Bats back achy D’Ambrosio as Springfield tops Strath Haven

NETHER PROVIDENCE — There’s no telling whether Springfield has the team to win a Central League championship or make a deep run in the District 1 playoffs. It’s only April, and the Cougars, like most teams in Delaware County, haven’t played many games.

But they certainly have the talent to outhit a lot of teams.

Up and down the order, the Cougars have one of the top lineups in the conference. And if they play clean defense as they did in Monday’s 8-0 victory at Strath Haven, they will be doing big favors for an ailing pitching staff.

Senior ace and left-hander Luke D’Ambrosio felt pain in his cranky elbow four innings into his start Monday and was pulled after allowing only one hit, an infield single. He walked three and struck out one.

The soreness is nothing new to D’Ambrosio. He has battled the injury since last year. His options coming into the 2022 season were to undergo Tommy John surgery, thus wiping out his senior year, or ride it out. He opted to rehab the elbow and take it slow.

D’Ambrosio, who wants to be electrician after he graduates in June, decided he had nothing to lose. There’s no college coach keeping tabs on his progress (though he hopes to continue his post-high school career in the Delco League, like his dad Chris back in the day). He’s making every effort to pitch through the pain and leave it all out there for his teammates.

“He’s not out here for himself, he’s out here for everyone else,” said All-Delco center fielder Zach Tropiano, who went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. “He’s playing for us, and we’ve got to back him up.”

After an efficient outing Monday, it may be a couple of weeks before D’Ambrosio sets foot on the mound. The good thing is the Cougars (4-2) don’t play again until after from spring break next Tuesday.

“It was that last curveball I threw, it just didn’t feel right,” he said. “It hurt a little bit when I was extending it out, but it feels better now after I iced it.”

Coach Brian Francis feels confident he has the arms. Prior to the season, senior hurler Danny Ryan underwent the same operation that D’Ambrosio has purposely avoided.

“We’re keeping (D’Ambrosio) to 50-60 pitches each time he goes out and we’ve been trying to get him as far as he can. He felt a little funny in the elbow and needed to come out today,” Francis said. “Luckily, we have shown that we have some pitching, we have guys that can throw. (Sean) Williams did great today. It was a great team win, but I just feel bad for (D’Ambrosio) because he wants to be out there. And he’s good enough to stay out there, but he’s just not strong enough right now. He’ll get it looked at and hopefully he’ll pitch again for us before the end of the year.”

Williams threw the final three innings and was excellent. He scattered three hits and fanned a pair. Aiding both D’Ambrosio and Williams was an infield defense that turned three double plays.

“We can catch the ball, and we do every part of the game well,” Francis said. “When they all come together, you see a good game like you saw today.”

Click HERE to read the full article.