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An improbable ending
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
By RED BIRCH

PHILADELPHIA - Eric Ammirata is most likely still in shock this morning - and rightfully so.

In all his years of playing baseball, from Little League through high school, Ammirata had never hit a home run.

Maybe once or twice in batting practice, but never in a game.

So when the recent Hamilton High graduate stepped to the plate with one out and two men on in the top of the 10th inning in the semifinals of the 19th annual Carpenter Cup at Citizens Bank Park, hitting a home run was the furthest thing from his mind.

He was not alone.

Burlington County left fielder Brett Arnold, who, two innings earlier, had helped send the game to extra innings with an RBI single, seemed as surprised as Ammirata when he saw the 5-foot-8, 165-pound second baseman get around on a inside curve ball from pitcher Ryan Kulik and send the ball soaring.

With mouth wide open, Arnold, who had been cheating in a few steps to try to make a play at the plate on a single, looked straight up, then started scrambling back toward the fence, looking back over his shoulder a few times as if to make sure he had not misjudged it.

He had not.

Ammirata's ball sailed just over the Bud Light sign in left field, some 350 away, for a three-run home run which sent his teammates into hysterics and, one-half inning later, became the game-winning hit in a 7-4 victory which put the Mercer County all-stars in today's 7 p.m. Carpenter Cup final, back at Citizens Bank Park.

Mercer, which will be making its second consecutive trip to the Cup final, will play Tri-Cape, which defeated Lehigh Valley (Pa.), 6-5, in 10 innings.

"As I was rounding the bases, I couldn't believe it," Ammirata said. "When I hit it, I thought it was a routine pop-up. I was looking to hit it on the ground the other way. It was definitely a lucky swing."

There are those who would disagree with him on that.

"Eric hit a hanging curve ball, and he hit it well," said Mercer manager Jim Maher, who was also Ammirata's high school coach at Hamilton. "I didn't think it was going at first, but as I saw the left fielder going back, I started to think it had a chance."

At a brand-new stadium, which already has a reputation as a home run haven, Ammirata's home run also became part of history. It was the 11th hitin the Carpenter Cup this season, which is a record. It was also the first homer hit by a high school player at Citizens Bank Park since the first two rounds of this season's Cup were played at the University of Pennsylvania's Murphy Field.

"I didn't know it was such a big home run park," said Ammirata, a diehard Yankees fan. "But if I hit one here, anyone can hit one."

The Burlington players wish that were true, because of their 13 hits yesterday, only one went for extra bases when Florence's Matt Ordog doubled to score Rancocas Valley's Spencer Harvey (single) with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score, 4-4.

"I thought we hit the ball very well," said Burlington manager Bud Kowal, who will become athletic director of Ewing High in the fall. "It's the plays you don't make that hurt you. But these guys will never forget this experience."

It would be hard to considering Mercer opened a 3-0 lead on Cinnaminson's Eric Gertie and Shawnee's Sean Doolittle without the aid of a hit.

Steinert's Michael Platas walked, then scored on a two-out error in the second inning, before his schoolmate Jim Marinos, who had also walked, stole home on a delayed steal to give Mercer a 2-0 lead.

When Doolittle took over in the third inning, two errors helped WW-P South's Evan Cheresnick make it to third base before scoring on a ground out by Notre Dame's Tim Larkin, who also got Mercer's first hit - a double in the sixth.

Burlington tied the game, 3-3, with two runs off Steinert's Chris Turissi in the eighth, then another off Hamilton's Mike Oliver in the ninth after an RBI single by Nottingham's Chris Foley gave Mercer a 4-3 lead.

That set the stage for Ammirata.

"It's the first home run he's ever hit," said Oliver, who got the win, his first in five Carpenter Cup appearances. "At first, everyone was looking if the runners should tag up or if the left fielder would catch it. The next thing we knew it was in the flowers beyond the fence. Everyone in the dugout went nuts."

Much to Ammirata's delight and surprise