PHILADELPHIA – About the only things hotter than the temperature on the morning of June 18 were the bats of the Delaware North baseball team. The all-star team bashed 22 hits and scored in every at bat in a 26-9 win over Lehigh Valley in the second round of the Carpenter Cup, the annual high school showcase sponsored by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Six players on the roster come from Catholic high schools – three each from Archmere and St. Elizabeth – and five of them combined to go 6-for-15 with three walks. They also scored six runs and knocked in seven. The sixth, St. Elizabeth’s Hayden Trimarco, threw three innings, allowing two hits and a run, walking three and striking out four at Richie Ashburn Field at FDR Park across Broad Street from the sports complex.
The First State contingent came out swinging in the bottom of the first. Archmere’s Mike Dellose (pictured at top of article) followed a leadoff single with one of his own, and both runners advanced on an error. Dellose would score on a sacrifice fly by Colin Smith of Delaware Military Academy as the team took a 3-0 lead.
Lehigh Valley countered with one in the second, but Delaware North tacked on three more in their half. With two outs, Conrad’s Kyle Walker and Dellose walked. Both scored on a double to the left field corner by Bo Anderson of Tower Hill. Anderson came home when Nate Thomas of St. Elizabeth knocked a single to right-center.
Dellose drove in a run in the third with his second single, and he would score on Anderson’s second hit. The blue and gold would score four in the third to take a 10-1 lead into the fourth. Trimarco came on to pitch in the fourth, and the first batter to face him, Luke Storm, crushed a ball just short of the 405 sign in center field. Storm reached third with a triple and was awarded home when the throw to third sailed out of play. Trimarco allowed a two-out single but no other runs.
Delaware North’s bats remained hot throughout the game. Archmere’s Jack Nielson walked in the fourth before he was lifted for a pinch runner. The team scored three more in that frame. They added an additional five runs in the fifth. That inning included a single for Tommy Alexander of Archmere and another walk for his Auks teammate, Dellose. Both scored on a bases-loaded double by Shawn Haut of Hodgson.
Alexander knocked in the team’s lone run in the sixth on a fielder’s choice, and he was involved again in a five-run seventh. St. Elizabeth’s Christian Strickland had a run-scoring single in the seventh, and he scored on another fielder’s choice from Alexander.
Delaware North advances to meet Olympic Colonial on Friday at 9:30 a.m. at Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Phillies. If they win, they play for the cup championship Saturday at 10 a.m., also at CBP.
