2014 Blazers News

Ryan Vogelsong (Kutztown University, Quakertown Blazers, 1996-1997) only allowed two hits and one run over 5 2/3 innings as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 3-2 to advance to the NL Championship Series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

By holding the Nats to one run over 5 2/3 innings, Vogelsong became the first pitcher in Major League history to allow no more than one run in each of his five career postseason starts. Vogelsong's previous four playoff outings came in 2012.

He has now given up a total of four earned runs in 30 1/3 postseason innings for a 1.19 ERA which ranks him ninth lowest in postseason ERA with more than 30 innings pitched.

By Phil Engel, Quakertown Blazers

QUAKERTOWN, Pa – The Quakertown Blazers fell to the Wolff Division Regular Season Champions, the Allentown Railers, 7-4 in the last game at Memorial Park of the 2014 season. Patrick Donnelly and Kevin Jewitt paced the Blazers with two hits apiece.

Corey Baiada gave the Blazers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as he drove in Jewitt on a ground out to short. Jewitt got in scoring position as he laced a double into the left center gap with one out in the frame.

The Railers threatened in the third. Anthony Reinz singled to center with one out and Andrew Brandstetter raced around third to tie the game. However, Brett Smith made a tremendous throw home to Baiada who applied to tag to gun out Brandstetter to end the scoring threat.

After relinquishing the lead in the top half of the fifth, Jackson Martin tied the game at 2-2 for the Blazers in the bottom half as he singled to center, scoring Ed Posavec.

Allentown took back the lead in the sixth off back-to-back doubles by Jacen Nalesnik and Reinz off reliever Cody Stoneback that brought in three runs to give the Railers a 5-2 advantage.

The Blazers battled back in the seventh. Donnelly once again came through for Quakertown as the Lehigh-product singled to left. The left fielder for Allentown misplayed the ball and allowed it to get past him. Brett Smith and Martin were able to score on the miscue and Donnelly ended up at third. Donnelly had a chance to tie the game at 5-5 as he tried to score on a wild pitch but was tagged out on a close play at the plate.

The Railers got those two runs back in the eighth as Nalesnik drove in Casey Clauss on a deep double to center and Joe Forcellini beat out and infield single to short to bring home Nalesnik and supply Allentown with the 7-4 edge.

Quakertown sent the tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth but could not force free baseball and fell to 18-21 on the year.

The Blazers will conclude their 2014 season tomorrow night as they travel to face the Jersey Pilots in Berkley Heights, N.J.

