Peddie stymied by L’ville pitching in prep title matchup

The Falcons lost the baseball tournament game to Lawrenceville 1-0.

By: Neil Hay
   For baseball fans who prefer high-scoring games, who can’t get their fill of offense, who consider the invention of the designated hitter the greatest thing since sliced bread, then Wednesday’s state prep "A" tournament game between Lawrenceville and Peddie at Waterfront Park was not for you.
   But if you are a purist who loves to see a low-scoring, well-played, well-pitched game between two competitive teams, then the Big Red’s 1-0 win over the Falcons that gave Lawrenceville the state title was baseball like it ought to be.
   Peddie’s Kyle Damm and Lawrenceville’s Nick Francona matched serves and neither deserved to lose. If anything, Francona was just a little bit better than Damm. Francona threw seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits with 10 strikeouts and three walks.
   "Francona is very good," said Peddie coach Erik Treese.
   Francona took a no-hitter into the sixth inning when, with one out, David Wysocki turned on a pitch and lashed a triple. But Francona, nursing a 1-0 lead, got the next two hitters, the Falcons’ third and fourth batters, to end the inning.
   The locals had one final hurrah when Ed Woodrow led off the seventh with a single. But when the next three batters went down, the Big Red had the championship and Peddie was left to think about what might have been.
   Only the first two Lawrenceville batters prevented Damm from equaling Francona’s performance. The first hitter singled off Damm and, when he broke for second too soon in a steal attempt, the Falcons had him picked off but did not execute properly and the runner was safe. The Big Red capitalized on the scoring chance when the second hitter delivered a run-scoring single. That was all Damm would give up. For Francona, it was all he would need.
   Damm went the distance, allowing just one run on five hits with six strikeouts and five walks. If the Falcons throw out that runner in the first inning, no one knows how long the game would have gone on.
   "Kyle pitched a great game," Treese said. "We made a lot of big plays in the field. When we needed a big play in the field, we did. When we needed Kyle to make a big pitch, he did. It was a well-played game, like last year," when Hun’s Steve Garrison defeated Peddie ace Matt Pustay in the finals.
   The win improved the top-seeded Big Red to 20-4. Peddie, the third seed, finished the year at 12-11.
   Peddie entered the game with one tournament loss, while Lawrenceville had a perfect record. Under the double-elimination format, had the Falcons won the game each side then would have had one loss and a second game would have been needed later in the day. Lawrenceville’s win ended that possible scenario.
   "We had our chances. Give Francona credit. He got the outs when he needed them. I knew we wouldn’t score a lot of runs. Lawrenceville earned it," said Treese, who skippered the Falcons to the "A" finals in his first year as head coach. "I tip my cap to them. I am proud of my team, and the way we competed. We earned our way to the championship game.
   "The guys played very hard today. I can’t say enough about the way Damm pitched. He looked great, his composure, focus, desire to win. It was fun to watch."
   The tournament began last Thursday and Peddie’s 3-1 loss at second-seeded Hun dropped the locals right into the loser’s bracket. Once again it was Damm who took the baseball and pitched well enough to win.
   "In many ways he was as good as Garrison," who picked up the win with a five-hitter. Damm was one better, yielding four hits and only one earned run.
   "Some costly plays" in the fourth helped Hun to two runs, and that was the ball game. In all, the locals committed five errors. Added Treese, "We hit Garrison better than in the regular season," but the Falcons left the bases loaded in the third with only one run scored.
   "It’s disappointing in that we put ourselves in position to win. We had our chances, but with men on base we didn’t hit."
   Peddie won twice Saturday to stave off elimination and set up the Peddie-Lawrenceville showdown. At noon the Falcons defeated fifth-seeded St. Benedict’s 9-4 at home as Woodrow fashioned a three-hit shutout over five innings for the win. Things got a bit dicey when Eric Bowes came in and let the Grey Bees get on the scoreboard. Billy Golden allowed two more hits but got the last two outs in the seventh to preserve the win.
   Four hours later Peddie was on the field at Hun, where the Falcons handed the Raiders an 8-7 defeat which knocked Hun out of the tournament. Erik Lohrmann went all the way for the win, scattering six hits.