Lukacs won game swinging away
By: Rudy Brandl
What are the odds that the only two players from Manville would combine to win an American Legion baseball game between two of Somerset County’s biggest rivals?
Add the fact that the game was played on the same Manville High diamond where Ernie Lukacs and Steve Anderson did most of their damage as high school ball players and you’ve got a great midsummer sports story. Put former Mustang three-sport athlete Robert Snyder in the third-base coaching box calling the shots and it’s a great day for Manville baseball.
Lukacs stepped to the plate with one out and runners at the corners in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 6-6 ballgame. Somerville and Immaculata had battled for over two hours in the heat the humidity and somebody had to decide the outcome.
How would Post 12 play it? Managers have many options in this situation.
If Lukacs and Anderson, who stood on third base after starting the inning with an infield hit, were still playing for their high school coach, the final sequence may have been different.
Manville High skipper Steve Venuto loves to use the suicide squeeze play. He’s won a few ballgames using that gadget play where the runner takes off from third with the pitch while the batter drops a bunt. As long as the batter puts the ball in play on the ground and in fair territory, the run will score.
If the pitcher and catcher read the play and pitch out, the play will probably result in a rundown with the base runner getting tagged somewhere in the third-base line. There’s a big risk involved, especially if the batter isn’t a great bunter. It also helps for the base runner to be fast.
Snyder admitted the thought crossed his mind. We joked in the post-game interview about how Venuto would have wanted to squeeze in that same situation. In fact, Venuto recently lamented never once using the suicide squeeze during his varsity team’s 2006 season. If Venuto were standing in the third-base coaching box Saturday afternoon, Lukacs probably would have been bunting.
Lukacs was happy his coach let him swing away.
"I can bunt, but I can’t remember the last time I had to bunt," Lukacs said.
Consider the fact that Lukacs is a pitcher who does not bat on his Raritan Valley Community College team. He also batted in the heart of the MHS lineup during his scholastic career, so he probably hasn’t dropped down a bunt since Little League.
Snyder had to think quickly but decided to play it straight. He was confident Lukacs would come through.
"You’re always thinking about things," Snyder said. "They had the infield in and the outfield in. I wanted to let Ernie use the bat. He’s been putting the ball in play and that’s what we needed to win the game. He found a hole and we won the game."
It wasn’t that long ago when Snyder was playing ball on the very same field. At the age of 21, he’s still learning a lot about coaching the game. Saturday afternoon, he made the right call and two young men from Manville executed to produce an exciting victory.
Snyder was an outstanding defensive third baseman during his playing days at Manville, where he enjoyed a productive four-year varsity career. It must have been nice for him stand in the coaching box next to the bag to watch one of those hard grounders pick up speed on the all-dirt infield and find the hole between shortstop and the third base position he played not long ago.