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Aston Valley
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Delco Admin
Game Results
14 August 2021
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Upper Darby 8, Aston Valley 3

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Blue Sox rally for picture-perfect first league title

By Terry Toohey This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. @TerryToohey on Twitter

MARPLETWP. >> The line of players waiting to take a photo with Upper Darby manager Dave Jerdon after the Blue Sox rallied to beat Aston Valley, 8-3, Friday night was steady. 

Some wanted solo shots with Jerdon holding the Charlie Kress Trophy, the first title the Delco League franchise has won. A few came in pairs, others in groups. To a man, though, they all posed for a photo with their skipper.

The funny thing is, Jerdon hates to have his picture taken. But he made an exception on this night at Cardinal O’Hara, dutifully honoring every request after the Game 5 victory. This was a special moment and he wanted to make sure it was properly recorded.

“This means everything,” Jerdon said. “It’s been a long time coming.”

It took 28 years for the Blue Sox to finally reach the Delco League summit. Jerdon has been there every step of the way. His mom, Harriett, and sister, Donna, started the franchise in 1994. Jerdon has been the manager since midway through that inaugural season when he took over for Carlos Law.

That makes Jerdon the longest tenured manager in the 114-year history of the oldest semi-professional baseball league in the country. It’s why no one would leave without a picture with the manager and the championship trophy afterward.

“We wanted to get Dave a win and I was happy to get that win for him,” winning pitcher Tom Derer said. “It was cool.”

What made this title so special for Jerdon, other than it being the first, was how the Blue Sox became the first team other than Wayne, Aston Valley or Narberth to win the title since the defunct Collingdale Colts in 2006.

It was Upper Darby’s second come-from-behind victory in the best-of-five series. The Blue Sox erased an 8-6 deficit to take Game 2, 9-8, then needed nine innings and a heroic complete-game effort over two days from series MVP Johnny Gonzalez to take Game 4, 5-3, and force a fifth and deciding game. 

Like Game 4, Upper Darby capitalized on three Aston Valley errors and a solid effort out of the bullpen from Derer to overcome a 3-1, third inning deficit. The Blue Sox scored three unearned runs in the fourth inning and broke the game open with a four-spot in the sixth.

“This was a team effort,” Jerdon said. “We went through so much this year, players missing games, vacations, injuries, but everybody stuck together and fought to the end.”

That fight was evident at the plate, in the field and on the mound. Aston Valley used a solo homer by player-manager Jarad Carney and a two-run bomb by shortstop Brett Lesher to take a 3-1 lead in the third.

There was an eerie silence in the Upper Darby dugout after those blasts, but it didn’t stay quiet for long. Matt Querey ripped a two-out, RBI single in the fourth inning to get the Blue Sox within 3-2. Sammy Burman followed with a two-run single to right to put Upper Darby up for good.

“The biggest thing with this team is we never gave up, ever” Burman said. “It was still early in the game. We still had Tommy to go for five  innings and even though they capitalized early we stayed in it, took it one run at a time and capitalized big.”

Derer took over for starter Luke D’Ambrosio in the third inning and settled down after he gave up the homers to Carney and Lesher. Derer allowed just one hit and five baserunners over his last four innings, aided by two double plays. The Blue Sox turned three twin killings in all.

“It was definitely a battle,” said Derer, who threw the final five innings to get the win. “But once I got locked in it was just a matter of keeping the ball down, getting ground balls and give my team a chance to win. And our defense was awesome. All I had to do was put it in the zone and let them take care of it.”

Derer did not allow a hit after Upper Darby took the lead. The Blue Sox scored four more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to give him breathing room. Joe Suppa broke it open with a three-run double, and Christian Strickland laced a two-out, RBI single to close out the scoring.

“We’ve been battling all year,” Suppa said. “We’ve been battling all year. We had that same mentality that we had in Game 2 when we won on an infield hit, have good at-bats. Everyone on this team knows we can hit the ball. We were going to go scoreless for six innings.”

A hit batter and an error gave Aston Valley life in the seventh, but Derer quickly ended those hopes. He got Carney to fly out to left and Aidan Duda to hit into a line drive, championship clinching double play to Suppa that touched off a wild celebration.

Once the champagne was poured, the first person the players sought out was Jerdon.

