Big win

Burchfield homers, sophomore Copperthwait provides Pennsville a ‘Pinto moment’ and the Eagles knock off Delsea

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – After coming so close against some of the elites on its schedule over the years and just not being able to get over the hump, the Pennsville baseball team proved Tuesday this is a different year.

The Eagles jumped on South Jersey power Delsea with an early home run, extended their lead through an unexpected source and turned back the Crusaders 8-6 for one of the biggest regular-season wins in coach Matt Karr’s tenure.

“This is a huge win for us,” outfielder Chase Burchfield said. “For the past two years we’ve been close to beating teams like a Delsea and big schools like that and we came up just short.

“I feel like this year our guys are tougher and we’re not afraid to go against these big schools even though we’re smaller than them. We just have a bunch of guys who won’t quit.”

Burchfield’s three-run homer with two outs in the third – his first high school homer – broke a 1-1 tie and put the Eagles (3-1) on top for good. It came on the first pitch after he just barely missed a sure double down the line.

The Crusaders (3-1) made it a 4-3 game in fifth, but Pennsville added some distance with a run in the bottom of the inning.

Then came the game breaker.

A player never knows when his time will come to shine, so they must be ready at all times. Sophomore Logan Copperthwait’s time came Tuesday and he was ready.

The Eagles lost second baseman Jacob Grant to a leg injury earlier in the game. Luckily, “Copper” had come down from the JV game and was immediately inserted him in the lineup. And much like Ricardo Pinto did for the Phillies the other night, he delivered in a whirlwind.

Shortly after he got in the game, he turned a diving stop into a 4-6-3 double play to get the Eagles out of a jam. But it’s what he did in the sixth inning that will be one of the season’s memorable moments.

In only his second varsity at bat, Copper battles back from an 0-2 count with two outs to draw a walk that loads the bases. Otley Makosky tried to pick him off first, but the throw sailed into the outfield and two runs score. Luke Wood drove him home with a double and suddenly the Eagles were leading 8-3.

“He was, for sure, the MVP of the game,” winning pitcher Peyton O’Brien said . “Without him and his AB we’re not in that position.”

“We preach next-man-up and playing selfless team baseball,” Karr said. “When we make changes positionally it’s like a merry-go-round of guys changing positions. It’s Group I baseball at its finest. We have 22 guys in our whole program between varsity and JV and we can go toe-to-toe with anyone and today solidified that thought for our guys.”

“To be able to get this win just boosts our confidence a whole bunch,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien offered up what Karr called “just a gritty performance” in his first outing of the season. He pitched into the fifth inning, giving up five hits, two earned runs and striking out seven. He also had two doubles at the plate and a pair of RBIs.

Cohen Petrutz took the game into the seventh and Connor Starn came from behind the plate for the second time in as many days – this time with bases loaded – and got the final two outs for the save.

“This is huge, for sure,” O’Brien said. “Last year we played a lot of the bigger schools and we felt we were always in those games, but we could never come out with the win. Coming out this year and beating Delsea, that’s just huge, because we know this season is different and that’s a good start for us.”