Chiefs thrash Quakertown

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call


The skies were threatening throughout the early evening last night at Quakertown's Community Park. Unfortunately for the Quakertown entry in the Tri-County Baseball League, the dark clouds failed to open up.

An old fashioned drenching was about the only thing that could have saved Quakertown, as visiting Upper Perk poured on the offense in a 13-5 thrashing of the home team in a Tri-Co Southern Division showdown.

The win moved Upper Perk (10-2) a half game ahead of Gilbertsville (9-2) in the South Division race, while Quakertown (11-4) fell 1 1/2 games off the pace as the chief bats supplied what Mother Nature couldn't - lots of thunder and lightening.

Upper Perk lashed out 15 hits in the contest and may have had more if home plate umpire Marty Ondrovic hadn't called the game with two out in the top of the seventh because of darkness. Even though the Community Park Stadium has lights, league rules prohibited them from being used at what was considered a 'day' game. No one seemed to care that the contest was stopped early.

For Quakertown, the lights had really gone out much earlier. "I guess we had our hitting shoes on tonight," said UP player-manager Bob Graber, who contributed to the barrage with a two-run home run. " We have been hitting well this season, but most of the time against lesser teams. But tonight, we hit well against a real good pitcher in Bob Drubmore. Our team really showed me something tonight."

Todd Swenk's RBI-single got the first scoring started in the top of the first inning. Quakertown got that run back on Drumbore's run-scoring double in the last of the first. But from there, it was all Upper Perk.

The Chiefs scored two in the second on Matt Duka's sacrifice fly and Tom Cichocki's run-scoring single. UP then sent 10 men to the plate in the third, banged out six hits and benifitted from one costly error in scoring seven runs to take a 10- 1 lead.

The big blows were Cichocki's two-run home run to right and Swenk's long blast over the fence in left that followed Graber's round- tripper. Rob McFarland and Duka also had run-scoring singles in the inning.

"Most of the guys said that they were hitting fast balls for their hits, but mine was an offspeed pitch, probably a slider," said Graber. "It's been a year where everybody has been contributing for us. We have 20 guys on our roster and when each guy has gotten in, he's done something to help us win."

Quakertown did forge a winning- rally with one run in the third on an RBI single by Drumbore and got three more in the fourth on a bases-loaded walk and an error. But that's as close as the home team would come as three UP pitchers - Tim Fox, Bruce Blank and Cichochi - limited Quakertown to just seven hits on the night.

The Chiefs weren't through scoring yet, however. UP picked up another run in the sixth on Keth Lemmer's fielder's choice grounder after singles by Glenn Mensch and Jon Yeakel, and then Blank's two-run single in the seventh signified the end of the game as Ondrovic waved the players in after two the runs scored.

- Chris Tognoli and Brian Miltenberger combined for a one-hitter and Jeff Sodl supplied the offense as visiting Coplay thumped Bethlehem Township 17-1 yesterday.

Tognoli was tagged for Bethlehem Township's only hit when Ray Morin sliced a two-out single in the fifth. The hosts' (4-9) lone run scored in the first without the benefit of a hit.

Sodl was 5-for-6 with five RBI including his grand-slam in the fourth. Randy Remaly went 4-for-4 as Coplay (12-2) pounded out 21 hits.

- Herb Hemerly hit a two-run single in the fourth for the lead and Rich Sniscak came out a winner in his first appearance of the season as Limeport used a four-run rally in the fourth to down visiting North Parkland last night.

Sniscak, the Dieruff High School baseball coach, went five full innings, striking out five and walking four. He gave way to Dave Lutte, who struck out the side in the seventh to end the game.

Chris Peischl's solo homer in the third put North Parkland on top 2-0, but Limeport answered back with a run in its half of the frame. Peischl finished the day 4-for-4.

In the fourth, losing pitcher Dave Chandler walked the bases loaded and Hemerly drove in two runs with his base hit. Bill Fatzinger and Tom Levy followed with RBI singles.

Levy was 3-for-4 on the day while Hemerly had two hits and two RBI. Fatzinger also had two RBI. Limeport is 7-6 while North Parkland is 8-6.

- Mark Hardcastle's RBI-fielder's choice game-winning frozen rope hit in the bottom of the seventh lifted Silver Creek to a 6-5 victory over visiting Delaware Valley last night.



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- June 21, 1987

Copyright © 1987, The Morning Call