Dan Sieracki’s Bottom-of-the-Ninth Hit Lifts Baseball To 5-4 Win Over Gwynedd-Mercy

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Widener lost the lead in the top of the ninth, but three straight hits along with some clutch base-running gave it a 5-4 win over Gwynedd-Mercy.

Gwynedd-Mercy put its first run on the board in the first inning. Lead-off man Kevin Smeraglio lined a single up the middle, but was caught stealing on a 1-3-6 play. With two outs, starting pitcher Matt Day (Plymouth Meeting, PA) issued a base on balls to left fielder Josh Martin, who scored from first on a double hit by catcher John Burns.

Widener (19-5) came back strong in the bottom of the second inning, gaining back that run plus three more. Dennis Hocker (Coral Spring, FL) led off the inning with a ball up the middle and was moved to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run by shortstop Matt Hone (Newtown, PA), who hit a ball through the right side of the infield. Eric Von Stetina (Collegeville, PA) was hit by a pitch and loaded the bases for second baseman Kyle Summers (Mohnton, PA), who hit another ball through the right side to score Hocker easily. Colin Weiss (Red Hill, PA) hit a ball to right field, deep enough to score Hone on the tag-up. Griffin pitcher Andrew Sinon threw a wild pitch that advanced both Von Stetina and Summers one bag each. With two outs down, Sean Saverio (Horsham, PA) hit double on a ball that took a hop over the first baseman to score both men and to give the Pride a 4-1 lead.

Although Widener had men in scoring position in four different innings, no more runs were scored for the Pride until the bottom of the ninth inning. Gwynedd-Mercy gained one run in the fourth, fifth and ninth innings to inch closer and and ultimately tie the game.

In the top of the ninth with Widener holding a 4-3 lead, the Griffins were able to get a one-out base-runner on when Martin was awarded a single on a controversial call by the field umpire. Hone fielded the ball and made the throw and first baseman Bill Hollingsworth (Drexel Hill, PA) made a clean scoop, but the field umpire — against the opinions of many players and spectators — called Martin safe. Martin then stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position. A single through the left side of the infield scored the run and tied the game at 4-4.

Widener saw the top of the order come to the plate in its last official at-bat. Brendan O'Brien (Coatesville, PA) led off with a seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield. Saverio then squared to bunt a ball between the pitcher and the first baseman. Heads-up thinking allowed him to dive into the first base bag and under the tag attempt by the first baseman, moving O'Brien to second and giving the Pride two base-runners with no outs. Center fielder Dan Sieracki (Cherry Hill, NJ) blasted a ball to center that perfectly sliced towards right field to score O'Brien from second standing up and give Widener a win, ending the Griffins' eight-game winning streak.

Salvatore Spera (Norristown, PA), brought into the game in the beginning of the ninth inning, received the win and Griffin Casey Clark suffered the loss.

Widener travels to Flemington, NJ on Wednesday to play a make-up game against King's, beginning at 7:00 pm.

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