Walter shuts down Coplay

He pitches Limeport to a 7-2 win and a 2-0 lead in Tri-County semis.


By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call

 

Ryan Walter wasn't disappointed when his bid for a perfect game was lost on an error with two out in the bottom of the sixth inning Saturday night in Scherersville.

That's because the Limeport Bulls' young lefty didn't know he had a perfecto going.

The 2004 Quakertown High grad would also lose the no-hitter and shutout in the sixth, but finished with an impressive two-hitter in Limeport's 7-2 Tri-County League playoff win over the Coplay Reds.

The Limeport victory — coming on the heels of Friday's wild 11-10, 8-inning triumph — gave the Bulls a 2-0 stranglehold on the best-of-five semifinal series.

Limeport (28-9-1) can apply the brooms and secure a spot in the Tri-Co finals with a win at home at 5 p.m. today.

For the second time in a 24-hour span, Coplay (27-12-1) helped the Bulls with errors and walks.

After five errors and seven walks fueled the Limeport attack Friday, the Reds hurt themselves with two more miscues and a whopping 11 freebies on Saturday.

Starting pitcher Jose Medina struggled with his control and then his composure, basically ''quitting on his team'' in the words of Coplay manager Shawn Andrews.

Later, he was ejected from the game while sitting on the bench. He will not be back for the rest of the series, not that it's likely to go much longer.

But Coplay's woes were a subplot to the brilliance of Walter, who, rolling with a 6-0 lead, retired the first 17 hitters he faced by effectively mixing four different pitches.

''I'm not really a strikeout pitcher,'' he said. ''I'm more about getting everybody involved in the game, and today, the guys played great behind me. I have nothing to complain about at all.''

He had no beef with shortstop Jeremy Bartha, who had to charge a slow roller off the bat of No. 9 hitter John Curreri. The rushed Bartha couldn't snare it off the grass and was charged with an error.

''After Jeremy missed the ball, I heard someone say that I lost a perfect game, but honestly, until that point, I wasn't aware of it,'' Walter said.

Even so, the first Coplay baserunner seemed to rattle him. Walter hit Kyle Rhoades with a pitch and walked Joe Bubba before Brandon Leslie ended the shutout and no-hitter with a two-run hit to right.

But he regrouped to get cleanup man Kevin Thompson on a deep fly to left to end the sixth and worked around Jesse Borden's leadoff single in the seventh to finish with a two-hit, five-strikeout gem.

''I was 3-1 with this team, I believe, but I pitched with Watertown in the New York Collegiate League most of the summer and just came back on Tuesday,'' Walter said. ''I felt wonderful out there. I felt like I had perfect command and could throw whatever I wanted to throw. My forkball was working the best.''

Dylan Dando, the Bulls' ''acting'' manager since regular skipper Chris Parsell was away, praised Walter.

''That's one of the best-pitched games I've ever seen in this league,'' he said. ''To throw a perfect game for more than five innings in the semifinals, against a team that had 13 hits the night before — you can't ask for anything more.''

Dando certainly couldn't ask for more players.

He said the Bulls had 24 men in uniform Friday and 23 on Saturday, unprecedented numbers for an amateur baseball team in an age when guys are reluctant to show up if they're not going to play.

''We've had games with nine guys this season and had guys all over the place all summer, but now we have everybody here,'' Dando said. ''When we have this team here, we're pretty good.''

Andrews agreed and doesn't know if his team can extend the series.

''Losing Friday took a lot out of us and today we just fell apart,'' he said. ''Mentally, we're drained and baseball is 90 percent mental.''


Limeport Bulls   140 001 1 — 7 4 1

Coplay Reds      000 002 0 — 2 2 2


Walter and Shoemaker; Medina, Calarco (2), Carey (4) and Borden. Notes: For Bulls, Luke Pile 1-2, 2 BBs, 2 runs, Brendan McGaheran 2 of team's 4 hits, RBI.



keith.groller@mcall.com

610-820-6740

From The Morning Call -- August 6, 2006

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