Back to the Bank

Tri-Cape All-Stars score second win in Carpenter Cup, reach semifinals in Citizens Bank Park for fourth year in a row; all 3 Salem County players contribute

CARPENTER CUP
Thursday’s Games
Urban Youth Academy Fields, FDR Park
Inter-Ac/Independents 18, SEPA 5
Jersey Shore 9, Chester County 6
Tri-Cape 5, Philadelphia Catholic 2
Delaware County 10, Philadelphia Public 9

June 24 Semifinals
At Citizens Bank Park
Inter-Ac/Independents vs. Jersey Shore, 9 a.m.
Tri-Cape vs. Delaware County, 12:30 p.m.

June 25 Championship Game
At Citizens Bank Park
Semifinal winners, 9:30 a.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PHILADELPHIA – D.J. Gore has taken the Tri-Cape All-Stars to the Carpenter Cup rounds in Citizens Bank Park so much the last couple years he could probably set up shop next to Rob Thomson’s office and nobody in the Phillies’ organization would think twice.

Meanwhile, the three Salem County players on the team have all been in the Bank before but never from the place they’ll be come next Monday.

The Tri-County/Cape Atlantic League stars coached by Gore punched their ticket to the Carpenter Cup semifinals for the fourth year in a row Thursday when they beat the Philadelphia Catholic League 5-2 on the Dick Allen Urban Youth Academy Field in FDR Park.

They’ll now play the Delaware County stars in the 12:30 p.m. June 24 semifinal at Citizens Park Bank, looking to reach the finals for the fourth year in a row. Inter-Ac/Independents will play Jersey Shore in the 9 a.m. semifinal. Jersey Shore beat Tri-Cape in last year’s championship game. The finals are 9:30 a.m. June 25.

“We’ve been fortunate because we’ve had a run of really good, successful kids and they’re extremely talented,” said Gore, the head coach at Highland Regional. “It really is easy to have them in the dugout. That’s how we’ve been able to have the success that we’ve been able to have.

“It’s always a big deal to get a new group of kids there. There are probably 10 kids who haven’t been there, so you get a new group to experience Citizens Bank Park and were all still probably little boys at heart so any time you can walk on the field and get on the field and get into the bullpens, get on the home plate, the pitching mound, it’s a memory that lasts a lifetime.”

All three of the Salem County players on the team – Pennsville’s Peyton O’Brien and Chase Burchifield and Schalick’s Luke Pokrovsky – have been in Citizens Bank Park before. O’Brien has even been on the field once for a meet-the-players session, but for the most part all of their experience has been from the stands.

Now, they’ll be able to experience it from a whole different perspective.

“That’s going to be really cool,” Burchfield said. “I’m going to have to take some videos of that.”

“It’s going to be crazy,” O’Brien said. “A field you grew up watching, now you have the opportunity to play on that field, it’s going to be awesome.”

Pokrovsky hadn’t really given any thought to throwing of the CBP mound before, but after Thursday’s win, he said, “I’m going to start thinking about it now.”

“We have a really good team,” he said. “I feel like we’re going to win the next one and get to the championship.”

All three Salem players played a part in Thursday’s victory.

O’Brien and Burchfield each collected their first hit of the series in the sixth inning. Burchfield beat out an infield single to third with one out and in somewhat a reversal of fortunes, O’Brien punched an opposite-field single into left to score his high school teammate and extended Tri-Cape’s lead to 4-1. 

During the high school season it was usually Burchfield, the Eagles’ cleanup hitter, knocking in O’Brien, who hit third.

“Tuesday I struck out with a guy on third base and I was not happy about it,” O’Brien said. “I wanted to get a run home, so I tried to do whatever I could and put the ball in play and it found a spot. To be able to hit him in is awesome.”

“It was pretty cool to have that happen, especially in this game where not all of us are from the same (high school) team.”

Pokrovsky pitched for the second game in a row. This time, instead of finishing the game, the left-hander pitched two innings of one-hit shutout middle relief immediately behind starter and winner Tate DeRias (Gloucester Catholic/Miami).

Pokrovsky was lifted in mid-count for Mainland’s Brady Blum after putting the first two runners on in the sixth, but, in one of the biggest moments of the game, after he loaded the bases with none out Blum got out of the jam with three straight strikeouts similar to what he did in the opener.

“Today was a lot better due to the fact I was more loose,” Pokrovsky said. “Tuesday I warmed up in the beginning of the game and it was like three hours later that I threw on the mound. Throwing in the middle of game it felt way better than Tuesday.”

The PCL stars hit DeRias’ first pitch for a triple and scored a run in the first inning, but got not more. They were 2-for-21 with runners on base, 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base.

Tri-Cape took the lead with three in the second. They tied the game on an RBI infield single by Chris Smith (Washington Twp.), took the lead when Hunter Ray (Lower Cape May) scored on a wild pitch and extended the lead on another RBI infield single by Evan Taylor (Ocean City).

“it’s fun playing with all these kids,” Burchfield said. “You know they’re all so good. I feel like I’ll be up to bat and the next thing I’ll be right back up because all the kids are hitting. It’s fun.”

Phila. Catholic (1-1)	100	000	001-	2	7	0
Tri-Cape (2-0)	030	001	01X-	5	11	1

Cover photo: Pennsville’s Peyton O’Brien is poised to take a cut during his plate appearance for the Tri-Cape All-Stars in the eighth inning of Thursday’s Carpenter Cup game.