By Phil Engel, Quakertown Blazers QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Quakertown Blazers bested the North Jersey Eagles 10-5 and 5-3 on Sunday afternoon. The two wins ran the Blazers’ season long win streak to nine straight, tying the ACBL-mark for the longest winning streak by a team this season. With the Trenton Generals sweeping the Staten Island Tide on Sunday, the surging Blazers now sit just 2.5 games behind the Tide for the fourth seed in the ACBL playoff standings. Quakertown has four games remaining in the regular season to try and earn a playoff berth. The Blazers continued their hot hitting as they scored four times in the first inning to begin game one. Quakertown was aided by sloppy North Jersey defense in the frame as the Eagles committed three errors that led to the four runs. Chris Melillo brought home Blazers returnee, Brandon Martinez, for the first run of the game. Martinez led off the inning with a hustle double to shallow left field. Tyler Kirkpatrick reached base on a fielder’s choice to plate Jackson Martin, who reached on an error attempting to sacrifice Martinez to third. Kirkpatrick came around to score on a deep double to center off the bat of Kevin Jewitt. Jewitt scored the fourth run of the inning on a single by Corey Baiada. Jewitt tacked on another run for the Blazers in the third inning as he reached on an infield hit to shortstop. Melillo was able to cross home plate on the play to provide Quakertown with the 5-0 advantage. The Blazers were not done as they scored five more times in the fourth to go in front 10-0. Martin, Patrick Donnelly, Melillo and Baiada had four consecutive RBI singles to center field driving in all five runs in the inning. Baiada finished game one with two hits and a team-best three runs batted in. The Eagles cut into the lead in the fifth inning, scoring four times with the big blow coming from a three-run home run by Ryan Carroll. The four runs snapped Blazers starter John Geffre’s 18 inning scoreless streak. North Jersey loaded the bases with one out in the sixth looking to cut into the deficit further but Geffre was able to escape the jam with only one run scoring, making it 10-5. Geffre finished the day allowing five runs on nine hits in six innings of work but was given plenty of run support to pick up his fourth win of the year. In the nightcap, the Blazers started right where they left off as they took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Kirkpatrick delivered a two-out base knock to center and Martin came in from third to give Quakertown the early edge. North Jersey took their first lead of the day in the fourth inning as they got to starter Kevin Long for two runs (one earned). Long misfired on a pickoff attempt to first which allowed Jason Uliano to score from third to tie the ballgame. Dane McDermott singled to left to bring home Brian McKenna to put North Jersey in front 2-1. The Eagles threatened to pad their lead in the fifth as they put runners on second and third with just one out. But Long buckled down and was able to record the final two outs via a strikeout and groundout to keep the score at 2-1 North Jersey. The Blazers bounced back in the bottom of the fifth as they put two runs on the scoreboard to regain the lead at 3-2. Donnelly came through in the clutch as he singled to right on the seventh pitch of the at bat. Connor Donovan and Brandon Martinez scored on the play to put Quakertown in front. The Blazers added two insurance runs in the sixth to increase their lead to 5-2. Jewitt drove a ball over the center fielder’s head to bring home Kirkpatrick. Jewitt later scored in the frame on a base hit up the middle from Ed Posavec. Closer Ryan Flipowicz finished out the game, throwing two innings of relief. He allowed one run on three hits and one walk. He punched out two in the outing to earn his seventh save of the season. The Blazers travel to Easton, Pa. on Tuesday night with a doubleheader against the Lehigh Valley Catz to try and stretch their winning streak to 10 games and continue their push to the postseason.

By Phil Engel, Quakertown Blazers QUAKERTOWN, Pa – Tonight’s game between the Quakertown Blazers and the first place Allentown Railers has been postponed due to inclement weather. The contest will be made up a week from tonight, Wednesday, July 30, at 7 p.m. The Blazers will look to win their fifth game in a row tomorrow night when they travel to Berkeley Heights, N.J. to take on the Jersey Pilots. Quakertown will return to Memorial Park on Friday night as the host the South Jersey Giants.

Kevin Long and John Geffre both tossed shutouts as the Blazers defeated the North Jersey Eagles 1-0 and 2-0 at Overpeck Park. Connor Donovan knocked in the winning run in the opener when he singled to centerfield to score Kevin Jewitt. Pat Donnolly and Ben Moller each posted two hits in the opener. Brett Smith and Chris Melillo each had two hits in the second game. The Blazers are now 10-19 and move into second place in the Wolff Division as the Lehigh Valley Catz lost two today at Staten Island by the scores of 5-4 and 7-5. The Blazers return home tomorrow to host Staten Island in a 1pm DH at Memorial Park.

The Quakertown Blazers (7-16) won their first road game of the season as they rallied for a 10-9 win over the Wolff Divison leading Allentown Railers (18-9). Tyler Coleman (West Chester) cleared the bases in top of the eighth inning with a three run double to rightfield. Brett Smith (Bucknell) had four hits with four RBIs. Coleman posted two doubles while Kevin Jewitt (Villanova) added three hits. Ryan Filipowicz (Holy Cross) pitched two scoreless innings for the save. Anthony Renz (Mansfield) hit two home runs for the Railers and collected four RBIs.

