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By Frank Perry Courier Tumes Sports Writer In a word, the 1977 Bicentennial Athletic League’s first baseball all star team can be described as bat- Consider that the two all-league pitching selections, Lower Moreland’s Bret Gold and Keith Pfleiger, are among the league’s top hitters, Holy Ghost’s Larry Gadaleta made the first team as an outfielder and the second team as a pitcher, and Bristol’s Ed Santiago is one of the league’s top out fielders and power hitters. And consider also, that five of nine BAL teams boast representatives on the elite squad. League champion Lower Moreland heads the list with four entries. In ad dition to Pfleiger and Gold, Ed Matsko gained all-star honors as the league’s top first baseman while Dave Reed man did likewise at third base. Three teams followed, each with Morrisville’s Skip Martoccio joined Pfleiger as the only two members of the 1976 Lower Bucks County Section Two squad. Martoccio captured the second base position while teammate Jerry Coffey garnered an outfield spot. Bristol’s Dave Marozzi snared the designated hitter’s position while Holy Ghost’s Paul Spinosa was the league’s top catcher. Christopher Dock’s Jay Moyer rounded out the selection of stellar performers by taking shortstop honors. Strong hitting The first squad’s overall batting average is a lofty .361 led by Gadale ta’s .431 mark. The junior hurler-outfielder was typical of the Firebird’s young squad. “I told someone last year,” said Holy Ghost head coach Ted Grabows ki, “‘that Larry was the best sopho more pitcher I’ve had. That includes: kids like Iorio (Mark) and Welsh, (Bob). “This year, all I think he needed was some infidence. Especially with his hitting. And during the second half of the season I could see he was ma turing,” said Grabowski. ‘‘He was al most overpowering.”’ For Spinosa, who hit .392 with a league-leading 26 RBI, this season marked an individual improvement over last year’s performance. “‘Hitting-wise I improved,” said the senior receiver, ‘“‘but I also im proved on my fielding. I worked on blocking balls and not making as many mental mistakes as I used to.”’ Spinosa tied Santiago for the league lead in home runs with four. The Bristol senior batted .353 with 20 RBI and 21 runs scored. “I can’t say enough about Ed,”’ said Bristol head coach Russ Walsh. “‘He’s phenomenal. He can hit, pitch, field, throw, anything you want. “For his size, he’s the best outfield er in the league.” Walsh’s praises were equally as lofty for first baseman Marozzi. “*We didn’t know if he was going to be on our team this year,” said Walsh. ‘“‘There was some question as to whether he could play after undergoing a very serious operation last fall. Keith Pfleiger Mike Jamie Franken tiold Tom McNulty Dave R Brian Barder Larry Gadatetta BICENTENNIAL ATHLETIC LEAGUE BASEBALL ALL-STARS First Team Position First Base Second Base Third Base Shortstop Outfield on Hitter Morrisville Holy Ghost or Morrisville topher ‘“‘But he gave us one super-solid ef fort this year. He’s lost a little speed but he’s just as consistent as ever. Marozzi’s operation was to stop an infection growing in his left leg that resulted from a football injury. The senior Warrior batted .393 with 17 RBI and 10 runs scored. Morrisville’s Martoccio batted .357 with 11 RBI and 17 runs scored while Coffey batted .345 with 15 RBI and 12 runs scored. “I’m surprised but happy that I made the team,”’ said Coffey. “It was a good year individually but also a good one for the team.”’ Martoccio echoed Coffey’s com ment. ‘“‘Except for two losses early in the season, we would have had a championship season.”’ As it was, Morrisville finished in second place, three games behind Lower Moreland. Moyer’s .230 batting average and sparkling fielding play led Christo pher Dock to one of its best seasons ever. “‘We could have been more consist ent,” said Moyer. “‘But we did have some good games this year.” Pitching Lower Moreland’s pitching aces each sported impressive statistics. In 65 innings, Pfleiger had a scant 1.18 earned run average, gave up 56 hits, walked 20 and struck out 92 for an 8-1 league mark. Gold, who hurled 43 innings, boasted a 2.28 ERA, walked 36, gave up 22 hits, and struck out 76 for a 6-1 mark. In addition, Pfleiger batted .444 and Gold .350. Teammates Ed Matsko and Reed man batted .380 and .372 respectively. Matsko knocked in 14 runs while scor ing 22 more. Reedman batted in 12 runs while scoring 13. Second Term AF ED MATSKO SKIP MARTOCCIO DAVE REEDMAN JAY MOYER JERRY COFFEY LARRY GADALETA ED SANTIAGO DAVE MAROZZI PAUL SPINOSA BRET GOLD KEITH PFLEIGER
Newspaper Details
Bucks County Courier Times
Levittown, Pennsylvania, US
Thu, Jun 02, 1977
Page 22
Full Page
Clipped by
Russ W.
