Center Valley advances on a 'thumb'

Winners will meet Woody's in Tri-County League playoffs.


By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call


Center Valley's 3-2 win over visiting South Whitehall last night in the third and final game of their opening round Tri-County League playoff series was "one for the thumb."

Braves' pitcher Dave Arndt had a pretty effective right hand in tossing his team into the league semifinals where they will meet Woody's in a best-of-3 series beginning at 5:45 tomorrow night at Scherersville.

But it was Arndt's thumb that saved the day when South Whitehall threatened in the sixth. The Serpents, down by a run, had runners on first and third with one out when Chuck Mondschein smashed a bullet through the middle.

"I fall off the mound to the left so much that all I could do was get my hand out there and it hit off my thumb," Arndt said. "Fortunately, the thumb slowed it up."

Slow enough so that shortstop Brian Spadt could grab the grounder, step on second and throw to first for a double play to end the South Whitehall threat and, in essence, its season.

"That was definitely a key play and one that just went our way," said Arndt, an Emmaus High and Lehigh University grad. "That's the breaks of the game and to win, sometimes you need them to happen for you. I needed it tonight because I wasn't all that sharp."

Arndt scattered nine hits -- all singles -- and had just one 1-2-3 inning. But the Serpents stranded seven on base in a performance that summed up its 22-13 season.

"We just haven't been able to get guys in all season in clutch situations," said Serpent manager Kevin Hutter. "We've had the pitching and defense, but the hitting has been inconsistent. Our pitcher (Randy Baer) had one bad inning tonight and we couldn't overcome it with our bats."

Baer's one bad inning was the third when three walks and three hits produced three runs and erased a 1-0 South Whitehall lead. Kyle Fisher delivered the first run with an RBI single to right-center. Tucker Shive had the biggest blow, however, a two-run, bases-loaded single down the line in left.

"Monday night they gave me curveballs and I couldn't touch one of them," Shive said. "But tonight, that was a hanging curve on the inside part of the plate and I just hit it well. (Baer) was pretty good tonight, keeping the ball down most of the time. He just got a ball up and I was happy he did.

"I was glad to get that hit because I later was really upset about the ball I threw away at second base that helped them get a run. I had no chance to get him. It was a stupid mistake."

The error came on Jud Frank's infield single in the fourth. The throwing error advanced Frank to second and he scored on Lou Falco's two-out, RBI single to make it 3-2. But that was the final clutch hit of the night and season for South Whitehall.

"It's fun playing down here," Shive said. "I played for ICC last year and it would be real interesting if we faced them in the playoffs. Baseball's a funny game. It will be interesting to see what happens. I'm just glad I don't have to turn in the glove and spikes just yet."

Ditto for Center Valley player- manager Dave Ernst, whose team (23-12) enjoyed its first playoff series win since 1992 when the club was based in Emmaus and it reached the Tri-Co finals.

"It's a good group here," Ernst said. "We've got a great field here at Allentown College, a great sponsor in the Peppercorn Pub and it's just nice to keep going."

Woody's Sports Bar 7, Silver Creek 5 -- Tony Galucy belted a pair of home runs, including a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Woody's won the Tri-County League opening round playoff series two games to one.

Galucy, a lefty, sent the ball well over the right-center field fence at Scherersville for the winning runs. He cracked a three-run homer in the first to get his team back in the thick of things after Silver Creek  took a 4-0 lead in the top half of the frame.



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- August 7, 1996

Copyright © 1996, The Morning Call