Tribe bounces back from tough loss

            Justin Wornham was as close to a one-man show as one can be on the

Justin Wornham steals third base during Upper Perkio- men's 804 non-league victory Monday over Brandywine Heights.

baseball diamond as Upper Perkiomen defeated Brandywine Heights 8-4 in a non-league home game on Monday.

            Wornham, a senior who sees most of his time at shortstop, had one hit, scored a run, pitched the final inning, stole four bases and was involved in all four double plays turned by the Indians--including starting the twin killing that ended the game.

            Among his stolen bases was a swipe of home on the back end of a double steal in the sixth.

            While Wornham has not pitched in many league games, that could change as the season unfolds.

            "He's so good defensively it's hard to take him out, but he'll probably start seeing more because we need people to be able to close out games for us," coach Frank Mercon said after the game.

            The Tribe (1-1, 2-2) built a 7-0 lead after two innings against the Bullets (2-1) from Berks County, batting around in a first inning that saw David Kilroy (single), Pat Mininger (single) and Lance Templeton (walk) drive in runs.

            In the second, Bob Lynch smacked an RBI double and Kilroy plated another run with another single.

            "We're hitting the ball and even our outs are hit hard," Mercon noted about his team which scored 20 runs in its last three games. "We're hitting the ball really well."

            For his part, Kilroy, who hits in the middle of the line-up, practices disciplined patience at the plate. "I've been working all the fields, trying not to pull the ball too much."

            Sophomore Evan Shade pitched the first three innings to record the win, allowing six hits but helping himself by starting a double play, turned by Wornham, in the second and striking out Brody Graff to end the third.

            Lynch and Baxter Sewall also saw time on the mound for the Tribe.

            The Brandywine win and a victory over Upper Merion helped erase the effects of a gut-punch of a loss to Pope John Paul on March 27. Three outs from victory, Upper Perk coughed up eight runs in the top of the seventh and fell 9-5.

            In the process, Upper Perk wasted a gem of a performance by starting pitcher Hunter Gooch who allowed just two earned runs and struck out eight while working six innings.

            The Tribe had jumped out to a 4-0 first inning lead. Macauley Swenk, Pat Mininger and Nick Medveckus drove in runs for the Indians.

            Adam Fedrock got the victory for the Panthers with two innings of relief. Ryan O'Neill was 3-for-4 with the game-winning RBI.

            Two days later, the Indians rebounded with the 7-4 win at home against Upper Merion. This time the Tribe took a 5-0 lead after two innings only to see the advantage cut to 5-4 by the fifth.

            But sophomore Malachi Duka slammed the door in relief with 2.2 innings of shutout ball and six strikeouts to preserve the win for starter Don States.
            Shade had two of the Tribe's six hits and Wornham scored twice.

            "I feel like we responded well because we could have come back that next day and lost the game after that, and that would have just been a really bad start to our season," Kilroy said about the team's mindset after the John Paul loss.

            "We bounced back pretty good."