MURPHY'S BATS STAY HOT, POUNDS WLTP TWICE

IMPROVES TO 4-0, SHOWDOWN WITH PASQUALES UP NEXT

The Murphy's softball team's torrid start to the 2012 campaign continued in an emphatic was Sunday morning as they eased past WLTP by a comfortable margin twice at Edgewood Elementary.

Jim Trochak went 4-for-4 with three runs and turned in another fine outing on the mound in a 17-8 victory in Game One and Kevin Maloney went 3-for-3 - finishing a single shy of the cycle - with three RBIs as a part of a 21-hit attack in a 15-7 victory in Game Two.

Perhaps feeling the rust from the Easter break, Murphy's didn't get their offense on track until the third inning of the first game. Sean Walker led off the frame with a single an came around to score on Trochak's RBI single. Andrew Graham got a 3-for-3 first game - and a 6-for-7, five-RBI day - started by driving in Trochak for one of three RBIs.

It was just a sign of the things that were to come as Murphy's used 10 hits - only one of which was an extra-base hit - to push across nine runs in the fourth inning. Mike Simpson led off the inning with a single and Marc Rossi, T.J. Coles, Colin Tosti and Josh Yeager followed suite before Eddie "The Cat" Gurt struck out. Gurt's shameful act will cost him a case of beer at the end of the season party.

Walker, who was 4-for-5 on the day, followed with a single and Matt "Hollywood" Harker followed with a sacrifice fly. Trochak, Maloney and Andrew all followed with singles before Joe Faust Jr. put an emphatic stamp on the inning with a two-run triple.

Not satisfied with the back-breaking inning, Murphy's added an insurance run in the sixth on Gurt's sacrifice fly an added four key insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning.

Jim Trochak's efforts at the plate and on the
mound helped Murphy's to a pair of convincing
wins over WLTP.

Riding the wave of momentum it closed Game One out with, Murphy's pushed nine runs across in the first three innings of Game Two to jump out to a commanding 9-3 lead.

Maloney tripled and scored on Graham's single in the first inning and Graham came around to score on Marc Rossi's two-out single. Coles led off the second with a triple to right-center field and scored on Yeager's RBI single. Evan Christie plated Yeager on a sacrifice fly and Gurt scored on an error.

Murphy's struck for three runs in the fifth inning, a frame sparked by Faust Jr.'s double. Tosti followed with an RBI single and scored on Rossi's smashed double. Rossi came home two batters later on Yeager's RBI single. Yeager went 3-for-3 with three RBIs in Game Two.

Any thoughts WLTP had of staging a comeback were quashed during a three-run bottom of the sixth inning. Walker laced a one-out single and Trochak poked a two-out single to right-center. Maloney, in an extremely rare moment of power, bombed a three-run homer to straightaway center field. The homer helped compensate for coming up short on a catch earlier in the ball game.

First-place Murphy's will take on Pasquales (3-1) Sunday morning at 9 at the Lower Field at Fallsington Elementary.

LINE SCORES

GAME ONE

Murphy’s (3-0)                   000         291         4_17 20 0

WLTP (1-2)                        311         010         2_8 15 0

2B— W: Guz. 3B— M: Faust Jr.; W: Gehris, Paul, Guz. RBI— M: Faust Jr. 3, Graham 3, Coles 2, Walker 2, Harker, Trochak, Simpson, Rossi, Yeager, Gurt.

WP— Trochak (3-0). LP— Gerard (1-2).

GAME TWO

WLTP (1-3)                        300         400         0_  7 13 0

Murphy’s (4-0)                   234         033         X_15 21 0

2B— M: Maloney, Rossi, Faust Jr.. 3B— W: Paul, Guz; M: Maloney, Coles. HR— W: Dan, Gerard; M: Maloney. RBI— M: Maloney 3, Yeager 3, Graham 2, Tosti 2, Rossi 2, Christie, Faust Jr..

WP— Jim (4-0). LP— Gerard (1-3).