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Olympic-Colonial overcomes 8-run deficit to advance to Carpenter Cup semifinal

Olympic-Colonial will face Delaware North, while Burlington County meets Jersey Shore in the other semifinal.

Eli Atiya of Cherry Hill West struck out three in his lone inning in the Olympic-Colonial's 14-13 win over Tri-Cape in a second-round Carpenter Cup game.
Eli Atiya of Cherry Hill West struck out three in his lone inning in the Olympic-Colonial's 14-13 win over Tri-Cape in a second-round Carpenter Cup game.Read moreMarc Narducci

Rob Christ always has confidence even when his team is down. Needless to say, his confidence was tested to the limit by his Olympic-Colonial team in the Carpenter Cup on Monday at FDR Park.

Trailing by 13-5 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, Olympic-Colonial scored the game's final nine runs, including the game winner on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth of a 14-13 stunner over Tri-Cape.

The second-round win earned Olympic-Colonial its second straight trip to Citizens Bank Park, where the semifinals will be played Friday.

Olympic-Colonial will face Delaware North in a 9:30 a.m. semifinal, followed by the 1 p.m. all-New Jersey semifinal between Burlington County and defending champion Jersey Shore. The championship game will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, also at Citizens Bank Park.

"I always believe we are going to win," said Christ, the head coach at Eastern High School. "Even today, being down eight, I never lost confidence in this team."

A two-run single by Ryan Colbert of Bishop Eustace in the eighth inning cut the deficit to 13-12. Olympic-Colonial tied the game on an RBI single by Cherry Hill West's Jack Owens, who eventually scored the winning run on a wild pitch.

Olympic-Colonial received shutout relief in the eighth by West Deptford's Dylan Wakeley and in the ninth by Cherry Hill West's  Eli Atiya, who had three strikeouts.

Delaware North advanced Monday with a 26-9 win over Lehigh Valley. In the other Monday quarterfinals, Jersey Shore defeated Inter-Ac/Bicentennial, 8-6, and Burlington County beat Delaware South, 4-3.