South Whitehall rallies to capture Tri-County crown

The Serpents take their first title since '88 with five runs in the third inning.


By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call

 

South Whitehall's Kevin Hutter is one of the more even-tempered managers in the Tri-County League, never getting too up or down.

But when the final out was recorded in his Serpents' 14-11 win over Cetronia Friday night, a victory that secured the Tri-Co championship, Hutter let his emotions flow in the South Whitehall dugout.

Amid the jubilation, the hugs, the hollers and sprays of champagne at the Cedarbrook Complex, Hutter revealed why this title meant so very much to him.

"This means a lot, personally, because I dedicated the season to my father," said Hutter, eyes tearing up, as he referred to his father, John, who died July 1.

"No one else knew it. I didn't give the team a 'Win one for' speech or anything."

Hutter said his father would have been thrilled with the Serpents' first title since a regular season crown in 1988.

"My dad didn't come to the games, but he closely followed us. He looked for our scores in the paper. Whenever I went over to the house, we talked about the team and baseball. It has been rough the last few months. I've missed those talks."

Certainly, Kevin and John Hutter would have had a lot to talk about after a wild, whacky Game 4 in the best-of-5 series.

Unafraid of Serpent ace Rob Gontkosky, Cetronia (25-19) batted around to score five runs in the top of the first.

But just when it seemed like a fifth game was likely, South Whitehall (27-16) answered back with eight runs in the top of the second.

Before the Serpents could feel comfortable, Cetronia put another five runs on the board in their half of the second.

The game was an hour and 15 minutes old and it was just the third inning.

South Whitehall seized command for keeps in the top of the third with five runs on just three hits. Paul Woodling (3-for-5) doubled in a run, Eric Csencsits singled in two and two more scored on a costly error at first base.

Given a reprieve and a 13-10 lead, Gontkosky finally found the form that made him one of the league's best. Over the final four innings -- the game was called by darkness after the sixth -- the Whitehall High grad allowed just one run on two hits after surrendering 10 runs on nine hits in the first two frames.

"I gave up 10 quick runs, but our guys kept battling back," Gontkosky said. "After the second inning, Chuck Mondschein (South Whitehall's catcher) and I sat down and changed everything we were doing. We started everything off-speed and then we busted them inside. They were just sitting on the fastball in the first two innings and they're a good hitting team. We had to mix it up."

Gontkosky was also victimized by three errors in the first inning and five miscues overall. But the lefthander who spent some time in the Mets' organization, pitched out of trouble in the sixth when a two-out error and a walk to Hassan DeJesus brought the tying run to the plate in the person of Jon DiBonaventura.

Gontkosky got DiBonaventura on a grounder to second for the final out of the inning and --as it turned out -- the game and season.

Home plate umpire George Harris, who had conferred with the other umpires before the start of the sixth, immediately said "That's the ballgame."

South Whitehall, unsure of the situation, didn't immediately celebrate. Cetronia offered some mild griping.

"It's still light out now," said Longhorn player-manager George Horn about 15 minutes after the game was stopped. "We could have played another inning. The way this game was going, we definitely wanted another crack. Heck, we were playing games at a quarter of nine a few times this year."

But the clock struck midnight on what had become a Cinderella season for the longshot Longhorns, who were once 8-13 and doubtful to even make the playoffs.

"We came a long way," Horn said. "I'm proud of every one of them. They showed a lot of character down the stretch of the regular season and then we won two playoff series to get here. We beat the top two seeds.

"South Whitehall's a good team, we're a good team. They won. Our hat's off to them."

Meanwhile, some guys who may soon be showing some gray under their hats, savored the moment in the South Whitehall dugout.

Jim Emerick, a Tri-Co veteran at the age of 35, said he had played his last game. A few others may also be hanging up their spikes.

"It has been awhile since we won one of these things and a lot of guys -- me included --began wondering if we'd ever win one again," said long-time South Whitehall slugger Lou Falco. "There's not a lot of years left for many of us. Just one more for me.

"We have about five or six guys who have been the nucleus of this team for a long time, going back to that '88 championship team when we played at Coplay. And fittingly, many of those guys came through for us to win this thing."

Jeff Erie, Jud Frank and Mondschein had two hits each for the Serpents, while Mike Merkle paced Cetronia with three hits. Chris Gordon had two hits and knocked in four runs in a losing cause.



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- August 22, 1998

Copyright © 1998, The Morning Call