Carpenter Cup HistoryCarpenter Cup History of Delaware Teams

        During the fall of 1985, a committee of high school baseball coaches from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia met with representatives of the Philadelphia Phillies to discuss the possibility of holding a tournament for the outstanding players in the Tri-State region.  The Tourament would be named in honor of the Robert and Ruly Carpenter, the former owners of the Phillies.  The Carpenter Cup Tournament evolved from those meetings with the first single elimination Tournament being held in June of 1986 at Veterans Stadium.

     Delaware won the first Carpenter Cup Classic much to the delight of Ruly Carpenter, a Delawarean, who presented the trophy to Manager Tom Lemon after a hard fought 5-4 victory over South Jersery North in the finals.  Delaware opened the series with a 17-3 win over Chester-Montgomery Counties and then defeated the Inter-Academic conference 6-5 in a come from behind win in the second round.   In 1987, Delaware began its defense of the Classic with a 15-0 win for the first shutout in the Tournament.  After defeating Ches-Mont 6-3, Delaware lost to the eventual champion, Philadelphia Catholic 11-9 despite coming back from a 9-1 deficit.  1987 marked the first time two Delaware players hit homeruns as Chris Lawrence and Bob Gralewski hit balls out of Veterans Stadium.  

     Delaware fell on hard times in 1988 and 1989 being knocked out of the Tournament in the first round each year.  Pat Wright became the first player to play in the Classic for two different teams.  Pat was a senior at Caesar Rodney H.S. in 1988 but chose to take a post-graduate year at Valley Forge Military Academy and was selected by the Pennsylvania team in 1989. 

      Delaware won its first round game in 1990 but lost to Chester County in the second round.  In 1991, Delaware lost again in the first round to Suburban American.  Three teams changed their names in 1991; South Jersery South became Tri-Cape, South Jersey Central is now Olympic-Colonial, and South Jersey North was renamed Burlington County.    Once again in 1992, Delaware won its opening round but lost in the second this time to Tri-Cape.    1993 was the beginning of a new era for Delaware as the State split into two teams called Delaware Blue and Delaware Gold.  The Tournament was expanded to 16 teams eliminating all byes which previously existed.  Delaware Blue defeated Lehigh Valley in the first round but lost to Burlington County in 10 innings in the second round.  Delaware Gold also won its first round game against Berks County before losing to Ocean-Monmouth in the next round.     In 1994, the Delaware Blue team lost to Chester County 14-2 and the Delaware Gold team lost to Suburban American 1-0 in the first round.

     1995 proved to be a good year for the Delaware Blue team which defeated Lehigh Valley 14-3, BiCentenial-Inter Ac 10-1, and Philadelphia Catholic 16-7 before losing to Olympic-Colonial 9-7 in the Championship game.  Delaware Gold was not as successful losing to Chester County 17-5 in the opening round.  1996 marked a change in the Delaware Blue and Gold to Delaware North and Delaware South.  Delaware North won its first three games defeating Philadelphia Catholic 5-3, Tri-Cape 15-3, and Olympic Colonial 8-3 before losing to Chester County 6-5 in eleven innings.  Delaware South defeated Suburban American 16-11before losing to Olympic Colonial 10-1.  1997 marked an addition change for the Delaware teams who for the first time were allowed to use underclassmen with tryouts being held to select team members.  It did not help as both Delaware teams lost in the first round.

     In 1998,Delaware North defeated Philadelphia Catholic 12-4 in the first round action but lost to Burlington County 2-1.  Delaware South defeated BiCentenial-Inter Ac 6-1 but also lost in the second round to Berks County 10-3.  Because of conflicts at Veterans Stadium in 1999, the Carpenter Cup was moved to Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, DE.  Delaware North lost to Chester County 5-4 but Delaware South defeated 1998 Champion Lehigh Valley 10-7 and Burlington County 5-0 before losing to the 1999 Champion, Suburban National, 14-13 in the semi-finals.  2000 saw Delaware South win the Championship for only the second time for a Delaware team.  Delaware South defeated Del-Val 13-5, Tri-Cape 8-5, Berks County 9-6, and Mercer County 6-1 in the finals.  Delaware North won over Ocean Monmouth 9-2 but lost to Berks County in the second round.

     2001 saw Delaware North win over Ocean Monmouth but then lose to BiCentenial-Inter Ac 5-3.  Delaware South likewise won its first round game 13-5 over Del-Val but then lose to Ocean Monmouth 20-4.  2002 was not a good year as both Delaware teams lost in the first round - Delaware North to Ocean Monmouth 4-1 and Delaware South to Suburban National 10-8.  The same result occurred in 2003 when Delaware North lost in the first round to Chester County 6-4 while Delaware South came up short against Jersey Shore 7-3.  2004 was little better for Delaware North which won over Delaware Valley 8-2 before losing to Tri-Cape 7-3; Delaware South lost early to Philadelphia Catholic 7-3.  2005 saw Delaware North lose to Mercer County 4-3 and Delaware South lose to Lehigh Valley 5-3 in first round games.  Delaware lost to Chester County 9-8 in 10 innings in a first round game against Chester County in 2006.  Delaware South scored five runs in the top of the ninth to come from behind to defeat Mercer County in its first round game of 2006.   In 2007, Delaware South was rained out twice  in the first two days of the tournament and because eight players had made a commitment to a showcase later in the week, the team waived its right to participate allowing Jersey Shore to advance to the second round.  This was not considered a forfeit because of the two rainouts had delayed the schedule to such an extent.  Delaware North lost 9-4 to Mercer County and had the dubious distinction of having Mercer pull off the Tournament's first triple again them.

All Time Standings for Delaware Teams through 2010

Delaware Carpenter Cup Players who played in the Major Leagues