“If there was scale (for wanting to win for Jerdon) we were passed whatever the highest point was,” Suppa said. “Every person on this team wanted to win this for him.” 

Delco Admin
Game Results
14 August 2021
Hits: 917

Delco League Championship GM5 Postgame Interview: Upper Darby Manager Dave Jerdon

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Delco League Championship GM5: Upper Darby Manager Dave Jerdon

Upper Darby manager, Dave Jerdon, reflects on his team's first championship in close to 30 years of managing the Blue Sox. Jerdon spoke about his team's ability to continue to battle every game, and about Finals MVP Johnny Gonzalez ability to continue handle batters in the Delco League.

Delco Admin
Game Results
14 August 2021
Hits: 890

Delco League Championship GM5 Postgame Interview: Finals MVP Johnny Gonzalez

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Delco League Championship GM5: Finals MVP Johnny Gonzalez

Johnny talks about how he tried to contribute tonight from the dugout, how it feels to hold the trophy for the first time, and he talked about the series being a complete team effort with young and veteran players coming together as a team.

Delco Admin
Game Results
14 August 2021
Hits: 841

Delco League Championship GM5 Postgame Interview: Joey Suppa

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Delco League Championship GM5: Upper Darby's Joey Suppa

Joey talks about the team wanting to win the championship for manager Dave Jerdon. He talked about the Blue Sox ability to continue to fight through adversity in every game of the series and finally, he reflects on his opportunity to end the game with an unassisted double play.

Delco Admin
Game Results
14 August 2021
Hits: 872

Delco League Championship GM5 Postgame Interview: Sammy Burman

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Delco League Championship GM5: Upper Darby's Sammy Burman

Sammy reflects on his opportunity to be part of the team as a young player. He talks about how grateful he is to have the opportunity to play with his older brother, and idol, Alex.

Delco Admin
Game Results
14 August 2021
Hits: 657

Congratulations! Dick's Sporting Goods Finals MVP, Johnny Gonzalez!

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Delco Admin
Game Results
14 August 2021
Hits: 645

Congratulations! 2021 Delco League Champions Upper Darby Blue Sox!

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Delco Admin
Game Results
13 August 2021
Hits: 519

Upper Darby 5, Aston Valley 3

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At 48, Gonzalez still a complete-game player

By Terry Toohey ttoohey@21st-centurymedia. com @TerryToohey on Twitter

ASTON TWP. >> After throwing five innings of three-hit ball Wednesday night, Upper Darby pitcher Johnny Gonzalez grabbed 3½ hours of sleep and then dutifully reported to Fizzano Brothers at 2  a.m. Thursday morning where he works as a tractor-trailer driver.

Following a brief nap after his shift, Gonzalez showed up at Jim Buggy Memorial Field late Thursday afternoon to finish what he started in Game 4 of the Delco League championship series, which had been suspended by darkness and weather with the score tied less than 24 hours earlier.

No one in the Blue Sox dugout was surprised.

“He’s a freak of nature. I don’t know where he gets the gas,” Upper Darby catcher Christian Strickland said of Gonzalez. “He’s running on something. To pitch five innings last night and come back and pitch four innings tonight is ridiculous. He’s a vet and we love him for it.”

The rubber-armed righty followed up Wednesday’s performance with four shutout innings as the Blue Sox took advantage of a pair of ninth-inning errors to beat Aston Valley, 5-3, and tie the best-of-five Delco League championship series at two games apiece.

Game 5 is Friday at Cardinal O’Hara at 5:30.

“Johnny Gonzalez, Game 5 starter,” Upper Darby manager Dave Jerdon pronounced.

Jerdon was kidding, of course. That would be too much to ask of the 48-yearold Gonzalez. But make no mistake about it, the Blue Sox are alive because of his remarkable two-day, nine inning complete game six-hitter.

“He’s unreal. He’s the best ever,” first baseman Joe Suppa said. “Johnny goes down in history already, and then after throwing yesterday, to come back today and finish a complete game is something that nobody does. Only Johnny does that.”

Gonzalez picked up where he left off. He allowed two hits in the final four innings. He also hit two batters and pitched out of jams in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to force a fifth and deciding game. He dug deep into his bag of tricks to keep the Blue Sox alive.

