Phillipsburg and Easton met at the home of Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, Coca-Cola Park, to face off in a rivalry baseball game.
Easton took the field first with senior Stephen Ricicki on the mound. Ricicki started off the inning with a strikeout. Phillipsburg’s second baseman, Felix Matos, doubled out to center field. Junior third baseman Dylan Wayne, brought in the run with a single. Ricicki and the Easton defense were able to keep the inning to 1-0.
On the mound for P’Burg was senior Jared Diefenbach. He started the game off strong with a ground ball to first base, a strikeout looking, a walk, and a flyout. The Liners led 1-0 at the end of the first inning.
Phillipsburg continued to keep the offense running through the second. James Labella singled in the gap between shortstop and third. Kevin Burgess was hit by a pitch, putting two runners on base. On an error, Felix Matos advanced to first and a run scored. This put the Liners up 2-0.
In the bottom of the second inning, Easton’s Chase Shollenberger had a long double. Alex Laquintaon hit one to Diefenbach, who got the lead runner. Diefenbach continued to pitch well and struck out another batter. A ground out to end the inning left a man on for the Rovers.
A three up, three down top of the third helped out the Easton defense.
In the bottom of the third, Harol Rodriguez of the Rovers reached on an error but was thrown out in a double play. The Liners were able to get out of the inning through a ground ball to first.
Michael Bracco from the Stateliners reached on an error and stole second base in the fourth. Ricicki kept the score 2-0 with three strikeouts for the inning.
Easton came back in the bottom of the fourth inning, tying the game. It all started with Nick Chieffo’s single. Shollenberger then took the walk. Laquintano bunted, advancing the runners. Isa Jackson got on base through an error, causing two runs to score. P’Burg got out of the tough inning through a flyout and groundout. At the bottom of the fourth, the score was tied at 2-2.
The Liners produced another run in the fifth. Senior catcher Garrett Bobrowski singled. Then Eddie Weindel doubled and earned an RBI, putting the Liners in the lead 3-2.
Weindel took the mound for P’Burg in the fifth. The Rovers had a rally in them beginning with a single from Khamryn Singto. Cole Ordway was dealt a walk. Spencer Brooking put down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Singto was able to score on a wild pitch, tying the game once again. The Rovers pulled ahead on Chieffo’s sacrifice fly. At the end of the fifth inning, the Rovers led 4-3.
The Liners fought back in the sixth. Bracco took first on an error and stole a base. Jacob Kisslebach walked and Burgess bunted for a single to load the bases. Matos had a base hit for an RBI single, tying up the game. Wayne’s sacrifice fly was the go-ahead run for the Liners.
In the bottom of the sixth, P’Burg’s defense showed up. Matos had a diving play for an out, Weindel got a strikeout, and Wayne fielded a ground ball for an out.
In the final inning, Zach Mattes was on the mound for the Rovers. Weindel produced another hit– a single. The Liners could not advance Weindel for the run.
The Rovers tried to rally in the seventh but fell short with two strikeouts and a groundout.
The Liners took the win 5-4. They next face Kittatinny in the Hunterdon Warren Sussex Tournament.
