Delaware South falls in Carpenter Cup baseball

Appoquinimink’s Brett Willett cracked an RBI double for Delaware South, which lost to the Philadelphia Catholic League 5-2 in the Carpenter Cup quarterfinals on Friday.

PHILADELPHIA – The table was set for Delaware South.

The First State’s final hope in the Phillies Carpenter Cup baseball tournament trailed by a run, but loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday at FDR Park.

But Philadelphia Catholic League pitcher Sean Hughes mixed a 12-to-6 curveball and deceptive fastball to quash the rally with two strikeouts and a fly ball to center. Then the Catholic League tacked on a couple of insurance runs and won the quarterfinal game 5-2.

“It was tough, looking back at it,” said Delaware South coach G.L. Jefferson, who doubles as Sussex Tech’s baseball coach. “I wish we could have at least put a ball in play. … But all in all, we battled all day. I couldn’t be more happy for the kids, more proud of the kids.”

Delaware South dominated Berks County (Pa.) 10-4 for its first opening-round win since 2006. But the collection of below-the-canal high school stars came up one win shy of the semifinals, which will be played Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park.

“That was our goal, definitely getting to the Bank,” Jefferson said. “It’s been 10 years since Delaware South has won a game, so we came in here on a high. I wish we could have pulled this one out, especially as close as the game was for so long.”

Appoquinimink’s Ryan Steckline started the game with two 1-2-3 innings, but the Catholic League found the range against the left-hander for three runs on three hits in the top of the third. Delaware South got on the board in the bottom of the third, as a two-out double by Appo’s Brett Willett scored Polytech’s Carter Chasanov.

“I was just looking for a good pitch to hit,” Willett said. “We had a guy on base, we needed to get something going.”

But Willett was thrown out after trying to stretch his drive into a triple.

“Wish I would have stayed at second, definitely, for Jared Gillis,” the shortstop said. “He’s been a hot bat for us.”

The Smyrna third baseman stayed hot, as Gillis singled to start the bottom of the fourth. He scooted to third on a single by Appo’s Joe Otto and scored when St. Georges’ Riley Klepacki hit into a fielder’s choice to pull Delaware South within 3-2.

It stayed that way until the key moment in the seventh, when Delaware South’s rally fizzled. Then the Catholic League scored runs on an error and wild pitch in the eighth for a more comfortable advantage.

Five Delaware South pitchers combined to strike out 12 Catholic League batters, with Dover’s Garrett Lawson deploying a wicked curve to fan four in two innings.

Otto, a senior headed to Washington College, didn’t find out he would be playing until Thursday night. The right fielder took full advantage, going 2-for-2 to be the only Delaware South batter with two hits.

“I came in excited to play, ready to play,” Otto said. “I actually wasn’t on the team; I didn’t try out. But we didn’t have a few outfielders here today, so they put me on assignment, I got called up to the bigs and I was excited to do the job.”

The players were happy to be seen by college recruiters and professional scouts, but they really wanted at least one more win to play one or two games in the Phillies’ home park across the street.

“That was the talk in the dugout throughout the whole week,” Willett said. “It’s a little disappointing that we’re not going to be able to play over there, but I think we put in a good effort today.”

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.