Another comeback vaults Olympic-Colonial into Carpenter Cup baseball championship

The Olympic-Colonial used its second straight ninth inning comeback to vault itself into Saturday's Carpenter Cup championship.

Trailing 6-5, the South Jersey squad scored five runs in the top of the night inning in Friday's 10-6 semifinal win over Delaware North at Citizens Bank Park.

Olympic-Colonial will play Burlington County in Saturday's 10 a.m. all-South Jersey championship at Citizens Bank Park. Burlington County beat Jersey Shore, 6-1, in Friday's other semifinal.

It's the Olympic-Colonial's first championship appearance in the 33-year-old Carpenter Cup since winning its fifth title in 1997. Burlington County has won three Carpenter Cup titles, the most recent in 2012.

In its quarterfinal, the Olympic-Colonial trailed 13-5 entering the bottom of the seventh inning in a 14-13 win over fellow South Jersey school Tri-Cape. Olympic-Colonial scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to win it.

"We know we have a lot of talent and a lot of guys who can do great things," Sky Duff said.

Duff is one of those guys.

He went 2 for 3 with a home run, triple and two RBIs. Duff's solo home run to right field tied the score at 5-5 in the seventh.

"It is pretty surreal moment and something you dream about growing up around this area," said Duff, a graduating senior who is a University of Pittsburgh recruit.

Washington Township's Lorenzo Morello began the Olympic-Colonial ninth with a triple. Duff tied the score with a run scoring triple. That was followed by an RBI double by Eustace's Matt Orlando, a run scoring triple by Eustace's John Piacentino, an RBI single by Cherry Hill West's Jack Owens and later an RBI single by Eastern's Dylan Stezzi.

Cherry Hill West lefthander Eli Atiya won his second straight game with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

In the second semifinal, Burlington County scored all six of its runs in the fourth inning. Burlington County received a two-run single by Bordentown's Johnny Schroeder, a two-run triple by Delran's RJ Moten and a two-run home run to left field by recent Lenape graduate, Jake Topolski, a Duke recruit.

There was no doubt about the home run by Topolski, a 375-foot shot to left field.

"It felt amazing, something you want to do your whole life," Topolski. "Once it came off the bat I knew it was gone too, so it was a great feeling,"

Burlington County's Bryce Mangene of Rancocas Valley and Dan Frake of Shawnee each pitched three shutout innings while Frank Doeling of Riverside allowed just one run in his three-inning stint.