Tri-County final a much-anticipated matchup

Limeport and Gabelsville have the best records in all of local amateur baseball.


By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call

 

When Limeport defeated Gabelsville 3-2 July 27 for the Tri-County League's regular season title, Owls' manager Mike "Doc" Moyer looked at the fireworks being shot off in center field in Limeport and said, "I hope we get another shot at them."

When Gabelsville swept Limeport in three games last August for the 1999 Tri-Co crown, several Bulls players quietly hoped for another shot at Gabelsville.

Both Moyer and Limeport got their wish -- and so did a lot of amateur baseball fans. That's because the league's most-dominant teams in recent years will wage one more battle that could prove memorable.

Their best-of-five championship series begins at 7:30 tonight in Limeport with Game 2 set for 5 p.m. Sunday in Gabelsville. Game 3 is set for Limeport Tuesday night with the fourth and fifth games to be played Wednesday and Thursday if needed.

Not only did the Bulls and Owls meet in last year's title series, but they met in the 1995 and '97 finals. Gabelsville, then known as Gilbertsville, won in four games in '95 and Limeport won in four in '97. Limeport also won the 1996 title, beating Woody's Sports Bar in four games.

So, while a Gabelsville-Limeport finals is hardly a surprise, few of their previous matchups were more-anticipated than this one, because the two clubs have the best records in all of local amateur baseball.

Limeport enters at 30-4, needing four games to win its semifinal series with Lehigh Township after a 27-3 regular season.

Gabelsville finished the regular season a game behind Limeport at 26-4, but is 5-0 in the playoffs and has won those five games by a combined score of 59-14.

Limeport won its series with Lehigh Township with pitching, allowing just six runs in the four games. Two of the wins were two- hit shutouts by Chad Arnold.

So is this a battle of Owl bats against Bull arms?

Not necessarily.

"Hitting is going to be the key because I think both teams can hit," said Limeport manager Scott Heppenheimer. "We've got Chad Arnold and Pat Toner. They have a couple of good guys. The key is Game 1. We can't go to Gabelsville Sunday down 1-0."

Limeport hasn't lost at home all season. Gabelsville lost just two games at home -- 1-0 to Lehigh Township June 7 and 7-6 to Jordan Creek June 21 -- and beat the Bulls at home 4-2 June 20.

Most say Gabelsville is a tough place to play because of the long drive it takes to get there from most spots in the Lehigh Valley. Others insist they encounter a different brand of umpiring in Berks County.

Ex-Limeport manager Billy Fatzinger, now a player with Stahley's, still fumes about some of the calls made at Gabelsville in last year's championship series.

"I don't like the drive and I don't like playing there," said Arnold. "But that's the team you want to beat."

That's why Heppenheimer was thrilled when his team won that July 27 game to decide the regular-season championship. Regular-season honors don't mean as much as the home-field advantage in the playoffs.

"I've played in four series against them, once with Emmaus and three times with Limeport and this is the first time I can remember having the home-field advantage," Heppenheimer said. "Now we don't have to worry about playing that potential fifth and deciding game in their surroundings."

Moyer, Gabelsville's long-time manager, doesn't know what all the barking is about. He has often said that while teams may have to make one or two trips to Gabelsville per summer, his unit has to travel 15 times during the regular season and some of the trips aren't exactly around the corner.

If there's one place his club doesn't mind playing, it's Limeport, because of the lights and the later starting times.

"It's a great place to play," he said. "You're not going to have to worry about darkness down there. And the crowds are great. I don't know what kind of crowd we'll have here Sunday with the Mid-Atlantic Regional in Boyertown."

Moyer isn't worried about the crowds as much as Arnold and Limeport pitching.

"We've been playing well in the playoffs, but we're not going to sustain the offensive pace we've been on; not against Limeport's pitching," he said. "I'm confident we'll get good pitching ourselves and we'll battle for runs. You'll see the best teams in the league fight it out in competitive, hard-nosed, tight games.

"They'll throw Arnold, Toner and Randy Baer at us and we'll come back with (Shawn ) Betz, (Lew ) Chillot and (Justin ) Konnick. You should see some great pitching and great baseball."



keith.groller@mcall.com

610-820-6740

From The Morning Call -- August 12, 2000

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