Fast work for Upper Perkiomen

By Bob Kourtakis
Of The Morning Call


Upper Perk definitely seems to have Quakertown's number in Tri-County League play.

For the second straight game the Chiefs whipped Quakertown, this time a 10-5 drubbing at Upper Perkiomen High School last night that wasn't as close as the score sounds.

Quakertown starter Tom Hartman was rocked for six runs in an inning-plus of work, before first baseman Bob Drumbore came on and tried to stem the tide. He couldn't until the game was 10-1 in the third and way out of hand.

"This was the second time these guys took us out of a ball game in the first or second inning," said Quakertown Manager Chip Friday, whose team fell to 16-6. "We beat them the first game of the year, but both teams didn't have all their players. They definitely look like a stronger team right now. They have to be pretty confident."

But even though the convincing win moved the Chiefs into a second-place tie with Quakertown at 15-5 -     2 1/2 games behind South Division leader Gilbertsville - Upper Perk Manager Bob Graber isn't letting the victory go to his head.

"It's just that we're ready for them," Graber said. "Upper Perk and Quakertown has been a big rivalry for a long time. When I was in high school, I always used to get up for it. I think it's a case of everyone getting playing time and experience."

Upper Perk's Tim Fox pitched three innings of one-hit ball before leaving with a blister and a 10-1 lead. The blister is a mystery for the 22-year-old Fox, who has a tryout with the Pittsburgh Pirates tomorrow.

"I never had one before I pitched out at Coplay last Monday," Fox said. "I didn't even notice it until it popped in the sixth. It took a whole week to heal. It wasn't really that bad tonight, it was just aggravating. I might have stayed in longer if it were closer."

But it wasn't close as Upper Perk took control from the start, scoring five runs in the first inning. Hartman could have gotten out of the jam with only one run, but with two on and two out gave up two consecutive RBI-singles, balked home a run and served up Jon Yeakel's run-scoring double to left-center field.

Then after Matt Duka singled to lead off the bottom half of the second, Tom Cichocki blasted a drive that clanged off the top of the left-field fence. It stayed in the park for a double, but Duka scored and Hartman was finished for the night.

The Chiefs added another run in second and followed with a three- spot in the third - the big hit coming on player-manager Graber's two- out, two-run single.

Chief Chris Fluck took over for Fox, and although the left-hander struggled, he survived the final four innings with acceptable damage and picked up the win.

He came close to blowing things in the fourth when Dan Ekert's two- run single made it 10-3 and Quakertown loaded the bases with one out. However, Fluck got the outs he needed to end the inning by striking out Steve Bauder and inducing a Bob Kile pop-up.

Quakertown posted single runs in the sixth and seventh, but the damage had been done, leaving Upper Perk to look at tomorrow night's showdown with Gilbertsville.

* Limeport capitalized on five errors to score as many unearned runs and downed Salisbury 6-3.

Herb Hemerly laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Dave Lutte and Dale Weiss singled in Hemerly in the seventh.

Catcher Dave Ernst hit 3-for-4 in the losing cause.



  

From The Morning Call -- July 14, 1987

Copyright © 1987, The Morning Call