Local ballplayers showcase skills at Carpenter Cup

A collection of some of the Henlopen Conference’s finest baseball players represented Delaware South in the Phillies’ Carpenter Cup tournament June 11.

The team’s hopes of returning to the semifinals for the second year in a row were dashed by a fundamentally sound Delaware County team in a 6-3 loss at Richie Ashburn Field in Philadelphia. 

“The goal, obviously, is to get there, but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen,” said Cape’s Isaac Terhune. “I just wanted to come out and get to play one final time with a bunch of different kids from different schools.”

Terhune started the game with a put out and an assist before knocking a lead-off single for the Delaware South team. The recent graduate said despite the in-season chirping, the guys came together, and it was nice to be on the same side.

Cape graduate Reed Thompson toed the rubber and held Delco off the scoreboard the first two innings. He was tagged for a couple in the third inning. Delco added another three in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning. 

“It was pretty fun, and I met a lot of new people and had good conversations,” Thompson said, adding it was good to have guys on his side who were once his opposition. 

Delaware South tried mounting a comeback, and got off to a good start by plating three to make it 5-3 heading into the fifth inning. Cape incoming senior Trey Hitchcock notched the only extra-base hit for either team in the game, but neither team scored over the next three innings.

Jacob Smith, a rising senior at Cape, took over in the eighth and struck out two, but gave up a run to settle on the final score of 6-3. Although they fell short, Sussex Tech coach G.L. Jefferson said he feels the Carpenter Cup is an important part of a Delaware high school baseball player's career.

“Once kids really do it, and they try it, they realize how fun it is,” Jefferson said. “They realize the experience, and you can't put a price on the experience.”

Joining the Cape players in representing the Henlopen Conference were Milford’s John Hudson; Smyrna’s Nathan Donhue; Woodbridge’s Austin Griffith; Polytech’s Ryan Zimmerman; Dover’s Julian Christman, Ryan Perkins and Carter Bean; and Sussex Tech’s Kameron Tindley, Kobe Tindley, Kade Hall, Gavin Hudson and Braydon Hazzard.

Delaware South’s softball team will kick off a tripleheader in the softball Carpenter Cup with a 12 p.m. contest Monday, June 17, against Tri-Cape.