and a runner on first with a walk, CHA broke the ice with a towering RBI triple deep to centerfield by Matt Davis, who later came home on a hit to left by Tim Fles. Fles stole second, advanced to third on a base hit by Jordan, and then toed the plate with CHA’s third run when Brian O’Donnell lofted a single just behind second base.

In the bottom of the second Fles doubled home Jon Harris (who’d gotten on with a single) to make it 4-3, and in the third CHA doubled its total to go up by five. In between, Chestnut Hill got out of a jam in the top of the third after the cricketeers loaded the bases with no outs. Fles, the shortstop, put on a defensive display, gloving a pop for the first out, then scooping a grounder to his left, stepping on second for a force out, and doubling up the batter at first base to retire the side.

An error and a fly-out started the bottom half of the inning, then the baserunner, O’Donnell, moved around to third on a double by Ted Swain. Carl Frank followed up with an RBI single, then PCC’s Hyde walked the next three batters to push home two more runs. A sac fly to center by Davis brought in Chestnut Hill’s eighth run of the night, which would prove to be the last for the former Devils.

CHA’s slide began at the top of the fourth, as Wilde led off for PCC with a walk and stole all the way around to home in a sequence that saw the defense toss the ball all around the park. Singles by Jeff Rexford, John Lawton, and Schmidt loaded the bases, then Kirwan Elliott waited out a walk to make it 8-5. In the fifth, Cricket closed within two runs on Hunter Bennett’s RBI stroke to centerfield.

With one out and two men on-board with walks in the top of the sixth, Elliott singled through the middle to score the first baserunner. After a second out, Bill Freeman drove one deep to left center, coming away with a three-run homer as the throw to the plate wound up in the dirt.

Trailing for the first time in the game, 8-10, the CHA alums went down in order in the bottom of the inning, and Philly Cricket was able to add two more insurance runs at the top of the seventh thanks to RBI singles by Kyle Elliott and Jon Freeman.

Swain slugged a triple into the centerfield gap to start Chestnut Hill’s final turn at bat. Frank went to first after being hit by a pitch, but the next two batters popped out and grounded out. A walk to Harris filled the bags for CHA before a fly to left center ended the game.