By Phil Engel QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Blazers got out to an early three-run advantage and were able to hang on for the 3-2 victory. The win marks the second straight triumph over the Catz and third overall on the 2014 campaign. The Blazers staked a 3-0 lead through six innings with the help of Brett Smith. Smith played an integral part in manufacturing all three Quakertown runs in the first, third, and fifth frames. The Bucknell-sophomore reached base all three times he came to the plate, stole second in each inning and came around to score each time. Ryan Kelly pitched six strong innings for the Blazers. He scattered six hits and did not allow a run to pick up his second win of the season. After the Catz cut it to 3-2, Ryan Flipowicz entered the game in the ninth. He struck out the first batter but allowed the next two hitters to reach base. With runners on the corners with only one out, Flipowicz got Brody Clifford to ground to first. First baseman Doug Trimble made a quick throw to SS Patrick Donnelly, who made a terrific scoop with the Lehigh Valley runner barreling down on him for the force out. With the runner colliding into him, Donnelly was able to make the return throw to Trimble for the final out of the ballgame. With the tremendous double play to close it out, Flipowicz earned his third save of the year, tying him for the ACBL lead in that category. The Blazers will ride their current two-game winning streak as they return to action on Tuesday night as they host the South Jersey Giants. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.

By Phil Engel QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – After falling behind 7-0 before even coming to the plate in the first inning, the Blazers remained unfazed and focused, battled back, and scored 15 unanswered runs to pick up their most impressive win of the season over the Lehigh Valley Catz 15-7 on Tuesday night at Memorial Park. Trailing 7-1, the Blazers batted around in the fourth, plating six runs to tie the game at seven. The first six men reached base for Quakertown, all of whom came around to score in the frame. Ed Posavec, Brett Smith, Jackson Martin and Ben Moller netted RBIs for the Blazers. The Blazers capped off their comeback, taking the lead in the sixth inning when Smith scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Lehigh Valley reliever, Connor McMahon. Quakertown put the game away in the seventh when Smith and Jackson earned back-to-back bases loaded walks to give the Blazers a 10-7 advantage. Both players had big days at the dish to carry the offense. Smith reached base all six times including five base hits. The Bucknell-product added two runs batted in and three runs scored. Jackson reached base four times on one hit, two walks and one hit-by-pitch. The Seton Hall-product scored once and brought home two runs. The Blazers batted around again in the eighth, sending 10 men to the plate. Quakertown scored five runs in the frame to seal the contest. Patrick Donnelly tripled home Tyler Coleman and would later score on a wild pitch. Donnelly recorded four hits and scored three runs for the Blazers. Doug Trimble drove in two runs with a two-out single and Tyler Kirkpatrick followed suite with an RBI base hit of his own as he singled home Smith to provide the 15-7 final. The bullpen was tremendous on the night for the Blazers. After Quakertown starter John Santoianni struggled to record just one out in the opening inning, the relief corps, led by Connor Donovan, held the Catz scoreless over the next 26 outs. Donovan entered the game down seven with the bases loaded and only one out. The Lehigh sophomore struck out both men he faced in the inning to help the Blazers avoid further damage. Donovan pitched five more shutout innings to help Quakertown to the win. He finished the night allowing seven hits and two walks in his 5.2 innings en route to earning the victory. He punched out three Catz. Aiding Donovan out of the pen was Brandon Kulp, who worked two no-hit innings and Ryan Flipowicz, who closed it out in the ninth, allowed one hit and one walk but finished the ninth unscathed. The Blazers will look to continue their momentum as they host this same Lehigh Valley Catz squad on Friday, July 4th, at 1 p.m.

