Town and Country Newspaper

Sports Article

Tribe Baseball Rebounds With Win Over Wildcats

Written by Dave Teufel, Correspondent
2012-04-05

Upper Perk pitcher Brendan Fitzgerald reaches for a bouncing ball hit on a bunt as first baseman J.D. Ricapito races to back him up on the play in the game Friday at Boyertown.

If getting off to a fast start was at the top of the priority list for the Upper Perkiomen baseball team, bouncing back from adversity may have been a close second. The Indians were able to accomplish both in their first full week of the PAC-10 season.

The fast start came on Monday March 26, opening day, when the Tribe traveled to Perkiomen Valley to face the Vikings.

The Indians allowed the Vikings a lead to start the game. They then put together an offensive outburst that included nine hits and four walks on their way to a 10-run first inning.

Chad Force had a huge day for the Indians, going 3-5 with 4 RBI at the plate while picking up the opening day win on the mound. The Vikings climbed back to make the score 10-7 before a 3-run sixth inning sealed the 13-9 win for the Indians.

The Indians made it two straight with a win over Pope John Paul last Wednesday. After giving up a first inning run to the visitors, the Indians came right back to plate two of their own in the bottom of the inning. Single runs in four of the next five innings resulted in a 6-3 win for the Tribe.

David Hoffman (4IP 4H 2ER 3BB 6K) picked up the win. Ian Benz (3IP 1H 1ER 2BB 2K) got the save. Kyle Saylor, Chad Force and J.D. Ricapito each had two hits.

Last Friday the Indians faced the boys from Boyertown and the Bears mauled the Tribe, ending the game after six innings by the score of 12-2.

The Indians held their own offensively, matching the Bears in base hits, but the Upper Perk pitchers had a rough day. The six inning affair yielded 10 free passes along with nine base hits and three hit batsmen. A 3-run homerun off the bat of Aaron Bogucki in the bottom of the second was the big blow for the Bears.

Monday the Tribe traveled to Owen J. Roberts to face the Wildcats in what would prove to be a very meaningful game for the Indians.

When Upper Perk scored three runs in the top of the first, it looked as though they had put the Boyertown game behind them, but a 4-run first by the Wildcats suggested otherwise. The Wildcats tacked on a run in the third to go ahead 5-3.

In the top of the fourth, the Upper Perk bats would come to life, putting a three spot on the board to take a 6-5 lead. A single run in the fifth made it 7-5, and when it was over the Indians had improved to 3-1 with a 10-5 win.

Chad Force picked up his second win of the season along with three more hits leaving him 9-16- 563avg and 9 RBI after four games.

Kyle Saylor 3-5 (7-12-583AVG) and Devyn Kerr 2-5 3RBI helped to power the Upper Perk offense. Kyle Fox (5-8-625avg) has hit safely in all four games, and David Hoffman threw two shutout innings.

The Indians will play Perkiomen at home today at 4 p.m. They will return to PAC-10 action Monday in what could be an early season showdown for first place when Methacton arrives for a 4 p.m. game.

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