Published: August 08, 2007 11:56 pm      

AAABA: Malloy paces Phillies

LILLY — Manager Mike Gossner said leadoff batter John Malloy sets the table for the Philadelphia ABCO Phillies.

Malloy, a center fielder, was 5-for-5 and reached base six times to lead the Phillies past Altoona’s Johnston Realty 10-1 in a winners’-bracket game on Wednesday at Lilly Washington War Memorial Field.

“I wanted a hit, but I can’t complain about a 5-for-5 day,” said Malloy, who drew a walk in his final plate appearance of the day and fell a hit shy of the tournament record held by four different players. “It feels good to get the ‘W’ and be 3-0 in the tournament.”

Philadelphia and Altoona were the only two remaining unbeaten clubs out of the 63rd AAABA Tournament’s opening-day lower bracket.

“Our leadoff guy, John Malloy, he sort of sets the table for us,” said Gossner, whose team will face Washington today. “As he goes, we go. The team feeds off him.”

Shortstop Mike Moceri, batting second, was 3-for-6 with four RBIs, including a double.

Frank Mercurio and Ryan Terry each had two hits while James Quigley, who was one of only two Philadelphia players not to score, ripped a two-run triple to deep center in the first inning.

The ABCO Phillies banged out 18 hits off five Altoona pitchers. Starter Travis Gibbons failed to make it out of the top of the second inning, allowing six runs – all earned – on seven hits.

The Phillies scored three runs in each of the first two innings and tacked on solo tallies in the third and fifth. Altoona manager Kurt Farabaugh knew it would be taxing to come from behind two days in a row.

“When we saw it was (8-0) in the fifth – and every umpire is different – and the strike zone was big and our hitters couldn’t do anything with those pitches, we realized it was going to be a long day,” said Farabaugh, whose team rallied from a five-run deficit to down Livonia on Tuesday. “We just didn’t want to get 10-runned.”

Philadelphia starting pitcher Chez Angeloni induced 10 ground-ball outs. The 6-foot-2 right-hander gave up an earned run on six hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.

“After I got that lead, I was just trying to throw strikes and get quick outs,” said Angeloni, who retired eight batters in a row at one point and had 1-2-3 innings in the second, third and eighth. He also struck out the side in the fifth.

Chris Dolan pitched a perfect eighth and Nick Rieder closed out the ninth for the Phillies.

Matt Adams and A.J. Czap each hit a double for Altoona. Adams had three of Altoona’s seven hits, and Czap scored its lone run in the bottom of the seventh on a Tyler Stiffler single to avoid the 10-run mercy rule.