By Phil Engel QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Blazers defeated the Jersey Pilots 7-4 in game one but saw their four-game winning streak come to an end, falling 2-0 in the second game of the double dip. The Blazers scored in every inning except the first in game one. Chris Melillo and Tyler Fitzpatrick provided the offense for Quakertown as they combined to drive in six of the team’s seven runs. Melillo was 3-for-3 at the plate with two singles and two-run home run in the fifth inning. The Notre Dame product drove in a team-high four runs. Fitzpatrick collected two hits in two plate appearances one of which was a solo home run in the fourth. He drove in two runs and stole two bases. Ryan Kelly held the Pilots to two unearned runs on four hits in his 5.2 innings of work to earn the victory. He issued four free passes and struck out two. The Pilots threatened in the seventh; scoring twice off reliever Dan Furman to cut it to 7-4 but Ryan Flipowicz came in and was able to record the final two outs to preserve the win for the Blazers. Flipowicz got Anthony Critelli to fly out to left fielder, Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick then gunned out Michael Caputo who was trying to score from third for the last out of the contest. The Blazers could not muster any offense against Jersey starter Stephen Silvestri in the second game. Silvestri began the game retiring the first 15 Blazers batters before Connor Donovan and Doug Trimble had base hits to begin the sixth inning, however, both runners were left stranded. Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the seventh, Tyler Coleman reached base on an error to begin the inning but Silvestri sent down three of the next four Quakertown hitters to end the game. Kevin Long earned the tough-luck loss as he allowed two unearned runs on five hits in his seven innings on the mound. Long punched out seven Pilots and did not walk a batter. The Blazers will conclude their nine-game home stand on Tuesday night as they host the first-place Allentown Railers. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.

By Phil Engel QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Quakertown Blazers offense exploded for 11 runs in game one to defeat the Jersey Pilots 11-0. The hot hitting continued in game two as the Blazers won their third game in a row, winning 6-2. Patrick Donnelly led the way at the plate as he collected five hits in the two games with four runs batted in. The Blazers bats remained hot in game one against Pilots as Quakertown sent eight men to the plate in their three-run first. Five straight Blazers reached base with one out. Donnelly scored on a single by Chris Melillo. Melillo later came around to score along with Tyler Coleman on Corey Baiada single to right and an error on the play by the Pilot’s right fielder. The Baiada base knock gave the Blazers an early 3-0 lead. Quakertown blew the game open in the fourth as three more runs came across home plate. Donnelly drove in Vince Careghini and Brett Smith with a triple to the right field wall. Donnelly scored later in the frame on an error by Jersey’s third baseman. Blazers were not done, as they scored four more times in the fifth inning to go in front 10-0. Smith reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in the first run of the frame. Coleman brought home Donnelly for the second run on a single to right. Melillo knocked in two more as he doubled to right, however, he was out trying to stretch his hit into a triple. Melillo finished game one 2-for-4 at the plate with a team-high three RBIs. Tyler Kirkpatrick added one more run for good measure in the sixth as he knocked in Baiada on a sac fly to left. John Geffre pitched six strong shutout innings to earn the victory. Geffre allowed five hits and one walk. He struck out two Pilots. In the nightcap, the Blazers answered a first inning run by the Pilots by scoring two of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Donnelly tripled to deep center field to bring home Jackson Martin who walked to begin the frame. Donnelly would score on a sac fly from Baiada to put the Blazers up 2-1. The Pilots threatened to tie the game in the fourth after the first two men reached base. However, starter Ryan Fleming worked his way out of trouble by retiring the next three hitters via a sacrifice, strikeout and ground out to keep the game at 2-1. Quakertown picked an insurance run in their half of the fourth as Martin doubled to deep center to score Shane Allen. The Pilots responded though in the fifth, scoring an unearned run to cut it to 3-2. In the sixth inning, the Blazers were able to put the game away by scoring three times. Smith tripled down the right field line, plating Connor Donovan and Allen. Smith scored the third run of the frame on a sac fly by Donnelly to provide the 6-2 final. Fleming pitched five innings to pick up his first win of the season. He allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk. The Rutgers left-hander punched out five Pilots in the victory. Ryan Flipowicz went two innings in relief for the Blazers. He struck out three compared to just one walk to earn the save. The Blazers will ride a three-game winning streak into their next contest as they take on ACBL newcomer, the South Jersey Giants, Thursday night with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.

QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – The Trenton Generals defeated the Blazers by scores of 3-2 and 4-2 on Sunday afternoon to push Quakertown’s losing streak to eight games. Trenton was spotted an early 3-0 in game one after the first two innings and hung on to defeat Quakertown 3-2 in game one. The Blazers got one run back in the third inning on a Patrick Donnelly RBI single that brought home Shane Allen. Quakertown added another run in the sixth as Vince Careghini reached on an error by the shortstop. Chris Mellilo came around from second to score on the play. Mellilo led the Blazers in the first game, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and one run scored. Kevin Long pitched five innings in the loss. He allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits. Long struck out five compared to just one free pass. Daniel Furman pitched two shutout innings of relief for the Blazers. In game two, Mike Scaringelli provided the big blow for the Generals as the first basemen doubled home three runs in the second inning to put Trenton up by three. The Generals added another run in the third inning to increase their lead to 4-0. The Blazers led off the fifth inning with back-to-back singles by Mellilo and Ben Moller. The Mellilo hit broke up a streak of 12 straight Quakertown batters that were sent down to begin the game. After a double play, Tyler Kirkpatrick singled home Mellilo to break through into the run column to cut the deficit to 4-1. The Blazers sent the tying run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh but Trenton starter Josh Sharik got Kirkpatrick to fly out to center for the second out of the inning. Andrew Lysy came on in relief but promptly threw a wild pitch and Moller raced home for Quakertown’s second run of the ballgame. Lysy, however, rebounded and got Connor Donovan to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the contest. Sharik allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits in his 6.2 innings of work. He punched out seven Blazers en route to the 4-2 win. Pat Vanderslice went five innings, giving up four unearned runs on six hits to receive the loss. He struck out two while walking just one. The Blazers are in the midst of a nine-game home stand and will be back in action Tuesday night as they host Lehigh Valley. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

QUAKERTOWN, Pa. – Lehigh Valley defeated Quakertown 2-1 on Tuesday night to drop the Blazers to 0-6 on the year. David Moyer of Lehigh Valley broke a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth, launching a two-run home run over the right field fence off Blazers reliever Bob Reddick to give the Catz the two-run lead. Quakertown responded in the bottom half of the frame as Brett Smith successfully stole home on a double steal with teammate Patrick Donnolly to cut the deficit to 2-1. Donnolly, who was making his Blazers debut, collected one hit at the plate in addition to the stolen base. The Blazers threatened in the seventh, as Ben Moller and Doug Trimble reached on singles but a Corey Baiada fielder’s choice and a groundout by Edward Posavec ended the threat. Quakertown sent the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth but Connor McMahon came in and got Baiada to pop out to second for the final out of the game to earn the save for Lehigh Valley. Ryan Fleming threw five scoreless innings for Quakertown. He allowed just one hit and four walks while striking out five. Ryan Kelly pitched 3.1 shutout innings of relief for the Blazers, giving up one hit and one walk. He punched out two. Quakertown will look to earn their first win of the season on Thursday as the host the Jersey Pilots in a twilight doubleheader. Game one will begin at 5 p.m.

QUAKERTOWN, Pa. - Tonight’s game against the New Jersey Pilots has been postponed due inclement weather. It will be made up next Thursday as part of a twilight doubleheader with game one scheduled to start at 5pm. The Blazers will resume play at Lehigh Valley on Saturday as they look to snap their four-game losing skid. Quakertown will return to memorial park next Tuesday against the LV Catz.

Junior outfielder Brandon Martinez (Kutztown, Quakertown Blazers, 2013) was named to the Capital One Academic All-America First Team. The ACBL All-Star holds a 3.85 GPA as a business major after a 4.0 semester this spring. He was also selected to the All-Atlantic Region Second Team sponsored by the ABCA, Daktronics and NCBWA for the second consecutive year. The first team All-PSAC East choice hit .392 and was 35-for-36 on stolen base attempts. He had a perfect fielding percentage with 102 putouts this spring.

