Rockin’ their world

Hitters take advantage of big ballpark, Starn sharp on the mound and Pennsville writes off Tome at Frawley Stadium

TUESDAY BASEBALL
Pennsville 11, Tome School 1
Schalick 5, Ocean City 2
Woodstown 4, Deptford 1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WILMINGTON, Del. – As a centerfielder, Chase Burchfield knows all too well the pleasures and pitfalls of playing the outfield gaps. When he walked into Frawley Stadium for the first time Tuesday and saw all that space in its outfield, he couldn’t help but be excited.

As a fielder with experience playing in cavernous places like Citizens Bank Park, the Pennsville senior knew he has the range to flag down balls hit on either side of him. As a hitter he saw the chance to run a long way if he made good contact.

Burchfield drilled two triples into the abyss among his three extra-base hits in the game and one of three the Eagles crushed in the second inning to take control of an eventual 11-1 win over The Tome School of Maryland in an experience coach Matt Karr said made them feel like big leaguers.

“The gaps were looking big tonight, I’m not going to lie,” Burchfield said. “I know I have the power to put it over their heads. My first at bat I grounded out to first and I saw the outfielders were all playing too shallow and I was like I’ll just put it over their head.

“I hadn’t been hitting too big the last couple games but I found that barrel, got it over their heads and my next at bat I slapped another one to the gap. I knew as soon as it gets in the gap I can just keep running and running.”

Burchfield’s first triple came in the second inning shortly after Logan Streitz and Luke Wood went back-to-back on consecutive first-pitch swings against Tome starter Blaine Pendergraft. The triples drove in the three runs that gave the Eagles (14-7) a 5-0 lead.

Their five runs in the first two innings were more than the stadium’s regular tenants, the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks, scored in 11 of the 12 games of their just completed homestand.

“Luke, Chase, Streitz that inning absolutely unloaded on those baseballs,” Karr said. “That was probably three of the better swings for those three out of the whole season.

“Chase got to third base and I just looked and he snickered and said ‘I got that one.’ I said, ‘You think?’”

The triples by Burchfield, Streitz and Wood were all to centerfield. Cohen Petrutz hit one past the first baseman into the rightfield corner in the first inning. Petrutz chased home Peyton O’Brien after Burchfield knocked in the first run of the game with a sharp grounder to first.

“It was good for them to come up there and have a good at-bat, especially in the park, the environment,” Karr said. “I asked the kids in the first inning, when Cohen got over to third, I asked him if they were having trouble with the depth perception of such a big outfield. He like no, it’s pretty good.

“His big thing was he could hear more of what I thought I could. Behind me in the stands I just hear like a thousand little conversations, which is different than playing a high school game.”

While the Pennsville hitters were enjoying the benefits of a big ballpark, Connor Starn was filling the zone from the mound and keeping the Titans in check.

Starn pitched the first five innings allowing one run and two hits, walking one and striking out a career-high nine. The senior righthander struck out the side twice – in order in the fourth on 13 pitches – and faced four batters over the minimum. Mason O’Brien pitched the sixth and struck out the side in order.

“It was a great experience,” Starn said. “It’s fun you get to go out there and the mound isn’t falling apart, which is rare to find in South Jersey, so that was fun.

“It’s good to go out there and execute pitches. It’s always fun when you can hit your spot and you know where the ball is going to go for the most part. The first inning was probably my favorite just getting them down. It gave me a lot of confidence here.”

Karr isn’t opposed to bringing the Eagles across the bridge to play a game here every year. “I’m totally cool with it,” he said.

SCHALICK 5, OCEAN CITY 2: The Cougars (18-2) bounced back from their loss at Pennsville with a win on the road. Luke Pokrovsky struck out eight over the first innings and also had an RBI single in the four-run fifth that gave them the lead. Jamari Whitley capped the Cougars’ big inning with a two-run double and shut the door in the seventh with two strikeouts.

WOODSTOWN 4, DEPTFORD 1: Dante Holmes’ two-run bases-loaded double in the sixth gave the Wolverines (14-10) some breathing room. Caiden Spinelli had two hits and Rocco String and Michael Valente pitched 3 1/3 innings of two-hit shutout relief behind Walker Battavio.