IN THE BLEACHERS: Sixth inning spells success

Trailing and with the game on the line in the bottom of the sixth, the Quakers found themselves in an unfamiliar situation. After two consecutive games in which Penn took early leads only to throw them away late in the contest, this time the Quakers were in the position to make a comeback of their own. Penn had to try to comeback in its final at bat. After falling behind to Brown 4-2, the Quakers came to bat in the bottom of the sixth Friday afternoon. Center fielder Sean Turner started things off with a solid hit up the middle. Brown starting pitcher Stu Perry walked the next batter on four pitches, and then junior Michael Green laid down the perfect bunt to load the bases with no outs. With the entire Quaker dugout on its feet, Penn then began to hit Perry. After third baseman Mark DeRosa hit a sacrifice fly, junior Allen Fischer knocked the ball into right field to tie the game at 4. But the Quakers were still far from finished. One more hit later and Perry was pulled. Former Phillie and Brown skipper Bill Almon had finally seen enough. He called for the lefty, but freshman Aaron Simmons (1 out, 3 runs, 4 hits) was unable to stop the bleeding. Although he got the first batter out, the next four all hit safely, and Almon was forced to call for the third Bear pitcher of the inning. But it was too late. Penn 10, Brown 4. "It was a good come-from-behind win," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "That really catapulted us through the day. We were down, but then we started to hit the ball well and we went on to win?.It was a total team effort." But Friday was not the only day affected by that inning. The following afternoon, the Quakers hosted two-time defending league champion Yale. The Elis, who scored six sixth-inning runs last year to squeak past Penn 6-5, held a 5-1 advantage heading into the sixth. After Yale was retired in order, the Quakers found themselves in what is becoming familiar territory. "We were pretty pumped," starting pitcher Dan Galles said. "They're not quite what they were last year, but they're still a good ballclub. We felt like we owed them something [for last year's Yale sweep]." In the bottom of the sixth, the excitement started once again. The Penn dugout rose to its feet. The crowd started getting louder. First baseman Mike Shannon walked. The second half of the sibling combination, Tim Shannon, bunted for a single. Four pitches nowhere near the strike zone later, the bases were loaded with no outs. Yale coach John Stuper went to the mound and called for senior Russell Peltz, who promptly induced catcher Rick Burt to ground into a double play. But then the Quaker bats really came to life, and there was little Peltz could do. Penn shortstop Eddie MacDonald got a hit. Designated hitter Rob Naddelman crushed a double down the third base line. After Peltz intentionally walked Turner to load the bases, senior left fielder Dave Goldberg came up to the plate. This was the situation kids dream about. The bases loaded. Two outs. Penn down by one. Smack! With Goldberg's two RBI single to right, the Quakers took their first lead of the game. Penn added one more run in the inning to take a 7-5 lead, which was enough for the win. Galles put the Elis away to wrap up the victory. "The first game, we finally put a bunch of runs together," Turner said. "It was just everybody getting a hit. A hit there, a walk there. We need to get a bunch of hits and be more consistent throughout the game instead of leading up to one inning for all our hits." This weekend was the stuff dreams are made of. This is the stuff Ivy titles are made of.