SAA Boys Baseball

EDCO Intermediates - Springfield Blue Team: (front, kneeling) Chris Dougherty, Danny Hee, Matt Gallo, Pete Sabato, Joe Sheeran and Matt Culbertson; (back) Coach Bob Thomas, Tommy Lyons, Matt Fuchsel, Chris Desiderio, Eric Gibbs, Tim Houtmann, John O’Doherty, coaches Mike O’Doherty and Matt Judge. Missing from picture: Kyle Pappa, Tim Finnegan, Jeff Peranteau, coaches Frank Pappa and Marty Jeffers.

June 30 – Springfield Blue 10 – Brookhaven 0
Springfield Blue blanked Brookhaven 10-0 to close out the regular season and secure 2nd place in the EDCO Intermediate East division. Blue will battle 3rd seed Springfield Gold in the playoffs which begin on Tuesday at North Ave. Blue finished with a record of 9-7 despite a terrible start where they were 1-5 early in the season. Dedication and good attitudes by the guys accounted for the turn around. In the final game, it was all Springfield as Chris Desiderio led the way on the hill pitching 4 scoreless innings allowing just 2 hits while strking out 3. Desiderio also had an RBI single and a 2 run tripple to sew up the victory. John O’Doherty, Matt Gallo, and Danny Hee each pitched scoreless innings in relief to keep the shutout in tact. O’Doherty got into a bit of jam in the 5th with some walks but he had a nice pick-off of a man off first and was helped by a Pete Sabato gun down of a runner attempting to steal 3rd. John then struck out the final batter to end the threat. Gallo and Hee each sat them down 1-2-3 with ground outs and 2 K’s in the 6th and 7th. Tommy Lyons and Pete Sabato shared catching duties and both played great behind the plate. Offensively, Lyons had a walk, a steal, and scored a run to go along with an RBI single. Sabato had a sacrafice fly to plate a run. Danny Hee had a big game in the box as he singled, doubled, and had a RBI sacrafice fly. Matt Culbertson remained hot getting on base all three times with two walks and a single and scoring twice. Mr. Versatility, Joe Sheeran, played all 4 infield positions and had an RBI, a single, and scored two runs for Blue. Matt Gallo, knew the count when he smacked an RBI single and Chris Dougherty and Matt Fuchsel rounded out the scoring each with a stollen base and a run scored.

June 28 – Springfield Blue 3 – BYC Gold 2
Joe Sheeran pitched great in his first start of the year allowing just 2 hits and 2 runs in 7 strong innings of work. Joe struck out 4 and also started a nice 1-6-3 double play in the 5th inning to erase a lead off base runner. Joe’s battery mate, Pete Sabato, had a strong game behind the dish as he nailed 2 attempted steals. Sabato also had an RBI in the 1st when Blue got 2 runs and then later singled to lead off the 5th and eventually came around to score the winning run on a big 2 out single off the bat of Tim Houtman. Lead off man Danny Hee had 2 basehits and an important steal and run scored in the first thanks to an RBI single by John O’Doherty. Matt Culbertson was also on base twice with walk and a single while Matt Fuchsel and Chris Dougherty each had knocks.

June 27 – Norwood 11 – Springfield Blue 4
Blue fell behind early and could never really get it in gear as they fell to Norwood 11 – 4. On a postitive note, Springfield finished with 8 hits including 2 doubles. John O'Doherty was the offensive standout with a an RBI single in the 4th to plate Joe Sheeran who had doubled and then John doubled himself in the 6th to plate Chris Dougherty who had singled and Pete Sabato who was on base by error. Matt Culbertson also had a strong game with a wallk and an RBI single in the 3rd. Danny Hee, Matt Gallo, and Matt Fuchsel all hit safely in the game.