Wood wins AAA city title

ANTHONY RUSSO didn't have much time to dwell on the loss of his no-hitter yesterday in the sixth inning of the Class AAA city title game at Richie Ashburn Field.

Franklin Towne Charter senior Ray Lopez had just slapped the Coyotes' lone single up the middle when freshman Jason Santiago came up next and lined the first pitch he saw right back at Russo.

"I always said it looks a lot slower when it's coming right at you," Russo said with a smile, "but that one got on me pretty hot and I just tried to put my glove out."

It was either catch it, or wear it, so Russo plucked the liner near chest level and wheeled toward first, where Lopez had strayed too far.

After the doubleplay, Russo responded with a three-pitch strikeout, one of 14 on the day for the 6-4, 215-pound righthander, who led Archbishop Wood to an 8-0 victory over FTC.

Just a sophomore in his first year of varsity baseball, Russo didn't get the superstitious silent treatment from teammates as his no-hit bid grew.

"People came up to me and said it, but I wasn't really thinking about it," he said. "I just tried to make good pitches. I didn't care if they put it in play or they didn't hit it, as long as I had my fielders behind me, and I trusted them to make plays."

Quality offense didn't hurt, either. Senior shortstop Erik Bowren (3-for-4, four RBI) blasted a three-run homer to leftfield in the first and added a hustle-all-the-way double in the third on a ball that should have only been a single to left.

Bowren, who's headed to Millersville in the fall, finished a triple shy of the cycle.

"He's been a producer for us all year," Russo said. "Just a great hitter, great fielder, and better yet, he's just a great kid that's always there to support us."

Sophomore Joe Lancellotti and senior Matt Funk each went 2-for-3 for the Vikings, who racked up 11 hits.

Senior Chris Hammerstein took the defeat for the Coyotes.

Wood's offensive prowess was just a continuation of the Catholic League's dominance during the day's city title matchups.

In Game 1, Ss. Neumann-Goretti earned the AA title with a 12-1 win over Philadelphia Academy Charter. Saints senior Josh Ockimey (five RBI) punctuated the game with a fifth-inning grand slam well over the fence in right. Junior Gino Tripodi earned the win.

La Salle toppled George Washington, 16-1, in five innings to claim the AAAA crown. Senior John Scheffey earned the win. Sophomore Eddie Tingle took the loss. Eleven runs in the second helped power the Explorers past Washington, whose fans felt wronged earlier that inning when a baserunner was called safe attempting to steal third. Five walks, one hit by pitch, three errors and six La Salle hits also hurt the Eagles.

Not much damaged the day for Russo. Sixty two of the Doylestown resident's 91 pitches went for strikes (68 percent). He also fanned at least two batters in all but two innings.

"Being a sophomore, I just wanted to come up and show the coaches what I could do," he said.

After a few difficult outings earlier this season as the Vikings' No. 2 starter, Russo credits Wood pitching coach Brian Klumpp with helping him progress.

"I wouldn't say it dropped my confidence," Russo said, "but it was a different game from playing JV last year."

Sure, yesterday's early run support helped, but the young righty still steeled his nerves after losing no-hit immortality late.

"You give up a hit, you give up a home run, you still have to bounce back and be able to focus on the next batter," Russo said. "It's not the end of the world, but you have to come back and make a play."