On a scorching hot day complete with high humidity, Lehigh Valley fell behind early in its Carpenter Cup semifinal game against Mercer County Monday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Even with the heat and an early deficit against them, the team never figured on leaving the ballpark without a win. Perhaps that – and a highly disputed play at the plate – was the reason why the players all walked out of Citizens Bank Park dejected.

Mercer County picked up six runs in their first five at-bats and held on for a 6-5 win over Lehigh Valley, sending Mercer County into Thursday’s championship game against Tri-Cape.

Mercer County picked up an unearned run in both the first and fifth innings and Matt Bethea hit a two-run home run in the fifth to stake the New Jersey team to a 6-0 lead.

As Lehigh Valley came to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, Parkland’s Blake Barthol opened the inning with a one-out walk and scored on a double by J.D. Greeley (PM West) before Northwestern Lehigh’s Rafe Perich singled to drive in Greeley and cut the Mercer County lead to 6-2.

“I kept watching our guys and I never saw their energy level drop and they weren’t at all ready to quit,” said Lehigh Valley head coach Ted Plessl. “With it being so hot and getting down early, those guys could have blown us out of there, but our guys didn’t let them, and our pitchers kept us in the game and in position to make a comeback.”

Jared Stillwagon restored order for Mercer County in the sixth, but Lehigh Valley started to figure him out in the seventh as Greeley and Perich delivered back-to-back singles to open the inning and Brock Bollinger (Palmerton) singled to left to score Greeley.

Perich was caught in a rundown between third and home and tagged out by third baseman Colin Detrolio, which cost Lehigh Valley a run when Northwestern’s Nick Henry made it 6-4 with a single to center, scoring Bollinger from second before Stillwagon pitched out of further trouble.

Lehigh Valley came into the bottom of the ninth facing a two-run deficit but started what looked like it could be a winning rally as Chaise Albus (Bethlehem Catholic) and Bollinger opened with singles to right. They moved up a base when Henry delivered a well-placed sacrifice bunt.

That’s when things got interesting. Salisbury’s Quinn Warmkessel singled to right-center and Albus scored with Bollinger racing behind him being sent home by third base coach Plessl. Center fielder Dan Merkel’s throw pulled catcher Justin Guest to the first base side of the plate as Bollinger slid toward the back of the plate, leaving Guest to lunge for the tag.

Home plate umpire Matt Stuhltrager called Bollinger out on the play for the disputed second out of the inning. Mercer County went to closer Ryan DiMaggio, who struck out Liberty’s Parker Frey for the final out of the game.

After the game, Bollinger maintained that he hit the plate before Guest applying the tag. Plessl, who admittedly had a poor view of the attempted tag, didn’t offer an argument on the play. “I don’t think he [Bollinger] ever got to the plate,” he said. “I was blocked but it looked like their guy got him from where I was, and that he didn’t make it to the plate.”

Carter Welch, who was a workhorse on the Northwestern Lehigh pitching staff this season, started all three games of the tournament for Lehigh Valley, posting a 3.86 ERA, giving up five hits and eight walks. Of the 21 outs he recorded, 18 were by strikeout. Northwestern’s Dylan Witkowski hit .333 (2-for-6) with a walk in the three games, scoring twice and stealing two bases, while Perich finished 2-for-5 (.400) with a walk, a hit-by-pitch and an RBI. Henry went 1-for-3 (.333), walked twice, drove in a run and stole a base in addition to his key sacrifice against Mercer County.

Lehigh Valley had hoped to return to the finals, looking for its fourth Carpenter Cup championship after winning the tournament in 1998, 2001 and 2011. Last year’s games were canceled due to COVID, leaving players and coaches anxious to return to Philadelphia.

“This was a great group of guys,” said Plessl. “They worked hard, and they really never gave up even when they fell behind early, they just kept the energy level high and never quit on us. I think that I speak for the entire coaching staff when I say that it was a good crew. Now we start to look at next season.”