By: DYLAN LUTEY, Germantown Friends Jr. Reporter
PHILADELPHIA – A crowed made up of parents and other athletes, whose practices just came to an end at GFS Fields, started to form on the first base side of the baseball field to watch what was becoming an increasingly tension filled game between Academy of the New Church and Germantown Friends.
It was a classic pitcher’s duel. With the score knotted at one in the top of the eighth with a runner on second, Colin Pallanta ‘24 of ANC stepped to the plate. Senior captain Ben Goldberg was on the mound for the Tigers. After getting his 12th strikeout of the game with his 99th pitch, coach Randy Mower elected to let the lefty try to get one last out.
After firing a pitch out of the zone, Goldberg’s second pitch was laced to center field for a double by Pallanta. Immediately, Goldberg got the hook from Mower, as he was over the pitch limit, and went out to center field. Emerson Van Cleve ‘24 came in to get the final out. The Tigers' hopes for a rally in front of a big crowd at Gratwitz Field were quickly shot down as they were set down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Germantown Friends looks to get back-on-track as the Tigers host Friends Central and Friends Select this week - PSD Photo by Mark Zimmaro
It was an unfortunate ending for the team, but especially for Goldberg who pitched a gem. He was dazzling all game pumping strike after strike and racking up 12 strikeouts. The starting pitcher, who found out he would be on the mound just 10 minutes before the game due to fellow senior captain Dan Mateffy finding out about a last minute injury, talked about what allowed him to be so successful.
“I think in a way, [finding out last minute] was nice for me because it eliminated all the build up to the game and it was just about getting ready quickly then going out there, throwing strikes and just putting us in a position to be successful,” said Goldberg.
Mateffy was extremely impressed with Goldberg’s performance and commented on it.
“He was locked in,” said Mateffy. “He was on fire, consistent, and working quick. It was like he had a mental pitch clock, but he was working all his pitches, spotting up, letting the ball get put in play when he needed it to help us get some quick outs. It was impressive. That's the best I've seen him pitch in a while.”
Although it was a spectacular performance, it didn’t end the way Goldberg or the Tigers wanted. He acknowledged his disappointment.
“I'm going to be seeing that one in my nightmares for a long time. Not a bad pitch. Just left it a little up and [Pallanta] made a nice swing.” Goldberg continued, “it was killer because I felt like the whole team had been playing a great game for seven innings and to see our opportunity to win slip away like that really hurt.”
Both Mateffy and Goldberg shared similar sentiments about the positive takeaways from such a tight game. They both highlighted the defense, which had just one error on the day.
“Our defense has been really good this year,” said Mateffy. “Adam [Campbell ‘23] at shortstop, he had a couple nice plays. We kept runners pretty close at first. Ben had some good pick offs.”
The aforementioned Campbell showed off his athleticism in a big way making a couple of eye opening plays and showing off his capabilities as one of the better defensive shortstops in the FSL. His first play came in the top of the third where he reached down to catch a low liner and then had the awareness to throw to first where the runner was off the base in order to get the double play. Then in the top of the seventh, he dove to his right, reached out to stop the ball, then got up and fired a strike to first base. The play got a lot of “oohs and ahhs” from his team and the crowd.
Second baseman Rowan Ziegler ‘23 also had a couple of very nice plays going towards the middle of the diamond and robbing opposing batters of base hits. Between both team’s middle infielders and the stellar pitching, it wasn’t a surprise there wasn’t much scoring. There was a combined two errors in the game and each starting pitcher had 12 strikeouts. Luke Hyland ‘23 matched Goldberg putting up zero after zero for ANC. He had the Tigers baffled and part of it had to do with the Tigers’ approach at the plate according to Mateffy.
“We took a lot of pitches, a lot of early strikes, and got down in the count real quick. 14 strikeouts out of 24 outs is too much, so we’ve got to figure that out,” said Mateffy.
Although the team struggled at the plate, Mateffy had another good day at the plate going 2 for 3 which included a screaming line drive triple to left field, bringing his average up to .437 on the season. While he is more known for his pitching, which is what he will be doing for Holy Cross next season, he still enjoys batting and continues to work on his approach at the plate. After hitting just .154 last season he talked about his approach at the plate this season, which has allowed him to be a lot more successful thus far.
“Last year, I think I was thinking too much,” said Mateffy. “This year I had an at bat in Florida and [coach] Randy told me to stay tall, and just think line drive up the middle, right back towards the pitcher. That at-bat I hit a bases clearing double. I think I just have to think less and not fall back or dip my head. I am working on just staying tall and working through the ball.”
It was the Tiger’s first FSL game and although it didn’t end the way they wanted to, there were many positives to take away from such a tight and competitive game. Goldberg commented on the positives the team can take from this game as they head into their next league game this afternoon against the formidable Friends Central Phoenix.
“I think there's a lot to learn from any tight game. You get better prepared for the next one. I also think our defense was great all game, and so once we get the bats awake, if we add that to the defense we showed on Tuesday, we'll be in a great position to win that next tight game that we're in.”