Legion team hits, runs, wins

Post 12 needs to get hot

By: Rudy Brandl
   The Somerville American Legion baseball team entered this week’s busy stretch of action with as many losses as the Somerville High School team suffered during the spring season.
   Coach Rob Snyder had high expectations of this year’s team, especially with four key Manville High players joining a core of guys who led Somerville to an outstanding 23-6 campaign. Although Post 12 has stumbled out of the gates to a 2-6 start, there are still 10 games remaining and plenty of time for the club to recover.
   Snyder’s hoping that surge back into playoff contention began with Sunday night’s 11-5 victory over Skillman at Manville High. Post 12 scored early and often and pounded out 13 hits to make up for a sloppy night in the field.
   "It was a game I knew we should win," Snyder said. "We haven’t always been doing that this season. But it was a night where things finally went our way."
   Three MHS players contributed to the victory. For the first time this summer, Snyder was running a bit short on players and needed to put in a patchwork lineup.
   Manville High graduates Tommy Rock and Robert Wood and junior-to-be Joey Burnett made an impact in Sunday night’s game. Rock led off and played center field, while Wood and Burnett started at shortstop and third base, respectively. All three Manville guys had base hits in the game.
   Wood stroked a booming double in the seventh inning to join the party. He later scored the team’s 10th run. Rock singled in the team’s four-run third inning and Burnett reached on a bunt hit in the sixth.
   "Joey’s been bugging me to bunt all year," Snyder said. "We were up by a decent amount (7-4) so I let him try a safety squeeze. I told Lenny (Rutledge) not to take off right away. We didn’t score a run on the play was Joey was safe at first so I guess it worked. It helped us score two runs."
   The way things have been going for Post 12 this summer, Snyder wanted to score as many runs as possible. Somerville hadn’t won a game in nine days, with a bunch of postponements mixed in with a few losses.
   Post 12 set the tone early in Sunday’s game. Ryan Zamorsky walked and scored on a two-run homer by Rutledge, who went 2-for-3 with a game-high four RBI. Consecutive two-out singles by Nick McNamara, Brian Mantie and Kyle Lefkus produced the third run of the first inning.
   Skillman got one back in the second but Somerville went to work again in the third. Burnett reached on an error, stole second and moved to third on a passed ball. Mantie walked and moved up on a passed ball for Lefkus, who drilled a two-run single to make it 5-1. Lefkus stole second, moved to third on an errant throw by the catcher and scored on a balk. Bryce Gibbons walked, Rock singled and Zamorsky smacked an RBI single to complete the scoring in the second.
   Post 12 did a little bit of everything on offense in this game. The team showed some power, stole six bases and played some small ball with the bunting game. The team was loose and relaxed and Snyder hopes this is the start of a new trend.
   The battery of Rock and MHS classmate Kyle Sopko starred in the team’s first win June 15. Rock hurled a complete game and Sopko provided many of the offensive fireworks in an 11-2 triumph over Ridge.
   Rock fired a complete game six-hitter with four strikeouts and two walks. He hit two batters, which is about average for one of his outings.
   "It was a typical Tommy Rock experience," Snyder said. "He got himself into trouble an he got himself out of trouble. He kept the ball on the ground. He kept his composure."
   Sopko, who catches when Rock is on the mound, had a huge night with the bat. He stroked a two-run double in the first inning to give the team the lead and added a two-run single in the sixth for a little extra insurance.
   "That was their first game back from (the senior trip) Florida and they played well," Snyder said. "It was nice to see the two Manville guys work together and get the win with one of our homegrown guys on the mound."
   Post 12 will be playing almost every day for the next two weeks, hoping to make up for the early slump. The slow start was unexpected for this talented group of players but Post 12 has the horses to put together a streak of wins.
   "That’s been the most frustrating part," he said. "How can a team that went 23-6 with other good players not win more. We’re not hitting and we’re not playing good baseball. We need to start playing better baseball."
   Maybe Sunday night was the start of something.