LaPorte Controls Hobart 11-0

In the final game of the evening Thursday night, LaPorte easily controlled the Hobart Brickies 11-0 in a 4 1/2 inning game. With Sophomore sensation Brandon Murray on the mound, this game surely seemed to favor Hobart at the start of the game. However, the LaPorte Slicers really answered the bell, scoring early and often to advance to the semi-finals.

 

LaPorte pitcher Thomas Snyder (2012) certainly did not light up the radar gun, but boy did he get outs. The crafty right hander threw his breaking ball for strikes all day, as Hobart struggled to get anything going at the plate. With a lead off single spoiled by a pick off move, Hobart's speedy Tyrus Joseforsky (2014) had the only hit of the game for his squad through 4 1/3 innings.

 

The bottom half of the innings would tell a different story. LaPorte's Sophomore loaded roster delivered in prime fashion, scoring three runs in the first from Sophomore Francis Silfa (1B), Senior David Eldridge (1B) and home run by Junior Benjamin Saliwanchik. LaPorte would add two more runs in the 2nd inning on a triple from Senior Nicholas Latham, a single by Sophomore Blake Arnett and some costly past balls. Hobart was trailing 5-0 after two innings.

 

With Murray on the bump, LaPorte would bat around in the 3rd inning, scoring six runs off two hits. Control was a factor for Murray in this innings, as he was pulled with runners on the corners and no outs in the 3rd. Murray would add the only other hit for Hobart in the top half of the 5th, but the excitement would end there. LaPorte closed out the game in the 5th, winning 11-0.

 

Surprising Player of the Day: The easiest Surprising Player of the Day, and perhaps Surprising Player of the Year for me, Sophomore Francis Silfa of LaPorte. Silfa was 2-3 at the plate with one run scored, but it was his overall play that impressed PBR on Thursday evening. His fielding was as sharp as any I have seen in the last few years in the region; turning a fantastic 4-6-3 double play on a late feed from the second basemen, and making a diving, full extension catch to his right in the 5th inning. A native of the Dominican Republic, Silfa is sure to light up the recruiting radar with his rare hands and good speed.