By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
July 18: Jim Petersohn has a problem.
He actually has a few problems, one of them being how umpire assignor Harry DeBonis and general trouble maker Tinker Johnson always go “Peter-SOHN, Hummmmm!” every time he walks past them during a game.
But his biggest issue – and the one he can’t ignore like he does DeBonis and Johnson — is trying to get all the talented arms some solid work for his Hamilton-Northern Burlington Babe Ruth 14-year-old All Stars.
He managed to do it Tuesday night in H-NB’s 9-2 win over Brick American in a Southern New Jersey State Tournament semifinal game at Switlik Park, giving four different pitchers at least one inning.
Starter and winner Anthony Wilk pitched three hitless frames but no-hit glory was the last thing on pitcher or manager’s mind as he gave way to Nate Rodriguez, who was followed by Tyler Solymosi before Gavin Martin finished up.
“We gotta get work for some of these other guys,” said Petersohn, whose team is back in action at 8:30 Thursday against Mount Laurel. “We’ve got so much pitching, it’s crazy. It’s a good problem to have but trying to get them quality innings is tough.”
He got three quality frames from Wilk, who hadn’t thrown in a while.
“He’s been tremendous for us the past two years,” the manager said. “He’s always come out and given us gutsy performances. He’s just a really quality starter.”
He was also a quality hitter in the decisive five-run third, as his two-run single highlighted the inning that gave H-NB an 8-0 lead.
The Switlik Swatters took a 3-0 lead in the first when Danilo Perdomo led off the game with a double and Martin singled him home and eventually scored on Solymosi’s sacrifice fly. Tommy Cramer and Nick Nemes followed with singles and Rodriguez’s grounder to first plated Cramer.
“Danilo Perdomo at the top of the lineup is a table setter,” Petersohn said. “He puts us in a lot of good situations. He’s got power, he’s got speed and he just creates havoc on the bases. And then having Gavin Martin behind him, it’s a very solid top of the lineup.”
Rodriguez and Connor Luckie added RBI singles in the third and Zac Brown capped the H-NB scoring with an RBI double in the seventh.
Martin went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI while Solymosi was 2-for-3 with a run and RBI. Cramer had a hit, two runs and an RBI, and Rodriguez had a hit, run and two RBI.
The win puts Hamilton-NB two wins from a state title although it is already guaranteed a trip to the Mid-Atlantic Regional by virtue of hosting it.
“I think we’re playing great,” Wilk said “We’ve been having a lot of fun, I think we can keep it going for a while. We were confident about this tournament because we knew we had a really good team and we can go far.”
In other Babe Ruth action, the Hamilton-NB 13s were eliminated Tuesday night after a 3-1 loss to West Windsor, which also knocked Nottingham out of action Monday.
But there will be a Hamilton Township doubleheader on tap in the 15-year-old tournament at DeMeo Field Wednesday night. Game one features Nottingham against Pennsville in a 6 p.m. elimination game, which will be followed by the Hamilton-NB Dwellers against West Windsor in the winner’s bracket final. Nottingham stayed alive with a 7-6 win over Mount Laurel Tuesday.
