North Park suffered its first setback of the season, dropping a tense 8-7 contest to Haverford (PA). A late rally just came up short as the Vikings stranded the potential tying run on second and the winning run on first in the bottom of the ninth.
Haverford scored a single run in the first on a pair of hits off starter Joel Bonnett. The Vikings took the lead in the bottom of the third when Wade Yunker singled and Angel Carrasco doubled to start the inning, and consecutive groundouts by Mike Sommerfield and Nick Marino drove in the runners. Haverford regained the lead in the fourth when the Fords’ Jeff Butera hit a two-run homer. Back-to-back doubles in the fourth by Mike Domenick and Andy Athans evened the score at four apiece.
The Vikings retook the lead briefly in the sixth when Yunker drew a walk, moved up on a sacrifice by Carrasco, and scored on Sommerfield’s single. Haverford tied the game in the seventh on a double off Bonnett and a single and sacrifice fly off reliever Alex Silverthorne.
The eighth proved to be the pivotal inning in the contest. The Fords put two on with one out when Coach Luke Johnson put in lefty reliever Tito Garza. The next Fords batter lined a pitch off Garza’s shin for a run-scoring single; Chris Rivera was brought in when Garza was unable to continue. A walk, a hit batsman, and a two-run single gave Haverford an 8-4 advantage. In the bottom of the frame, Brian Staatz led off with a walk and moved up on a Yunker single. Nick Marino cracked a two-out double down the left field line to bring the Vikings to within two runs, and Trevor Popp singled in Marino to make it a one-run game. After Rivera worked a scoreless ninth, the Vikings put two runners on base but could not get the tying run across.
On the day, Wade Yunker and Trevor Popp were the only Viking with two hits; Yunker also scored three times. Nick Marino drove in three runs and Mike Sommerfield, two. Joel Bonnett started and worked six innings, allowing four runs in a no-decision. Alex Silverthorne, the second reliever out of the pen, worked 1 2/3 innings, gave up two runs, and was charged with the loss.
The Vikings (5-1) take on St. Lawrence (NY) University on Thursday morning and play a JV game against the University of Dubuque in the afternoon.
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