By Steve Smull
LVBL News
LOWER NAZARETH – When the Wilson Warriors were winning 9-2 after four innings, there were whispers of a mercy-rule finish whistling through the wind. But as the Bushkill Blue Jays (15-3) briskly battled back, they bombarded the beleaguered Warriors (16-2) with 13 consecutive runs to win Game 1 of this best-of-3 AA North Division series of the Lehigh Valley Baseball League (LVBL), 15-9.
It may seem outrageous to think that a 15-3 team could fly under the league’s radar all season long, but the Blue Jays have done just that. Bushkill did not add any current or former pro players to their 2020 roster. Instead, they quietly added a couple of new players to complement their solid core, and voila, the Jays are making another run deep into the LVBL playoffs.
Even though league prognosticators allowed Bushkill to fly under the radar this season, air traffic control at Lehigh Valley International Airport certainly took notice of them, picking up three of their home runs flying out of the park on their scopes on Saturday.
The Blue Jays scored in the top half of the first inning when Tom Crimi doubled in Brandon Robinson, who had reached on a two-base error, and Bushkill quickly led 1-0.
Wilson was efficient with their offense early as they built their 9-2 lead. A case in point was how they responded in the bottom of the first. Anthony Indelicato walked and then reached third base on back to back balks. After a strikeout, Nathan Fusco-Lomont walked and stole second to put runners on second and third with one out. Brandon Smith had a productive out with his ground ball to second base, scoring Indelicato to tie the game at 1-1 and moving Fusco-Lomont to third base. Another balk scored him, and the Warriors led 2-1.
After a scoreless second inning, Adam Recker battled his way through a seven-pitch at-bat and rewarded himself with a two-out, solo blast to left-center to tie the game at 2-2 in the top in the third. Wilson answered again in their half of the third. Indelicato was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on the fourth balk of the game. Julian Lopez walked, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Fusco-Lomont walked to load the bases. Brandon Smith smashed a ground-rule double to right-center, scoring a pair of runs, and the Warriors led 4-3. One pitch later, Cade Horwath blasted a three-run homer to left field, and Wilson took a 7-2 lead.
“That was his first home run ever,” said Wilson player/manager Donavin Fusco-Lomont, who could not hit in this game himself due to a broken left hand. “As in first home run in his life, at any level. I threw him in the lineup today because we lost some guys for various reasons, including myself.”
The Warriors got busy again in the bottom of the fourth inning. Lopez walked with one out and stole second base. One out later, Smith smashed another double, this time to left-center, scoring Lopez and Wilson now led 8-2. After an E-6, Patrick Flynn singled up the middle to score Smith, and the Warriors seemed to have a commanding lead of 9-2.
Wilson scored nine runs on four hits through four innings. Now that is efficient. The problem is the Warriors would not get another hit for the remainder of the game.
However, Bushkill would get 11 hits and 13 runs over the final five innings.
The avalanche began in the top of the fifth. Jeremy Lopez walked to lead off the inning. After a pop-up, Robinson singled, and Recker reached on an E-9 to load the bases. Crimi worked a seven-pitch walk, and the Jays trailed 9-3. Lee Kuntz singled in a pair of runs to cut the lead to 9-5. After a pitching change, Nick Basenese blasted the second pitch he saw for a three-run big fly, and suddenly Bushkill trailed 9-8.
Although the Blue Jays would leave the bases loaded in the sixth on a runner’s interference play to end the inning, they bounced back quickly in the top of the seventh. Basenese lead off the frame with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. CJ Cressman walked, and after a pop-up and another wild pitch that put two runners in scoring position, Nick Terleski walked to load the bases. Jeremy Lopez earned a seven-pitch, RBI walk to knot the game at 9-9. Brandon Michael singled, and Bushkill led 10-9. Recker singled to make it 11-9. Crimi got hit by the next pitch, and the Jays led 12-9. After another pitching change, Kuntz walked to score another run, and Bushkill took a 13-9 lead.
The scoring would conclude in the top of the ninth when Michael singled to start the frame. After a line-out to centerfield, Recker came to the plate and worked the count to 3-1. He then hit a tape-measure homer so far over the left-field fence that the left-fielder did not even turn around to even look at where it went. The 13-run outburst gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead in the best-of-3 AA semifinals series.
“That was a tough game,” said Warriors player/manager Donavin Fusco-Lomont. “We made a lot of mental mistakes in the field. That was the killer. You can’t give up a lead like that.”
The one positive for Wilson in the game was Brandon Smith, who had two of their four hits, both doubles, and four RBI.
“Brandon, like last year, is the heart of this team,” said Fusco-Lomont. “He and Nate are probably the most dangerous 3-4 hitters in the division, right up there with Recker and Crimi. It has gotten to the point with those two guys that I expect them to give us big games every week. Nate had six RBI in Game 1 and a solo homer in Game 2 last week.”
The story of the game, other than Recker going 3-for-6 with two homers, four RBI and three runs scored, was Blue Jays relief pitcher Lee Kuntz. He had three saves coming into the contest, but never threw more than two innings this season. However, Kuntz went the final four innings in this game, striking out ten and not allowing a hit to pick up the win.
“My days of pitching as a starter are over,” said Kuntz. “But if we need an inning or two, then I am good. I was feeling it today, so I just kept going. I threw a lot of fastballs today and mixed in a curve to keep them honest. If they ain’t hitting it, I am going to keep throwing it. No need to over-think it.”
”The game started rough for us today, getting down seven runs,” continued Kuntz. “But one thing I have learned about this team is that we never give up. We play hard the whole game.”
Recker’s Bushkill team has been in the playoffs every year, but one since 2014, and the Jays won two championships in the American Division in 2014 and 2018. His team has been battle-tested for the postseason.
“We have a good hitting team,” said Recker. “So with a nine-inning game today, we knew we could come back. We just kept battling at the plate. Our bats came alive, and the pitching settled down, and the defense played well the last 5-plus innings. We feel like we are always in the game, even today, when we were down 9-2.”
When asked about the locations of the two fastballs he launched out of the park on Saturday, Recker said, “They were down the middle of the plate. I don’t try and hit home runs, but every now and then, they happen to go out.”
And those two big flies were hit way out of the park on Saturday.
