August 3, 2006 Issue                                       

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Chestnut Hill 13s end best winning season
by ED ROGERS

Pictured (from left) kneeling: Dante Lammendola, Eric Primavera, Jake Yannessa, Alex DeBerardinis, Nick Barile, Michael McNally, Max Cavalli; standing: Frank Primavera, Greg Baird, Julian Canuso, Ben York, Jake Bradbury, Matthew Primavera, Ben Rogers.

The Chestnut Hill 13-year-old team ended their heroic run through the Montco League Playoffs last Wednesday night, losing the deciding game of the best of three championship series to top-seeded Horsham by a score of 14-6. The loss ended a remarkable season for the 13s, who were the first Chestnut Hill Senior League team in nearly a decade to reach a Montco championship game.

The 13s began the playoffs with a 7-3 win over Southampton, with Matthew Primavera scattering just two hits over five innings. By the end of last week, only the two top-seeded teams — Chestnut Hill and Horsham — remained alive, and they played a best of three championship series over three consecutive nights, with Horsham retaining home field advantage.

After a shaky start in the opener at Horsham’s Carpenter Park, Chestnut Hill stormed back in the late innings, with five runs on the fifth inning on run-scoring singles by Nick Barile and Ben Rogers, and two more runs in the sixth on a single by Eric Primavera, which brought the score to 14-13 in favor of Horsham. But the scoring ended for Chestnut Hill when Ben York was tagged out trying to score on a fly ball by Jake Bradbury for the third out in the sixth inning.

The second game, at the Carson Valley field, was equally close, but in a very different way. Chestnut Hill scratched out two runs in the first two innings on an RBI single by Ben Rogers and a double in the gap by Dante Lammendola, which allowed the hustling Julian Canuso to score all the way from first base. They picked up two more runs in the third on Matthew Primavera’s double and an RBI ground-out by Frank Primavera. But Chestnut Hill ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth, when Horsham scored a run and then loaded the bases with nobody out. Ben Rogers entered to relieve Jake Yannessa and gave up a leadoff single, allowing the runner to score from third and bringing the score to 4-2. On the very same play, in what may have been the game’s turning point, centerfielder Frank Primavera threw a strike to catcher Matthew Primavera to tag the Horsham runner trying to score from second base for the third run. With help from catcher Primavera and the infield, Rogers escaped the fourth inning with no further damage, held Horsham scoreless in the fifth and sixth, and gave up one run in the seventh to preserve the 4-3 victory and set the stage for the championship game at Horsham.

Chestnut Hill jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the championship game, only to have Horsham battle back to score three runs in the third inning and five runs in the fourth, on their way to victory. But the 13s and their coaches have much to be proud of in their first year in the Montco League, and the season left no doubt that they have a bright future ahead of them in the years to come.