Jeff and Kevin McGarry proudly display their home run balls - souvenirs of what may go down as the most dramatic finish with two outs in Lenape baseball history
Down to its final out, Jeff McGarry didn’t want to see his career come to an end on this particularly warm Friday afternoon.
The University of Pennsylvania -bound senior was just looking to put the ball in play. A single would do the trick, a ball in the gap would be even better.
``I just didn’t want to make the last out,’’ he said.
McGarry wasn’t looking to go yard. But staring at a full count, he extended his high school season and that of his teammates at least one more batter with one mighty swing – a two-run home run.
Bobby Isopi followed. He, too, breathed life into the Lenape baseball team with a triple off the fence in right-center field.
A pitching change by Cherry Hill East and an intentional walk to Bryan Clayton kept the seventh-inning rally alive. There was a serious pulse. While McGarry crossed his arms and paced back-and-forth, the dugout was going nuts.
``It was out of control,’’ he said.
Fate was now in the hands of Kevin McGarry, Jeff’s younger brother.
Looking at a 2-2 count, the junior dug in. He was getting a major dose of curveballs all game. The first four pitches of his final at-bat were all curveballs. In his previous at-bat, he struck out looking at a curveball.
So …
`` I don’t like to guess and I had to come through,’’ the designated hitter said. ``I was pretty much expecting it and I was seeing the ball at that point better than at the beginning of the game.’’
Back … back … back … Gone.
The ball landed in left field - Souvenir City as ESPN analyst Eric Young would say.
A Hollywood ending to what is probably the biggest series of at-bats in Lenape history.
The three-run walk-off whipped the Indians into a frenzy and sent them into Tuesday’s sectional semifinals against Olympic American rival Eastern. It was a homer unlike any other the youngster had ever hit before.
``I heard my first base coach yell `Get out of here, get out of here.’ Then I heard everyone cheering,’’ he said. ``I raced around the bases. I wanted to touch home plate and celebrate with my teammates.
``It’s the first walk-off I’ve ever had. I always wanted to hit one. I’ve never had a walk-off hit in general and to do it in the state tournament is just great.’’
Big brother couldn’t have been prouder.
``It’s been a while since I screamed like that in a baseball game,’’ Jeff said. ``When he hit that, I jumped up and down.
``We pick each other up and we get on each other when we make mistakes. But we work together and help each other out.’’
And on this memorable day, they even hit home runs together.
