Olympic-Colonial Baseball Falls Short of Citizens Bank Park Trip

With the chance of getting to Citizens Bank Park for the first time ever, the Olympic-Colonial all-stars got off to another quick start Friday, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first against Lehigh Valley.

But that early lead disappeared, and the team’s chances of moving to the big stage evaporated in the sixth, when Lehigh Valley rallied with three straight hits with two outs to take a 6-3 lead on its way to a 7-5 victory.

Olympic-Colonial’s high-octane offense developed a couple engine knocks, with the team unable to capitalize on loaded bases in the second and fifth innings, bringing in just one run in both situations, on Jon Gonzalez’s walk.

Otherwise, strikeouts and groundouts killed both.

And Lehigh Valley’s pitching—especially from Mike Nikorak, who stanched the bleeding early when he came into the game in the second—baffled the locals, who had their first one-two-three inning at the plate in the fourth.

Olympic-Colonial got two back in the eighth, when Matt Giampetro’s hard-hit grounder down the third-base line was overthrown to first, allowing Wayne Test and Dan Marano to score, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.

Gonzalez and Joe Craig each drove in a run on doubles for Olympic-Colonial, who also got contributions from A.J. Wright (two walks, one run scored) and Brad Machinski (2-for-2 with a walk).