Melillo powers La Salle to win over CD

LAURELDALE -- Like a lot talented athletes, Chris Melillo went the three-majors route through much of his youth.

Then came the end of eighth grade and basketball was bid adieu. The next dust-biter, as his freshman year wound down, was football.

"Baseball has always been my favorite sport," Melillo said. "And it's what I've been best at, by far.

Melillo, a 6-1, 205-pound junior, has been offering evidence of his baseball skill level throughout the 2012 season and Friday he added an exclamation point. As La Salle High edged Central Dauphin, 7-6, in a rollicking, many-turning-points Class AAAA quarterfinal at Muhlenberg High, the first baseman and No. 3 hitter went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI.

He also made a pretty big blunder and, to his everlasting credit, he discussed it in man-up fashion.

"I was hoping somebody would ask me a question about that. I want to talk about it," Melillo said. "I can't believe that happened. I was so upset with myself."

Here's the setup: After CD scored three runs in the top half of the sixth inning to seize a 5-3 lead, La Salle responded in kind thanks to Melillo's three-run double to dead centerfield. A bobbled grounder off Colin Pyne's bat and an intentional walk to Tyler Kozeniewski loaded the bases. After Mike Piscopo fanned on a bouncing curve, Melillo began walking toward home. CD had no trouble picking him off.

Had Melillo thought Piscopo's K was out No. 3? Was he unaware of a pretty basic rule, that a throw to first, in this situation, did NOT have to be made?

"I just wasn't sure . . . Bases loaded . . . I don't know," Melillo said, glumly. "That was awful. I don't even know what I was doing. I mean, I'd just gotten a nice hit and that play totally knocked it out of my mind.

"We lost a great chance for insurance runs, and I'm so happy we were able to get past it. I wasn't even looking at how I'd hit. I was looking at how I'd let my team down."

Melillo collected the Explorers' only hit in the first two innings, then delivered an RBI single in the third, advancing his squad within 2-1. He sent a deep flyball to center in the fifth and when he strolled plateward in the sixth, the sacks were filled thanks to singles by Jim Herron, Ryan Otis and P.J. "Paul" Acierno (would-be sac that was superbly placed).

Melillo sent a shot over the centerfielder's head. Off the bat, the ball sounded a bit like a jet plane.

"I could tell it wouldn't be a homer," he said. "I knew I'd barreled it up; not enough backspin on it. But I did get enough of it to put it over the centerfielder's head and score three runs. I didn't let the pressure break down my technique. That can happen to some people."

Right before he stepped into the batter's box, Melillo experienced a moment of reflection.

"I was saying to myself, 'I love this. There's no place I'd rather be right now,' " he said. "It was a tight situation, but I was saying, 'Just have fun.'

"I just wanted to hit the ball hard. I felt I'd done that in my other at-bats and I wanted to keep it going."

In CD's seventh, Blake Lazur tripled over Kozeniewski's head in right-center and scored on Garrett McCutcheon's sac fly. After Connor Anderson smacked a double to left-center, soph lefty John Scheffey was removed and Piscopo retired the side on a liner right back to him.

The winning rally began with a walk to DH Kevin Long. Marcus Sistrun pinch-ran and was bunted up by Brad Schneider. With Herron batting, a wild pitch moved Sistrun to third and coach Brian Zellers switched to a five-man infield, with the centerfielder standing near second. Herron then worked a full-count walk and Otis lifted his sac fly, on which Sistrun had no trouble scoring, to left.

The Explorers, who'd scored twice in the fifth on RBI by Colin Pyne (single) and Kozeniewski (triple), rushed so far out to corner/pummel Otis, the pileup took place beyond the infield dirt.

Among those feeling especially wonderful was soph righthander Dom Cuoci, who pitched the first five innings, but was displaying a semi-limp after the second thanks to a smoking liner off the inner part of his left foot.

Monday at noon, La Salle will travel to Spring-Ford High, in Royersford, for a semifinal with Hatboro-Horsham. Melillo, a North Wales resident, will be hacking and displaying better focus during any visit to the bases.

"If we'd lost . . . Man, that play would have been gnawing at me," he said.

Instead, it's merely an interesting footnote.