Silver Creek rips Emmaus 19-3 in Tri-Co opener

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call


The Emmaus Braves in the Tri-County League waited three years to reach the playoffs. But, considering what happened last night in their first post-season appearance, they would have preferred to wait a little longer.

The Silver Creek Raiders scored 15 runs in the first three innings and coasted to a 19-3 victory over the Braves in the opening game of their best-of-three series at Emmaus Community Park.

Silver Creek (20-11) can close out the series and advance to a semifinal meeting against Limeport with a win at 5 p.m. today in Springtown.

"You don't expect to have these types of games at this time of year because the pitching is generally settled down for most teams, but we were really excited about getting the playoffs under way," said Bill Krchnavy, who paced the Raiders' 19-hit attack by going 4-for-4 and knocking in four runs.

"We've been slumping a little bit toward the end of the year, but it's time to get it together and play as a team. We feel we have an explosive offense capable of doing this any night. From No. 1 through No. 9, we've got to be one of the strongest hitting teams in the league."

Silver Creek certainly wouldn't get an argument from Emmaus last night. The Braves went through five pitchers and none could hold the Raiders in check. Gary Wolczak deserved at least a tip of the cap for blanking Silver Creek in the fifth -- the only inning the Raiders were blanked all night.

"Hopefully they got all the hits out of them tonight," said Emmaus player-manager Dave Ernst. "If they get hot, they can hit anybody. It doesn't matter who you're throwing. It was over quick."

Indeed, the Raiders smacked 12 hits in the first two innings. They sent 37 hitters to the plate in the first four frames. Every member of the starting lineup got at least one hit.

Ray Thompson, Matt Smull and Chris O'Connor all knocked in three runs. Brook Mellman chipped in a pair of RBI. Leadoff hitter Joe Cuvo, a key mid-season acquisition for the team, reached base each of his first four times up to ignite the explosion.

"We had to come from behind against Emmaus all year, so it was nice to get a lead for a change and be able to put it in cruise control," said Creek skipper Steve Smull. "You don't expect a game like this, but we were really due for a game like this. We went the whole month of July without a blowout, so here it is in August and we got it going again. It couldn't have come at a better time."

Smull and the Raiders expect a much tougher time today. They'll send left-hander Greg Serensits to the mound in hopes of avoiding a return trip to Emmaus Tuesday night.

Since several of the Silver Creek players double up as members of the playoff-bound Martins Creek entry in the Blue Mountain League, the less games needed, the better off they'll be.

"We have some guys who will be playing two games (today -- one in each league) so we were glad to have a game like this tonight so we could give them some extra rest," Steve Smull said. "We'd really like to wrap this series up because of the situation with Martins Creek. We know Martins Creek's series with Bicentennial is going to be a tough one in the Blue Mountain League."

Emmaus, meanwhile, hopes to make this series a lot tougher. The Braves (20-11) were limited to six hits last night by the Raiders' Jason Young and Mitch Bortz. They'll go with Steve Rau today to try to get the equalizer.

"I think it's going to be a lot closer the next time," Ernst said. "This was just one of those games that you throw out the window. We've had a good season and we're not going to go down without a battle."



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- August 2, 1992

Copyright © 1992, The Morning Call