Junior right-handers Mike Thompson of Springfield and Jerry Benedict of Upper Darby each went the distance, with Benedict getting the win as the home Royals pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to triumph, 4-3.
Springfield and Upper Darby both have fine baseball traditions, but they're struggling in the second division of the league as the season heads into its second half.
On this cold, windy afternoon, the tenacious, bulldog-like efforts of the two hurlers certainly gave each side reason to hope that better days may lie ahead.
"Benedict's had some tough luck this year," Upper Darby coach Bob Miller said afterward. "Our pitching has generally been good, but we've had trouble scoring runs."
Meanwhile, Springfield mentor Dave Ash noted that Thompson's effort was "definitely his best" in two seasons of sharing Cougars mound duties. Ash believed that it was Thompson's first-ever complete game.
What was especially impressive about the work of Thompson and Benedict was the composure that each showed in tough situations. Each team managed to get numerous runners on base, but the knockout blow was missing as the pitchers came up with key strikeouts or were aided by run- saving plays.
The early innings saw both teams peppering the wire right-field fence with singles and doubles as the Royals moved to a 3-1 lead by the end of the third stanza.
The strong wind made any play an adventure for the outfielders, while shortstop Mike Shirley turned a nice double play for to keep Springfield within reach.
Thompson seemed to get stronger as the game progressed, retiring the side in order in the fourth and sixth innings. In the fifth, Cougar center fielder Larry Greenwich helped his pitcher by running down a long drive by the Royals' Matt Livoy, then robbed Hithel Rahmi by picking a liner off the turf.
The Cougars crept closer with a run in the fifth, but as Miller noted afterward, the Royals averted disaster in the as second Tyler Elko turned a bad throw into a forc-eout at second base.
In the sixth inning, it was shortstop Jim Curran's turn to hold Springfield at bay: he ranged to his left to field Greenwich's hard grounder and made a strong throw to nip the Cougar star at first with the potential tying run on base.
The game seemed over with two outs in the top of the seventh when Thompson stepped to the plate. He promptly drilled a triple over the head of center fielder Eric Perna, and scored the tying run when the relay to third was overthrown.
This stunning turn of events didn't seem to affect the Royals as they came to the plate in the bottom half of the inning. "We were real hyped; we didn't put ourselves down," Benedict said.
A walk, stolen base, and an error quickly put an Upper Darby runner on third base before Perna lifted a fly to right center. Greenwich came a long way to make the catch, but his throw to the plate was not in time to prevent the winning run from sliding across.
"Things are picking up for us," Benedict said. "We're hitting better, and we played a real intense game today." He credited his breaking ball with helping to hold Greenwich hitless and register eight strikeouts.
Speaking of intensity, Benedict shed his sweatshirt and pitched the last two innings in short sleeves as the temperature dropped. "I was just getting warmed up," he joked afterward.
"This was another gut-wrenching loss for us," Ash said. He praised his team's attitude, saying that "we think we can win despite some close defeats.''
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