“Muscle memory,” Gonzalez said when asked how he was able to come back and throw four more innings. “I’ve done it so long that even sometimes it amazes me. Yesterday, I had a so-so slider but today I just went back to the basics, just let it go, let it fly. Today it was working well. I threw one for a strike and I thought, ‘Wait a second, I have something here,’ and I started using it with two strikes, like the old Johnny.” 

Upper Darby did not let that herculean effort go to waste. The Blue Sox capitalized on a pair of Aston Valley errors to score two unearned runs in the top of the ninth inning. Suppa reached base when Aston Valley pitcher Jack Liberio failed to catch an infield popup in front of the mound. Steve Theisen followed with a fly ball to center field that Roman Tozzi overran to put runners at the corners.

Strickland followed with a fly ball to center to score Suppa with the tie-breaking run.

“It’s kind of an approach thing I’ve had all summer,” Strickland said. “A guy on third base with less than two outs, I just kind of read the field. If the infield is in I try to hit it over their heads ... try to, at least. If the infield is out I just try to have an easy swing, hit a grounder and get that run in any way I can.”

Vince Gasbarro followed with his fourth hit of the game to put runners on the corners again. Theisen then turned to his college days to coax a balk from Liberio to give the Blue Sox a two-run cushion.

“I got my lead off of third base and acted like I was going to steal home,” Theisen said. “A lefty pitcher can hear my feet, but he can’t see me. I started running halfway home and I saw him jitter back like he was going to step off the mound and the home plate umpire called a balk.”

Gonzalez needed a little help to finish off his complete game and Suppa came through for his pitcher. He made a leaping catch on a line drive to take a hit from Kody Clausius, then made a diving catch on Rob Tozzi on a potential extra bases drive toward first. Gonzalez then got Matt Domain to ground out to second base to end it.

“We had to win this game for Johnny,” Suppa said. “If we would have lost this game I would have never talked to anyone again. Johnny goes out and puts it all on the line and you want to go out and win it for him. He deserved it. That was for him. Hopefully, we can win this next one and make it worth something.”

•••

NOTES >> Game 5 will be a rematch of Game 1 starters Trevor Jump for Aston Valley and Luke D’Ambrosio for the Blue Sox. Jump went six innings, allowed four hits and struck out seven to lead the Knights to a 5-1 win. … Aston Valley is going for its sixth league title and first since 2017. Upper Darby is seeking its first Delco League crown.

Delco Admin
Game Results
13 August 2021
Hits: 585

Delco League Championship GM4 Postgame Interview: Johnny Gonzalez

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Delco League Championship GM4: Upper Darby's Johnny Gonzalez

Upper Darby winning pitcher Johnny Gonzalez talks about his approach to coming out tonight and throwing four innings of shutout baseball after throwing five innings last night. The victory allows the Blue Sox to tie the series 2-2 with a winner-takes-all Game 5 on Friday night at Cardinal O'Hara with the first pitch at 5:30pm. Gonzalez said he's ready to go again in game 5 if his number is called.

Delco Admin
Game Results
12 August 2021
Hits: 537

Upper Darby 3, Aston Valley 3 - suspended - weather

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Not so fast ... Upper Darby and Gonzalez aren’t done yet

By Matt Smith mattsmith@21st-centurymedia. com @DTMattSmith on Twitter

 

ASTON TWP. >> They don’t make them like Johnny Gonzalez anymore. 

The veteran pitcher of too many years to count and too many men’s baseball leagues to remember is a total throwback. He’s the type of guy who would have fit in on the 1993 Phillies.

Gonzalez doesn’t throw anywhere near as fast as some of the Delco League’s best and youngest hurlers, but the Upper Darby pitcher still has plenty of grit. He’ll show you slow, slower and slowest, but everything he throws has the right amount of spin to fool opposing hitters.

That was the case Wednesday evening in Game 4 of the Delco League championship series, which was suspended in the bottom of the sixth inning due to inclement weather. The game will resume at Jim Buggy Field Thursday at 6 p.m. with Aston Valley and Upper Darby tied 3-3.

Aston Valley leads the best-of-five series, 2-1. If necessary, Game 5 will be played Friday evening at Cardinal O’Hara High School. If it wasn’t for Gonzalez’s bag of tricks, Upper Darby may have left the field before the thunderstorms on the losing end, still in search of the franchise’s first title.

So, what keeps the 48-year-old Gonzalez coming back year after year? The love of the game, of course.