The Middle Atlantic Conference recently announced that Mike Weinhold (Quakertown Blazers, 2011-13) was selected as a starting pitcher on the 2014 Commonwealth All-Conference First Team.He is one of nine Alvernia players to gain conference honors. Seven of those players have participated in the ACBL. Weinhold, a senior LHP, posted a 1.21 ERA in 59.1 innings with 86 strikeouts. He topped D-III nationally with 13.04 strikeouts per nine innings. Kevin Becker-Menditto (Trenton Generals, 2012) was selected to the first team as a relief pitcher as was outfielder Chris Gehris (Allentown Railers, 2013). Senior first baseman Matt Patterson (Trenton Generals, 2012-13) and junior shortstop Richie Ricciardi (Trenton Generals, 2012-13) were second team selections. Catcher Chris Burns (Trenton Generals, 2013) and pitcher Steve Price (Allentown, 2013) received honorable mention honors. Photo courtesy of Alvernia University Athletics

Brandon Martinez (Kutztown, Quakertown Blazers, 2013) was named to the PSAC Eastern Division First Team for the second year in a row. The speedy centerfielder hit .406 with 33 stolen bases in 34 attempts and played flawless defense with no errors. Other former ACBL players named to the first team include Casey Cooperman (Bloomsburg, Quakertown, 2011; Allentown Railers, 2013), Nico Delerme (East Stroudsburg, Lehigh Valley Catz, 2011), Mike Douglas (Shippensburg, Allentown, 2012), Eric Forth (East Stroudsburg, Trenton Generals, 2012) and Nick Rabasco (East Stroudsburg, Allentown, 2013). Tad Barton (Millersville, Southampton, 2011), Pat Kregoloh (Shippensburg, Lehigh Valley Catz, 2011), Justin Roman (West Chester, Trenton Generals, 2013) and Adam Zipko (Millersville, Quakertown Blazers, 2012) were selected to the Eastern Division Second Team.

Marist freshman Ben Moller (Quakertown Blazers, 2014) was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week after hitting .517 (8 for 14) over the past week. The 6 foot 1 inch infielder also had four RBI and scored three runs. Teammate Scott Boches (Quakertown Blazers, 2014) tossed 4.1 innings of shutout ball as Marist defeated Siena on Monday 1-0 for their first conference win. Boches has posted a 3.26 ERA in 30.1 innings thus far this spring. Photo courtesy of Marist Athletics

Matt Bahnick (Lehigh Valley Catz, 2011; Allentown Railers, 2013) and Kevin Jewitt (Quakertown Blazers, 2013-14) started the 2014 season with hot bats. Bahnick, a junior third baseman, is hitting .636 ( 7-for-11) for Kennesaw State. Jewitt, a sophomore third baseman, tops Villanova with a .417 average (5-for-12) and was named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll and is also the Philadelphia Big Five Player of the Week.

Kenny Kirshner (North Jersey Eagles, St. Thomas Aquinas) and Brandon Martinez (Quakertown Blazers, Kutztown) are among seven former ACBL players selected to the D-2 pre-season All-America teams. The list was prepared by the ABCA Division II All-America Baseball Committee and published in Collegiate Baseball. Kirshner and Martinez were ACBL All-Stars and were among the league leaders in several categories. Centerfielder Martinez hit .381 for second in the league while stealing 19 bases in 19 attempts. Kirshner played both the outfield and first base. His .356 average placed 4th while he stole 17 bases in 18 attempts. Ryan Lubreski (East Stroudsburg, Lehigh Valley), Ray Gambone (Quakertown, Wilmington), Mike Douglas (Allentown 2012, Shippensburg), Dylan Tice (Quakertown 2012, IUP) and Pat Kregoloh (Lehigh Valley 2011, Shippensburg) were also included on the lists. Tice, a middle infielder, was selected MVP of the season and playoffs in the Futures League and ranked as the league's 12th top prospect by Perfect Game. Douglas, an outfielder was ranked as the 6th top prospect in the MINK League after hitting .350 with seven home runs. Kregoloh, a multi position player, was ranked the 25th prospect in the Prospect League.