Delco League Finals: Wayne's Rizzo talks the talk in shutout
Published: Thursday, August 02, 2012

By CHRISTOPHER A. VITO
cvito@delcotimes.com, @ChrisVito

RADNOR Ninety-one times, Todd Rizzo turned and fired a baseball toward home plate. Two times, he ripped off commentary in the direction of the opposing team's dugout.

If it's not already, this series is about to get interesting.

Rizzo did his part Thursday night, twirling a two-hitter as Wayne inched closer to repeating as Delco Baseball League champions with an 8-0 romp of Aston Valley at Radnor High.

In the process, Wayne took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, with a chance to put away Aston Valley Saturday in what should be an entertaining Game 3 at Jim Buggy Field.

Rizzo, the aged left-hander, scattered two singles and one walk with five strikeouts over seven innings. He dominated the Aston Valley lineup, one of the league's most-potent clubs in the regular season. He said he thrived off a few choice words he exchanged with players from the Knights? dugout.

"It's a little more special playing against these guys because it's always blah-blah-blah" Rizzo said, while using his hand to mimic a mouth. "I talk a little myself, so I can't say anything"

"It?s kind of funny because they know me. I'm one of those rare people that likes to pitch when I'm (ticked) off. Why upset me? I'm already good. I pitched in the big leagues. I have a fire within me. I'm a competitor. That's what I live for. I have a respect for them, but they're not real smart sometimes. I was looking forward to this. I wanted to play the second game last night."

Tim Morris gave Rizzo and Wayne all the offense they would need in the bottom of the first inning, when he turned on a 2-0 pitch from Aston Valley?s Jeff Monaco and deposited it onto King of Prussia Road.

Morris, a 2006 Radnor All-Delco, didn't see another fastball the rest of the game. That didn't keep him from driving in a season-best six runs.

Wayne added to its lead when Morris smacked a two-run double into the right field corner in the third inning. First base was open at the time, so Morris said he was convinced he'd get walked.

He didn't, nor was he put on intentionally in the sixth, when this happened:

"(Monaco and Aston Valley catcher John Plasha) met, then he threw a pitch, then they walked out again, then he threw another pitch, then they changed pitchers" said Morris, whose at-bat took four minutes to complete. "I didn't know what was going on. They had first and second. I figured they'd throw around me"

Instead, Morris drove a two-run double to the fence in left-center field to balloon Wayne?s lead to 6-0.

All the while, Rizzo had it going on.

He needed no more than 16 pitches to get through any inning against the Knights lineup, striking out the side in the second and setting down Aston Valley in order in all but the third, sixth and seventh frames.

Rizzo located his fastball on both sides of the plate, mixed in his curveball as a strikeout pitch and, for good measure, slipped in a slider to keep the Knights off balance.

It left Aston Valley frustrated and Rizzo satisfied.

"I know a lot of their guys. For the most part, with a lot of the guys, it's all in fun. We mess around. We text each other. It's great" Rizzo said. "I said it last year in the paper, and I'll say it again: I have a lot of respect for that team. They have a very good lineup. I need to be on my A-game to beat them.

"If I'm staying to the outer thirds of the plate, nobody in this league's going to hit me. Nobody. I don't care who it is"

Aston Valley, which has been shut out in consecutive games to open the championship series, needs an answer Saturday. Somewhere between their semifinal sweep of Narberth, in which the Knights scored 24 runs in three games, they?ve lost their bats.

"We just didn't hit today" said Aston Valley left fielder Steve Maloney, who had one of the Knights two hits off Rizzo. "We just hit a funk and it's a bad time to hit one. Hopefully we can start squaring balls up. We're going home and we usually hit balls at home"

With a chance at the sweep, Wayne will give the ball to right-hander Bobby Hopkins, and Aston Valley counters with Matt Wilcox, a left-hander.

For now, the Knights goal is simple.

"Win Game 3" Maloney said. "That's all it can be. Win Game 3. We'll worry about the rest of them after that"

The Knights will do anything to silence Wayne - on or off the field.