Philadelphia evens up series
By By Marty Stamper/EMG sports assistant
April 19, 2003
PHILADELPHIA North Pike learned a painful lesson Friday afternoon at Burnside Park – getting into a slugfest with the Philadelphia Tornadoes isn't conducive to success on the baseball diamond.
While the Jaguars had a 14-13 advantage in hits, the Tornadoes used three long balls to take a 17-7 run-rule win to even the Class 3A best-of-three opening-round series at one win apiece. The third game is slated for today at 1 p.m. at Summit.
Friday's outing was Philadelphia's 16th time to score in double figures in 28 games.
North Pike took an early 3-0 lead on a towering three-run blast over the center field wall by Craig Dickerson in the first inning.
Philadelphia got two runs back in the second inning and went up 5-3 in the third . Of those five runs, one scored on a wild pitch, another on a passed ball, one on a ground out, and another on an error.
Then the big sticks heated up.
No. 9 batter Shay Grady led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer to right field. Another Jaguar error made it 7-4 with the Tornadoes going up 8-4 on a sacrifice fly by winning pitcher Cameron Tawater.
North Pike, 15-9, got two runs back in the top of the fifth on a two-run homer by J.L. Lamkin.
Jerwarrick Hartzog jacked a three-run homer in the fifth to give the Tornadoes, 19-9, an 11-6 cushion. Before the inning was through, Jonathan Booker belted a two-run homer to right-center for a 13-6 advantage.
John Paul Nunnery had an RBI double for the Jaguars in the top of the sixth only to have Philadelphia close out the contest with four runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The inning's big blow was a two-run double to right-center by Tyler Threadgill.
Each of the Tornado starters had at least one hit as Philadelphia roughhoused five Jaguar pitchers. Hartzog was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Threadgill was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in. Jamaal Peebles went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Hartzog, Threadgill, and Kip Turner each scored three runs in the blowout.
North Pike, which took a 5-3 win on Thursday in the series opener, got at least one hit from its first eight batters. Dickerson finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Lamkin, Jeff West, Nunnery, and Troy McCullough each had two hits.
The Jaguars had a chance to pad their lead in the third inning, loading the bases with only one hit. Tawater (6-3) struck out Ryan Vanderslice and got Dusty Davis to foul out to catcher Jonathan Holland to end the threat.
