Baseball fa;;s om 'marathon' to Hawks

For Philadelphia's baseball teams, there is no Big 5, but don't tell that to boys of summer at Penn or St. Joseph's. Yesterday's clash at Latshaw/McCarthy Field had all the flavor of a Philadelphia Big 5 basketball contest. The Hawks eventually prevailed 13-11 in what Penn coach Bob Seddon called a "marathon game." The teams compiled 24 runs on 31 hits at the expense of eight different pitchers. First baseman Mike Shannon led the Quakers' hit parade with a double and a grand slam home run, giving the junior six RBIs on the afternoon. The entire Penn lineup hit well yesterday after suffering through a slump during the team's spring break trip to Florida. As well as Penn hit the ball, the Hawks did just a little bit better. St. Joe's jumped out to a 4-0 lead against sophomore Alex Hayden, who had one of his poorest performances as a Quaker. Sophomore Mike Greenwood and freshman Armen Simonian did not fare much better on the hill for Penn while the Hawks erased a mild Penn comeback to extend their lead to 9-4. After the Quakers rallied in the seventh to tie the game and actually claim a brief lead on the strength of Shannon's behemoth grand slam to right center, St. Joe's responded its next time up with three more runs to take the lead for good. The St. Joe's rally was keyed by the heart of its lineup -- the Hawks' three, four and five hitters were responsible for almost all of St. Joe's 13 runs. "Those three guys just killed us all day," Seddon said. "They had extra base hits all day long until [Lance] Berger came in. But by then the damage was done." Although Seddon understands he cannot use the Quakers' best hurlers in midweek games, he is disappointed with yesterday's results after the pitching was so good in Florida. "Different things are wrong at different times," center fielder Sean Turner said. "It's just a matter of getting things all together at once. Down in Florida, our pitching really carried us and today it was just the opposite." The Quakers (3-7) have two weeks to get everything together before league-rival Harvard comes to town for the first twp Ivy League contests of the season. A big part of getting everything together for the Quakers means getting everyone healthy. Junior catcher Rick Burt, a veteran behind the plate who does an excellent job handling Penn's pitchers, is out with an injured hamstring. Although Burt's condition is improving daily, Seddon does not want to rush anything. "We need our injured players back," Seddon said. "We can't have Burt back unless he's 100 percent. I told him that. We need him for league play." Not only does it need Burt back for experience in handling pitchers, but Penn also needs shortstop Mark DeRosa to recover from a shoulder injury. Although DeRosa is healthy enough to bat for the Quakers, he cannot throw. Even though Penn has another competent shortstop in freshman Joe Carlon, DeRosa's move to designated hitter means speed-demon Allen Fischer has to take a seat on the bench. This is disappointing to the Quakers, who miss Fischer at the plate and on the base paths. "It's a major problem for us in personnel," Seddon said. "I've never seen anything like it in my 25 years here. We've got to get Fischer in the game. He's better than some of the guys we have on the field?.With DeRosa and Shannon hitting the ball the way they are, we really need them in the lineup." More than ever before, the Quakers needed them yesterday. Hopefully for the Quakers, they will put get everyone healthy and put everything together. Pace comes to Bower Field for a doubleheader this weekend and the date with the Crimson looms just over two weeks away.