Baseball eases past Explorers

The weather's a lot nicer in Miami than it is in Philadelphia. There's probably a lot more wind at Penn's Bower Field than at Palmetto High School's baseball field. And a lot less sun. But none of that seemed to bother A.B. Fischer and Rick Burt yesterday, as the Penn pitcher and catcher, and former high school teammates, relived some old Palmetto High memories. The Sunshine State battery teamed up to hold La Salle in check for five innings at Bower Field, and the Penn baseball team went on to beat the Explorers by a 7-1 score. The win allowed the Quakers (18-9-1) to keep the momentum they picked up last weekend with four wins over Cornell. Penn is now looking to keep that momentum as it prepares for this weekend's four-game showdown at Princeton. La Salle, on the other hand, continued its season-long tailspin by dropping its fourth straight game. The Explorers (4-21) were simply unable to get their offense on track. The biggest reason for this was Fischer's pitching. The freshman, after his first collegiate start was postponed twice because of rain and once because of scheduling difficulties, finally got his shot yesterday. He was eager to make the most of it, and did just that. "I was nervous the first pitch, but after that I relaxed and just threw the ball," Fischer said. "Warming up before the game starts is really good for me. When you're a reliever, you never know when you're coming in. But when you're starting, you have more time to prepare." Fischer gave up only two hits in his five innings of work. Despite allowing three walks and being the victim of some early defensive miscues, he was able to stay in control most of the time. The only trouble Fischer was in came in the third inning. La Salle designated hitter Anthony Cosetti tapped a soft chopper to third. Mark DeRosa bare-handed the ball cleanly for Penn, but his throw pulled first baseman Mike Shannon off the bag. The play easily could have been ruled an error, but the Explorers instead finally broke into the hit column. After the play, Fischer walked off the mound and eyed the scoreboard in left field. He seemed mildly irritated at the ruling. The next batter bounced the ball a few feet in front of the plate. Fischer charged off the mound and picked up the ball, but he also made an errant throw to first. The error put runners at first and second, and then Fischer hit a batter to load the bases. Fischer was somewhat rattled. He walked a batter to force in a run and tie the score at one. Things looked grim with the bases still juiced and only one out, but then Fischer got the break he needed. Second baseman Matt Klein hit a solid line drive to left, but freshman Jeremy Milken made the catch and turned a double play when Watts was caught between second and third. "The problem was that I wasn't getting ahead of those hitters," Fischer said. "I was throwing my curve ball for strikes, but the umpire wasn't giving us the call. That's normally my strikeout pitch, so I had to rely more on my fastball and changeup. The key was keeping my fastball down, because the umpire was giving low strikes. Also, despite a few errors, I got great defense and have to give the guys a lot of credit." Besides the defense, a lot of the credit has to go to Burt. The sophomore catcher is more than familiar with Fischer's pitches and tendencies after having caught him at Palmetto High. This familiarity was what allowed the battery to shut down La Salle's offense after the third. "Because we played on the same high school team, A.B. knows that what I put down is going to be pretty much what he wants to throw," Burt said. "A.B.'s got a big-league curve ball. It's one of the best curve balls I've ever seen. When he's on, guys just can't hit it. He was getting ahead with his fastball, and then getting outs with his off-speed pitches." After the fifth inning, Penn coach Bob Seddon inserted senior Mike Komsky so Fischer would be rested for this weekend. With Burt still behind the plate, Komsky breezed through three innings of work. He walked his first hitter, but then got a double-play ball and retired the next seven Explorers. In the bottom of the eighth, Burt hit a two-run double down the right-field line before he too was taken out. The two Penn runs made the score 7-1 and ended any hopes La Salle may have had for a last-inning comeback. "I'm hitting the ball better than I was earlier in the year," Burt said. "But my contribution to the team is to handle the pitchers. If I do that, then any hits and RBI I get are just a bonus." Burt's double was the last big hit for the Quakers, who had been manufacturing runs one at a time all day. Time and time again it happened. A runner would reach first. Steal second. And then score on a timely hit. The best part for the Quakers, of course, was that a number of players were getting those hits. Second baseman Derek Nemeth had two hits and an RBI. Mike Shannon doubled and singled. And Penn's RBI leader, DeRosa, drove in two with a run-scoring grounder to short and a solo home run to left in the seventh. In fact, the only negative for Penn happened before the game even started. Designated hitter Rob Naddelman was hit on his right hand by a line drive during batting practice and suffered a broken bone in his finger. He may be out the rest of the year, and Penn will sorely miss his offensive production. But overall it was a close-to-perfect day for the Quakers. A day filled with sun. A day to post a solid win against a city rival. It was a day for A.B. Fischer and Rick Burt to relive some old Miami-style Palmetto High School memories.