“At this age, it’s the competition,” said Gonzalez, who gave up three runs on five hits with three strikeouts in five innings. “I don’t get the chance to hit anymore, but I can still pitch. You’ve got a lot of younger kids, faster guys. I love that competition.”

Gonzalez’s second outing in the championship series was better than his first, even though he ran into trouble in the fifth inning, when Aston Valley rallied to tie the game. In Saturday’s Game 1, Gonzalez came running to the field in the middle innings to give Upper Darby manager Dave Jerdon some much needed relief. He warmed up quickly and was ready to go. That particular appearance wasn’t great — he allowed five hits and two runs in 2.1 innings — but Gonzalez appeared much sharper in Wednesday’s start. He had thrown 31 strikes and nine balls through the first four innings. 

“I actually pitched seven innings on Sunday — this was a league in New Jersey — and I ended up losing 2-0. But I felt I was in a groove where I was hitting my spots low, hitting the corners in and out. (I) just was looking to stay in a groove tonight. I’ll throw a fastball and mix in the slider and try to get quick outs.”

Aston Valley’s bats finally solved Gonzalez in the bottom of the fifth. Roman Tozzi and Matt Domian led off with back-to-back singles, setting the stage for series MVP candidate Jarad Carney, Aston Valley’s player/ coach, to deliver his second double of the game. This one was a shot to the gap in left-center, which allowed both Tozzi and Domian to score easily.

By the time the game was called, the Knights had momentum in their favor.

“It’s two good teams, battling it out, and no one wants to go home until the game’s decided. But, hey, it is what it is and they made the call to come back here (Thursday),” Carney said. “At this point in the series, there’s not many secrets between both teams. I think both teams were a little frustrated leaving, but what can you do? They’re a good team, we’re a good team. At the end of the day, it was the right call.”

The Knights received a solid outing from starter Kyle Maxwell, who struck out 10 in his five innings of work. He made two mistakes ... and they both left the yard. Alex Burman smashed a two-run homer on an 0-2 pitch to dead center field to give Upper Darby a 2-1 lead in the fourth. In the fifth, Steve Theisen hit an opposite field bomb, punctuated with a bat flip, to make it 3-1.

The Blue Sox looked much more comfortable at the plate after suffering a two-hit shutout at the hands of Knights ace Chris Murphy in Game 3 Tuesday.

“We knew we were going to get their best shot,” Carney said. “Kyle made two mistakes, but at the end of the day I’m sitting here going, if he gets us into the sixth inning giving up only three runs, our offense has to be a little bit better. I think he did his job, but now we’ve got to pick him up starting back here (Thursday).”

Carney’s first double chased home Domian in the third inning to give Aston Valley a 1-0 lead. Vince Gasbarro is 2-for-3 and Sammy Burman had a single in four at bats for Upper Darby when the game was halted.

Jack Liberio replaced Maxwell in the sixth inning. The Ridley High grad struck out one and walked one. He could be in line to pitch the conclusion of Game 4. Brendan Ricciardi also has a base knock for the visitors.

The Blue Sox are in all-hands-on-deck mode. That much was clear when Delco League lifer Izzy Menna threw two scoreless innings relief in Game 3.

If Gonzalez gets the call again, you can bet he’ll be ready.

“Yes, yes,” he said. “I plan on it.”

Delco Admin
Game Results
11 August 2021
Hits: 554

Aston Valley 6, Upper Darby 0

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Murphy overcomes heat to burn Upper Darby

By Matt Smith This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. @DTMattSmith on Twitter

ASTON >> Chris Murphy’s biggest challenge Tuesday wasn’t the guy standing in the batter’s box. The Aston Valley ace had no trouble firing his untouchable fastball by Upper Darby all night long.

Murphy’s toughest battle was the heat and humidity. It was disgustingly hot at Jim Buggy Field. 

In the first inning, the 6-foot-4 righthander was sweating profusely, trying to keep his rhythm on the mound. Murphy had to take a few deep breaths between every pitch just to make sure his heart rate wasn’t working on overdrive.

Luckily, the former Houston Astros draftee was dealing and getting quick outs. And his offense gave him more than enough time to chill out in the dugout in the second inning, as the Knights batted around and scored six runs. Murphy did the rest, twirling a two-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts to lead Aston Valley to a 6-0 victory in Game 3 of the Delco League championship.

