Quakertown smacks Gilbertsville 13-7 in Tri-Co

By Bob Kourtakis
Of The Morning Call


The balls were flying out of Quakertown Memorial Park last night, and the hitting explosion left some fans joking about whether major league baseballs were being used.

Regardless of what was hopping in these balls, Quakertown manager Chip Friday was glad to see them. His team rocketed five home runs to blast first- place Gilbertsville 13-7 in Tri-County League play.

"This is as explosive a game as I've ever seen in my 15 years here," Friday said. "Every hit was a rip tonight."

The win raised Quakertown's record to 18-6, and it now trails Gilbertsville (19-4) by just 1 1/2 games in the season's final week. Upper Perkiomen is second at 17-5.

For a sub-.500 team a year ago, the drubbing gives Quakertown a big lift and sends a signal to the rest of the league.

"They have to believe that we can play with them now," Friday said. "Gilbertsville's pitching is not much better than it was tonight. They might have one other guy, but not much after that."

One person who must be convinced Quakertown can play is Gilbertsville shortstop/manager Brian Gilbert, who watched his club surrender 14 hits - half of them of the extra base variety.

"It seemed like every time they hit the ball it was hard," said Gilbert, whose team added one round-tripper. "You've got to give them credit. They really hit the ball. Six home runs in this ball park is hard to believe because of the dimensions."

Quakertown started its hitting barrage from the beginning, scoring eight runs in the first. Gilbertsville starter Kevin Mackey, bothered by a sore arm and lack of control, faced just five batters. He allowed three walks, Terry Keller's RBI-double and Steve Bauder's two- run homer - his first of two on the night.

Southpaw Joe Melcher came in to stem the tide, but he wasn't much better and was greeted by four straight hits, including Mike Schaffer's monster two- run home run into the left field parking lot to make it 6-0. Keller batted again and stroked another first-inning double, this time scoring two runs and the rout was on.

"It's great to get up on these guys because if they get a jump on us it's impossible," Friday said. "They were playing catch-up, but it was just too much."

Pitcher Scott Davis hit a two-run shot in the second for a 10-0 Quakertown lead and it proved important, because Gilbertsville stormed back in the third with four on Charlie Baer's two-out grand slam.

When Bill Krall followed with a long double, Friday pulled Davis in favor of Bob Kile. The scarcely-used right-hander effectively pitched in and out of jams the rest of the way for the victory.

Bob Drumbore, who went 4-for-4 with 2 RBI and three runs scored, homered in the fourth, and Bauder clubbed his second dinger in the fifth and Quakertown had a comfortable 12-4 lead moving into the sixth.

Gilbertsville tried to rally with two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh, but the deficit proved just too steep to come back from. But as managers are prone to do, Gilbert complained about wasted opportunities anyway.

"We left 12 guys on base," he said. "You score half of those runs, and its 13-12."

Now Gilbertsville is left reeling into tomorrow's home showdown with Upper Perkiomen, while this could be just the perfect spark for a Quakertown team ready to be taken seriously.



  

From The Morning Call -- July 21, 1987

Copyright © 1987, The Morning Call