Reutsch also contributes
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
While one all-star game may have come to a disappointed ending for Mark Duffy, his other could not have gone any better.
The recent Allentown High School graduate was a part of the Mercer County all-star baseball team that won the Carpenter Cup, 9-2, over Lehigh Valley at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
”It’s huge,” Duffy said. “We have a lot of great talent on the team. Every position, we could all hit.
”It was a great experience. We’ve been playing against these guys for three years. To play one last high school game with them was awesome. It’s a nice send-off after the rivalries. It was nice to end on a good note.”
It was a contrast from the unfulfilled feeling one week later when inclement weather forced the first-ever cancellation of the Sunshine Classic football all-star game that was to be Duffy’s final football game. He will play baseball at Catholic University, and there will be plenty of other baseball games for Duffy, who is also helping the Allentown Legion baseball team to a promising season. The Carpenter Cup was a highlight to start his summer.
”I knew coming in we had great pitching and great hitting,” Duffy said. “I knew we had something special because had a lot of great guys on the team. Our pitching and hitting were phenomenal, and our defense was strong too.”
Fellow Redbirds graduate Brandon Reutsch also played for the history-making Mercer County baseball team. Reutsch delivered an insurance run in the final. It was only the second time that Mercer has won the Carpenter Cup. Their other win came in 2004.
”This is the last high school baseball game for me,” Duffy said. “You can’t top this.”
Duffy started every game at third base for the Mercer team, and was a consistent hitter for the stars. In the finale, he delivered a two-run single in their five-run fifth inning that broke open the game. Mercer had come off the unusual circumstances that had their semifinal game against Jersey Shore suspended by weather with them leading, 2-1, in the seventh inning. When the game resumed, Mercer fell behind before rallying with three runs in the ninth inning to win it.
”That was cool,” Duffy said. “It was funny. It was 2-1, and as soon as we started playing, the final score was 8-6. It surprising how one day we weren’t hitting everything and today both teams were.”
Mercer had about an hour before it had to start the final, and their bats didn’t cool off, their pitching was even better and their fielding completed it.
”We had everything,” Duffy said. “Our pitching, hitting and defense was all there. It’s a lot of fun winning.”
The Mercer team had confidence coming off its exciting ending in the semifinals. There was no breaking their stride even after a break before the finals.
”We had an hour in between,” Duffy said. “We had a lot of adrenaline. We were down one in the bottom of the ninth and scored three runs. We shut them out then and carried that momentum into the next game.”
Making it all the more special was the setting for the semifinals and finals. Both games were at Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies.
”It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Duffy said. “It’s a beautiful field. The grass is perfect. To play on the same field as major league players is pretty cool.”
To deliver on that field felt especially good. Duffy came up in the fifth with the bases loaded and two outs and his single opened up the game.
”I was happy with the way I played,” Duffy said. “There was some great competition. Everyone had all-stars. There was a lot of good pitching and good hitting. We just came out on top. I couldn’t be happier about that.”
Duffy is hoping that the winning on the baseball diamond continues this summer. He feels like he’s part of another all-star team with the Allentown Legion with their hot start.
”Legion is doing well,” Duffy said. “We are 8-1. We have great players. We’re pulling from Allentown and New Egypt.”
Pulling from the entire county worked out to be one of the best experiences of Duffy’s young career. It helped him share in an historic win to remember.
”To win the Carpenter Cup in the last game of my high school career,” Duffy said, “it’s huge. I’m never going to forget that.”