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Always a Dull moment: CR star does it all in win

NEW PARIS — Despite nerves going in, Phillip Dull set the tone early for Thursday’s District 5-8-9 Class 3A semifinal game between Chestnut Ridge and Everett.

The 5-foot-11 senior, headed to West Virginia in the fall, struck out the first two batters he faced looking in the top of the first, then batted in Brodie Harbaugh on an RBI double in the bottom of the inning.

Dull’s solo homer in the third and triple in the fifth left him a single short of the cycle. And while he wouldn’t get the chance to complete the feat, he also managed to strike out 11 batters for the complete-game win in a 4-1 victory.

“I was a little nervous at the beginning of the game,” Dull said. “I was shaking a little bit going into the third and fourth inning, but other than that, as we scored a few more runs, I got a little more loose and I played my game.”

Ridge coach Joe Perez said Dull has stepped up each and every game this season, so to see what he did Thursday wasn’t surprising.

“Phillip always seems to rise to the occasion this year, and he knows that it’s his last year, and I say, ‘It’s now or never. You’re always going to remember this time,'” Perez said.

The Lions pounced again on another opportunity in the fifth inning, already up 2-0, when Harbaugh took a hit by pitch to set up the most bizarre play of the afternoon.

Derek Weaver’s hit into deep right field caused the leg of Everett’s Trenton Clites to get caught under the fence and, with Clites unable to get his hands up, it gave Weaver time to turn what would normally be a ground-rule double into an inside-the-park two-run home run.

Perez said he has warned umpires and opposing managers of the quirky situation, so it was something everyone had already taken into account.

“Before we set ground rules, I tell them every time in the bottom of that sign there’s a little ditch that goes down. If a player goes down there, you’ve got to be careful because you could slide down there, and that’s where the coach comes in and he has to tell (his player).” Perez said.

He continued, “I understand, but it isn’t like I didn’t bring it up or it was a secret, and that’s why I didn’t say anything because I brought it up with all three umpires and to Coach (Jordan Mills of Everett). They said that he threw his hands up. That’s a tough call to make, but it came out in our favor, so I’m not going to dispute it.”

Mills said Clites threw the ball hoping to reach the center fielder in an attempt to get the ball back into play because he wasn’t able to get his leg loose.

“I guess crazy stuff happens in this game, you see it all the time,”Mills said. “But it is what it is, but there’s nothing we can do about it. I thought we played well. Without that, it’s a 2-1 ballgame.”

Chestnut Ridge will now have some time for rest, as it awaits the winner of today’s semifinal game between Karns City and Moniteau.

Dull, with an ice pack already strapped to his arm after the game, said he expects to be the one with the ball in his hands when the Lions take the field again Tuesday in Somerset for the District 5-8-9 championship game.

“I’m not really one to get nervous for much of anything, but it’s going to be a big game. It’s going to be a good game. I’m probably going to end up pitching that game, as well. I can get all my days rest in, so I’m excited and really looking forward to go to it.”

EVERETT (1): Treece cf 300, Grubb lf 300, Price p-ss 301, Colledge 211, Clark 2b 301, Brown c 302, Clites rf 300, Pittman 300, Bennett 3b 000, K. Weaver dh 200. Totals — 21-1-5.

CHESTNUT RIDGE (4): Harbaugh cf 220, D. Weaver lf 411, Dull p 313, Diehl c 200, McCoy rf 201, McVicker 3b 300, Frazier ss 100, Whysong dh 200, Mowry 1b 300, J. Weaver 2b 300. Totals — 23-4-5.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Everett 000 000 1–1 5 2

Chestnut Ridge 101 020 X–4 5 2

E–Brown, Colledge, Mowry, Frazier. 2B–Dull, Colledge. 3B–Dull. HR–Dull, D. Weaver. RBI–Dull 2, Weaver 2. WP–Dull. LP–Price. SO–Price 3, Dull 11. BB–Price 4 Dull 2.

Records: Everett (10-7); Chestnut Ridge (13-4).

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