Lehigh Valley team eliminated in Softball Carpenter Cup

FROM KEITH GROLLER

It was an early wakeup call, an early drive to Philadelphia, and unfortunately, an early exit for Lehigh Valley on the final day for the seventh annual Softball Carpenter Cup at FDR Park in South Philly.

The local team was defeated for the second time in three days by Mercer County, New Jersey, this time by a 6-1 score. It was tied 1-1 when Mercer scored five times in the bottom of the sixth.

However, Lehigh finished 4-2 and finished third in the tournament. Mercer and Suburban One American and Continental were set to battle in the finals with Suburban One needing just one win for its first CC title.

In seven years, Lehigh Valleyhas now finished in the top four five times.

Lehigh Valley trailed 1-0 until the top of the fifth when Tiffany White (Allen) singled to left and Taryn Zietlow (Parkland) reached on an error on a fielder's choice. White reached third on the play and scored on a sacrifice fly by Liberty's Erin Wilson.

Lehigh Valley was limited to six hits, two of them by Whitehall's Madison Kelly.

In the bottom of the sixth, two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out and Cpurtney Whittaker broke the tie with a two-run single to center.

Lehigh Valleuy coach John Eyer (Emmaus) was disappointed with how certain things were handled by the Carpenter Cup committee. Eyer expressed his frustration late in the game and was warned by a tournament official for his comments.

Mercer, which was caught batting out of order and didn't have a player in uniform on Tuesday, did not have enough players -- tourney rules require 14 -- and automatic outs were administered in certain innings as Mercer went through its lineup.

Also, Mercer didn't have all of its players listed on a roster.

"They didn't have enough players, and they didn't have everybody on their roster, so you don't know where some of their girls came from," Eyer said. "If you don't have enough players, then don't come in. There was no real penalty defensively for them not having the right amount of girls. They picked a place where they wanted to be an out in their lineup. That wasn't fair either. I think the committee needs to take a look at different things.

"Still, I am pleased with our girls. They played hard and they played well all week. Our girls made the commmitment to be here, even though it was real early for them this morning. That's why it's frustrating to lose to a team like Mercer, which didn't have all of its players here."