MARPLE – The calendar has a weird way of testing the Delco League’s top seed.
Upper Darby has grown accustomed to first-round byes. It comes with winning regular-season titles and earning the No. 1 seed in recent years. The reward for the Blue Sox is extra rest. The catch? Trying to shake off the rust when their next opponent is already playoff tested.
Game 1 of UD’s semifinal round series against sixth-seeded Aston Valley looked familiar Sunday. The Blue Sox had been idle for more than a week after wrapping up the regular season while the Knights were coming off an intense three-game quarterfinal win over Chester. Aston Valley scored first Sunday and held a lead entering the fourth inning before the Blue Sox woke up, erupting for six runs in the bottom of the frame on the way to a comfortable victory.
There were no sleepy bats Monday night. Adam Fine made sure of that.
The veteran leadoff hitter doubled to begin the bottom of the first inning, scored on Sammy Burman’s sacrifice fly and helped lead Upper Darby past Aston Valley, 4-2, to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Fine, who played Division I baseball at Saint Joseph’s, finished 3-for-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored as the Blue Sox moved within one victory of reaching the championship series for the sixth consecutive season. Game 3 is Wednesday at Sun Valley’s Buggy Field, home of Aston Valley.
“The five years that I’ve been here, I think we have had the bye every time and, honestly, we’ve started off slow in Game 1 each time,” Fine said. “It’s just a matter of dusting off the cobwebs. I think we do a good job of not letting it take four games and maybe it taking four innings instead, and then we start to figure it out.
“That’s why our pitching helps tremendously. We know that even if we’re struggling a little bit at the plate, we’re not going to be far behind.”
Upper Darby’s (5) Quinten Perilli pitches against Aston Valley in Game 2 of a Delco League semifinal playoff series Monday. Perelli struck out seven in 4.2 innings to earn the win. (PETE BANNAN/MediaNews Group)
Upper Darby’s arms have given the offense plenty of breathing room. In Game 1, 37-year-old ace Kevin McGovern, a former St. Louis Cardinals farmhand, tossed a complete game and struck out eight.
Quinten Perilli, a Rutgers and Penncrest High product, toed the slab in Game 2. The right-hander was carving through Aston Valley’s lineup, striking out seven over 4.2 innings. He was control until the Knights mounted a threat in the fifth.
Andrew Firko singled and Brett Walmsley drew a walk with two outs. Then Kenyon Motley gave Aston Valley a jolt, hammering a pitch to the fence in left field for a two-run double, trimming the deficit to 3-2 and ending Perilli’s night.
UD turned to left-hander Roman Tozzi with the tying run on second and another runner aboard after Troy Neff worked a walk. Tozzi then struck out his younger brother, Nico, to end the inning and keep the Blue Sox in front.
“With McGovern and Q on the mound, and all of our guys, like (Henry) Murphy and Tozzi and (Ben) Thorpe, we know they’re going to pitch well and keep us in games every time,” Fine said.
Upper Darby had built its early lead against Aston Valley starter Brandon Grygo, who worked the first three innings. Fine got things rolling.
The Blue Sox added two runs in the third. Gus Wright smoked an RBI double to score Jack Bateman, and with two outs Burman blooped an RBI single to left to make it 3-0.
After Aston Valley climbed within a run, Upper Darby got a big hit from one of its “old dudes.”
Upper Darby’s Ant Kelly doubles in a run as the Blue Sox defeated Aston 4-2 in Game 2 of a Delco League semifinal playoff series Monday. (PETE BANNAN/MediaNews Group)
Fine singled with one out in the fifth, promptly stole second and moved into scoring position for first baseman Ant Kelly. With two outs, Kelly drilled a double to restore the two-run cushion at 4-2.
Kelly believes the Blue Sox have found the perfect balance in recent years, and are poised to win another title.
“We have some pretty good vibes over here,” said Kelly, who has been a key member of the club for three seasons. “We’ve got old dudes like me mixed in with the young guys, who usually bring some energy. If they get too high, the older dudes will mellow them out. It’s a good mix. The youth can get us through when we’re playing five games in a row, and the old dudes are the ones who can get us back when we’re off for an entire week.”
Tozzi made sure Kelly’s insurance run held up. The Georgetown graduate transfer, after spending four seasons at Catholic University, worked around an error in the sixth. In the seventh Walmsley lined a one-out double to bring the tying run to plate, but Tozzi retired the next two hitters, finishing 2.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts to earn the save and send Upper Darby within one win of another trip to the finals.
The Blue Sox have won back-to-back Delco League championships because they know how to win in different ways. Some nights it’s a six-run inning, and other nights it’s an experienced pitching staff that doesn’t falter.
Aston Valley’s Kenyon Motley steals third base during Monday’s Game 2 of a Delco League semifinal playoff series. (PETE BANNAN/MediaNews Group)
“Even when we’re not hitting well,” Fine said, “we all feel confident because we know our pitching is really good.”
In the other semifinal series:
Wayne 5, Ridley 2 >> Second-seeded Wayne evened the series with fifth-seeded Black Sox. Matt Kane delivered a two-run single in sixth to put Wayne in front for good.
Luke Zimmerman pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out three.
Wayne scored in the first inning when Ayden Frey lined an RBI base knock. Ridley answered in the fourth when Jimmy Boyle tripled home Ryan Cassidy.
In the bottom of the sixth, Dan Braslow reached on an error, Drew Van Horn was hit by a pitch and Ben Milligan laid down a bunt that resulted in another error to load the bases. Kane followed with his clutch know and Elliot Dix added a sacrifice fly to stretch the lead to 5-1.
Tom Carey drove in a run with a single in the seventh for Ridley, but Zimmerman shut the door by retiring the final two hitters. Game 3 is Wednesday at Ridley High School.