MURPHY'S ROLLS TO A PAIR OF WINS IN OPENER

Pounds Hooters twice behind 50-hit, 41-run onslaught

Now that's a way to get a season with championship aspirations started.

In what may be the best incarnation in the program's eight-year history, Murphy's opened the 2012 spring season with a pair of resounding 12-run rule, five-inning victories over Hooters.

Team manager/left fielder Andrew Graham roped four hits and Matt Harker led five players with three hits with a homer and a triple as Murphy's opened the season with a 21-5 victory over Hooters at "The Pit" at Maple Point Middle School.

Harker's sizzling bat carried over to the second game where he sparked a 23-hit attack by going 4-for-4 and hitting for the cycle as Murphy's rolled to a 20-8 victory.

After pounding the ball through three scrimmages, the offense was just as potent out of the gate as Murphy's pushed six runs across the plate in the top of the first inning of the first game.                                          

Harker and Jim singled and Kevin Maloney followed with an RBI double. Graham singled, Joe Faust Jr. bounced an RBI groundout to the right side of the infield and Colin Tosti, T.J. Coles and Ed Gurt followed with RBI singles.

Murphy's continued to rip the ball in the top of the second as they plated eight runs by stringing together eight singles.

Harker's two-run bomb into the woods in left field highlighted a five-run third inning. "Hollywood" capped a 3-for-4 morning with an RBI triple in the fourth.

Harker, Maloney, Tosti, Coles and Gurt each had three hits. Harker, Maloney, Faust Jr., Tosti and Gurt all drove in three runs apiece.

T.J. Coles went 5-for-5 with four runs and five RBIs

to help lead Murphy's to a pair of convincing season-opening

wins over Hooters.

Game two followed a similar script as the boys in black pounded out 23 hits and pushed 18 of its 20 runs over the final three innings en route to another 12-run rule victory.

Harker was again in the middle of the action, igniting the beatdown out of the leadoff spot. He ripped a solo homer deep into the woods in left field, his second of the day, to kick off a six-run third inning. Jim  Trochak and Maloney followed with singles, Graham walked and all three scored on Faust Jr.'s triple to deep right field.

Coles crushed a solo homer to left field to kickstart a five-run fourth that also included an RBI double from Harker. Marc Rossi, proud new poppa along with his wife Kristen to future Murphy's standout Joseph James, singled and scored in the frame. Gurt and Josh Yeager also added key singles in the inning.

Tosti, aka. Colin Quintonious, led off the fifth with a double. Sean Walker reached on an error, Coles tripled and Marc Rossi drew a walk before Dave Rossi nearly killed the opposing pitcher with a laser right back up the box.

Yeager followed with an RBI single, Harker completed the cycle with an RBI triple and with Hooters yet again facing a mercy rule defeat, Trochak was intentionally walked in the hopes of trying to set up a double play. It didn't happen. Maloney sent the next offering deep over the left-center fielder's head to put the 12-run rule into effect.

In a day in which mind-boggling numbers were commonplace, perhaps none was more impressive than Trochak pitching and the efforts both defensively and on the base paths. Trochak faced 59 batters over 10 innings without allowing an extra-base hit. Craziness. The defense committed just three errors over the two games and a number of different players parlayed their aggressiveness on the base paths into key extra bases.

Mike Simpson tripled and Evan Christie added a single to round out the morning.

The pair of convincing victories allowed Murphy's to secure sole possession of first place in the Lower-South Division of the Lower Bucks Softball League. The good guys are off next week for Easter but will be back in action on 4/15 at Edgewood Elementary against WLTP, which split its season-opener with the Sillies.

LINE SCORES

GAME ONE

Murphy’s (1-0)                   685         11X         X_21 27 0

Hooters (0-1)                      002         21X         X_5 15 0

2B— M: Maloney 2. 3B— M: Harker. HR— M: Harker. RBI— M: Harker 3, Maloney 3, Faust Jr. 3, Tosti 3, Gurt, Jim, Coles, Yaeger.

WP— Trochak (1-0). LP— Tony.

GAME TWO

Hooters (0-2)                      003         14X         X_8 14 0

Murphy’s (2-0)                   116         57X         X_20 23 0

2B— M: Harker. 3B— M: Harker, Coles, Simpson. HR— M: Harker, Coles. RBI— M: Coles 4, Harker 3, Maloney 3, Faust Jr., 3, Yaeger 2, D. Rossi, Tosti, Trochak.

WP— Trochak (2-0). LP— Mike.