Quaker Valley sophomore Rafe Furfari doesn’t own a driver’s license yet.
But Furfari, 16, certainly knows how to drive in runs for the QV baseball team and already is a difference-maker.
His biggest and most dramatic hit of his young career proved to be the difference for the Quakers in their 8-7 section win April 22 against Riverside at Esmark Field.
A 5-foot-8, 135-pound second baseman, Furfari clouted a clutch walk-off single on a 1-0 count in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift QV to the one-run win against Riverside.
“We are a young team, and that could prove to be a defining game for their growth this year,” QV coach Rich Garbee said. “We’ve lost some games where we haven’t done the little things that teams need to do to beat good and great teams. Today, we executed on some of those little things, particularly our baserunning.
“It was a very gratifying win as it was the first time the seniors had beaten Riverside in four years. They are the defending state and WPIAL champions, so we will take it.”
Furfari, 16, is a three-sport athlete who also competes in golf and basketball. He mainly plays second base or left field for the QV baseball squad.
“I expect us to keep playing team baseball and make a run in the playoffs,” Furfari said,
The Quakers trailed 6-0 after three frames against Riverside but rallied for four runs in the bottom of the fifth and four more in the bottom of the seventh.
“The back end of our lineup — Mike Semonik, Rafe Furfari, Aiden Bellissimo and Cam Neal — got us started in the fourth and helped us narrow the gap with great hitting and intelligent at-bats,” Garbee said. “The team re-energized after the fourth and just dug in. Kudos to our bench for being loud and energetic.
“In the seventh, we quickly got runners on base with a hit-batsman, a walk and a base hit. We then got runs home via two hit-batsmen and a double by Holden Kirkham.”
With runners on second and third, QV failed to execute a safety squeeze bunt when the ball was hit back to the Riverside pitcher, who made a good toss to home.
“The good news is our runners advanced on that play and Rafe came up and was the hero, looping a single into right field to score the winning run,” Garbee said.
Kirkham, a sophomore, was the winning pitcher thanks to a strong effort in the seventh inning.
“Damien McClay pitched a savvy 3 1/3 innings,” Garbee said, “baffling Riverside with his change of speeds, including a knuckler that they struggled with.”
Furfari went 2 for 4 in the game and scored once, boosting his batting average to .304.
He drove in sophomore INF/OF Mike Semonik with the winning run.
“Rafe’s strength is his versatility,” Garbee said. “We have had him play in the outfield and infield. He is an excellent athlete and makes the adjustment seamlessly. Right now, he is playing second base as our senior, Tristan Bemis, has been on the injured list.
“Rafe is going to be an impact player for QV the next two years. He is quick, has high baseball IQ, which as coaches we value tremendously, and is a good teammate.”
Henry Zupanc, a senior center fielder, contributed two hits in three official at-bats and scored twice against Riverside, raising his batting average to .367.
“We happily welcomed senior captain Henry Zupanc back from a shoulder injury,” Garbee said. “Henry patrolled center field and had some clutch hits for us.”
Senior shortstop Todd Kagle had one hit and knocked in three runs. Kagle leads the team offensively with a .410 batting average, three home runs, 16 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.
Kirkham (OF/P) had two RBIs and Semonik, a sophomore first baseman, scored twice.
The Quakers collected eight hits in the game, then doubled that total the very next day with a 16-hit attack in a 13-11 10-inning section loss to Mohawk in the completion of a Section 1-3A game suspended March 31.
Kagle (4 for 6), senior C/OF Brad Semonik (3 for 4), junior P/UTIL Kolten Johnson (2 for 4), freshman INF/DH Rocco Fardo (2 for 5) and Mike Semonik (2 for 5) accounted for 13 of their team’s 16 hits.
Kagle scored four times and drove in two runs; Johnson and Fardo had three RBIs apiece.
Fardo (.321), Bemis (.308) and Kirkham (.300) rounded out the team’s batch of .300 hitters heading into the end of the regular season.
QV ended the week in fourth place in section play with a 3-5 record, one game ahead of Beaver Falls (2-6).
Mohawk (7-1) and Ellwood City (7-1) were tied for first place while Riverside (5-3) stood in third place.