TJ Prontnicki waited patiently for his chance to take part in Thursday's night's Keystone Senior Babe Ruth tournament game against Phillipsburg.
With his Franklin Township Hurricanes' season on the line in the loser's bracket of the double elimination tournament, Prontnicki entered the game in the top of the 11th inning. He got his first chance at the plate in the bottom of the inning.
Prontnicki waited on the right pitch then put an end to a long game with the an RBI-single in a 7-6 victory over the Indians at Christman Field.
"I was waiting for my pitch," said Prontnicki. "I was looking for a fastball and I got it on the first pitch. I came back and hit it down the (third base) line and we won the game off of it."
"He had good at bats all tournament," said Franklin Township manager Ricky Strohl. "It stinks that there's not enough spots in the lineup for everybody. He's one of our guys that can hit the ball. What he did doesn't surprise me. He was the right guy for the right time."
His big hit would not have been necessary had the Hurricanes been able to cling to a 5-0 seventh-inning lead.
The Indians scored six runs on four hits in the seventh as the Hurricanes made all five of their errors in that inning.
Starting pitcher Zach Rex threw a four-hit shutout over the first six innings before giving way to Mike Hickey in the seventh. Dave Ciavarella relieved Hickey later in the inning. He not only got his team out of the long seventh, but he also finished o