Suburban National/Bicentennial wins Carpenter Cup title

Spencer Tinkel wielded a hot bat in his final season at New Hope-Solebury, hitting .507 with 32 RBIs and scoring 31 runs while earning first-team all-Bicentennial Athletic League honors.

Continuing to power the ball, the third baseman helped the Suburban One League National Conference/Bicentennial squad win the 30th annual Carpenter Cup Classic.

Tinkel, who will continue his career at Holy Cross, went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and a run in a 12-6 romp over Jersey Shore in Tuesday morning's final at sun-splashed Citizens Bank Park.

In his second year playing in the Carpenter Cup, the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder went 7 for 9 with three RBIs in three games. He missed one game to attend college orientation.

"This has been one of my greatest high school experiences," Tinkel said. "A lot of us knew each other from last year. We really came together as a team, and it showed on the field."

In earning its first crown since 2008 and knocking off the defending champ, SOL National/Bicentennial racked up 17 hits. Eight came in a seven-run second inning that included Tinkel's RBI single up the middle.

Tinkel's hit was sandwiched by Zach Szumigala's two-run double over the third-base bag and D.J. Endler's RBI triple to right-center. Both played at Pennsbury for Joe Pesci, who coached SOL National/Bicentennial with Abington skipper Dave Torresani.

Szumigala, a shortstop bound for Chestnut Hill College, played a key role in Pennsbury's 20-6 campaign. The Falcons reached the PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion North Penn, 2-1.

"This actually goes a long way toward making up for that loss," Szumigala said. "It feels so good to win here."

Pennsbury southpaw Zach Conley started and went three innings, yielding four hits and a run, to notch his second win of the tournament. Neshaminy's T.J. Arnao, coming on with two outs in the eighth, picked up the save.

SOL National/Bicentennial's four-run ninth was highlighted by a two-run double from Holy Ghost Prep's Luke Duris and an RBI single from Council Rock South's Shaun Stackhouse.

Early in the tournament, the team lost three prominent players because of outside commitments.

"We didn't skip a beat with the kids who replaced them," Torresani said. "This is an all-star game, not a regular high school game. It takes 25 kids to win it, not nine."

SOL Nat.-Bic. 071 000 004 - 12 17 3

Jersey Shore 010 040 010 - 6 14 4

WP: Zach Conley. LP: James Kelly. 2B: SOL-Zach Szumigala, Spencer Tinkel, Luke Duris; JS-Austin Markmann, Joe Silvestrone, Anthony Bartolomei. 3B: SOL-D.J. Endler.