Game 4 of the best-of-five series, which Aston Valley leads, 2-1, is set for Wednesday evening back at Buggy Field in Aston. First pitch is 5:45.

“Breathing, breathing, breathing. You’ve just got to keep an air flow when it’s this hot out,” Murphy said. “When it’s hot, you can’t speed up or you’re going to burn out. You’ve got to maintain your tempo — I mean, I’m still breathing hard, it’s like I ran three miles. You just got to breathe, set your tempo and make your pitches.”

Murphy allowed a leadoff single to Christian Strickland in the second inning. Upper Darby got its second hit with two outs in the seventh, a single down the right-field line off the bat of Steve Theisen. That was all the offense for the Blue Sox. Murphy walked zero and didn’t allow the Blue Sox to reach second base.

Murphy faced the minimum until Theisen’s single in the seventh. He notched a pair of strikeouts in each of the first four innings.

It was Murphy’s third consecutive shutout of the Delco League playoffs. He stymied Chester in the quarterfinal round, then dominated two-time defending champion Wayne in the semifinals.

“He’s the best pitcher in the league for a reason,” Aston Valley catcher Matt Domian said. “Whenever he goes out there, he gives us a shot every time. I mean, he’s one of the best pitchers in PSAC  history, set all kinds of records at Millersville. He’s unbelievable. Like I said, every time he’s on the bump, he’s going to give us a shot.”

The Knights played small ball and took advantage of some shoddy defense by Upper Darby in the second inning. Brett Lesher started things off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jacob Stretch. Kody Clausius reached on an error by shortstop Matt Query to put runners at the corners and one out, then Roman Tozzi legged out a chopper to first base, driving home Lesher from third base. Nine-hole hitter Dante DiSabatino sacrificed himself, but Strickland airmailed the throw to first. enabling two more runs to score. Later, with two outs, Quentin Ivy ripped a two-run single to give the Knights a 5-0 advantage. Player/coach Jarad Carney hustled all the way home from first base on the play. Ivy scored the game’s final run on a hit by Aidan Duda.

It might as well have been a 16-0 advantage with Murphy on the hill.

“I thought they would do something different, try and change their approach a little bit ... to make him work more,” Domian said. “But he just continued to pound the zone. He located three pitches really well, which is hard to do. He’s fun to catch.”

Murphy figured that Upper Darby would drop down a couple of bunts to get him moving off the mound. But that wasn’t the case. Instead the Blue Sox just continued to swing and miss.

“I was fortunate enough to get through the order once in three innings. When the fourth inning comes around, they’ve got to change their approach, it’s up to them,” Murphy said. “That’s just the game, they’ve got to get desperate. It’s my goal to attack the hitters and get through them as quickly as possible because then it just puts them in the corner with their approach. I really thought they would start bunting, but they didn’t. I thought, once we put those bunts down in the second inning, maybe they’d start doing that too and make me run all over the place.”

Eight of Aston Valley’s starting nine reached base at least once against Upper Darby pitching. The Blue Sox started Greyson Walker, who allowed five runs (one earned) on four hits in two innings of work. Sean Donohue entered in the third and threw two hitless innings with three punchouts. The ageless Izzy Menna also gave Upper Darby two shutout innings of relief.

The Knights hope to close out the series Wednesday. Righthander Kyle Maxwell is scheduled to get the ball.

“We trust what’s got us here,” Murphy said. “Nothing changes, we just stick to our guns. Maxwell is gonna to go out, throw the game he knows how to throw, and the lineup is going to shut the  door on the series and the championship. I’m looking forward to it.” 

  1. Upper Darby 9, Aston Valley 8
  2. Delco League Championship GM2 Postgame Interview - Joe Suppa
  3. Aston Valley 5, Upper Darby 1
  4. Delco League Championship GM1 Postgame Interview - Trevor Jump

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Upper Darby 8, Aston Valley 3 14 August 2021
Delco League Championship GM5 Postgame Interview: Upper Darby Manager Dave Jerdon 14 August 2021
Delco League Championship GM5 Postgame Interview: Finals MVP Johnny Gonzalez 14 August 2021
Delco League Championship GM5 Postgame Interview: Joey Suppa 14 August 2021
Delco League Championship GM5 Postgame Interview: Sammy Burman 14 August 2021
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