Tarr relieves early nerves for Marple Newtown

NEWTOWN SQUARE — It had all the makings of a back-and-forth game until Luke Tarr stepped on the mound Tuesday at Thomas Field.

The Marple Newtown senior entered in relief of starter Tommy Lucchesi, who struggled with his command through two-plus innings in frigid conditions. Tarr was in dire straits as visiting Ridley had runners in scoring position with nobody out.

The hard-throwing righthander had trust in his stuff.

“I feel like there’s definitely a different level of focus coming in with runners on second and third, we just let up a couple of runs,” Tarr said. “You know that you’ve got to help your team and get out of it and pitch to the best of your ability.”

Tarr got out of the no-out jam unscathed, then the Marple bats exploded for eight unanswered runs on the way to an 11-4 victory over the Green Raiders.

Tarr has a quick-hitch overarm delivery and extends with his front leg, making it appear that he’s right on top of the hitter. Ridley hitters had trouble timing his quirky pitching style.

“I started really getting into pitching my sophomore year and I guess that’s when I got that short release,” he said. “It does look weird. I’ve seen pictures of it, but it’s hard to tell when you’re in the game.”

Tarr struck out six in five innings of work to earn the win. He allowed only two batters to reach base.

“My changeup wasn’t as good as it usually is, so I did lean more on my fastball,” he said. “When I noticed they couldn’t catch up to it, I wanted to throw it more.”

The Tigers (5-1) have plenty of depth at pitching and Tarr proved Tuesday he can handle a tough assignment out of the bullpen. While the Tigers have all four of their starting pitchers back from last year, Tarr showed he can miss bats and eat innings, which makes him a quality reliever to have for a team that expects to be playing in June.

“He’s a good situational pitcher who can start on any team in the Central League,” Marple coach Rick Zimmerman said. “He threw one pitch for me earlier in the year and he came in and did great today.

“Our guys are a little bit behind. We don’t have a field (due to on-campus construction and renovations). We’ve practiced inside maybe seven out of 10 times during the week, so it’s been frustrating and we’re behind a little bit. We’re a good ballclub and we’re a deep ballclub, but everyone has to understand their role, that they might go two weeks before they get a spin, but when they do they’ve got to be ready.”

Tarr was ready. The Marple bats were ready, too. The lineup pounded out 12 hits, including solo home runs by senior designated hitter Jimmy Wigo and senior first baseman Owen Mathes, who are two of the aces of the pitching staff. Mathes hit a solo bomb to dead center field moments after Dillon Can laced an RBI single to put the Tigers in front to stay in the fourth inning (Can was erased on a caught stealing). The left-handed Wigo hit a towering shot over the fence in right to lead off the sixth.

“I feel like we’re getting better every game and making less mistakes,” said Mathes, who also singled, walked and scored two runs.

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Marple Newtown's Owen Mathes (21) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a solo home run as part of a three-run fourth inning to help the Tigers to an 11-4 win over Ridley Tuesday. (Pete Bannan - MediaNews Group)