All three SOL baseball teams were winners in Wednesday’s opening round PIAA Quad A state tournament games. Check back for a recap of Thursday’s quarterfinal games.
(1-1) COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 1, (3-3) GOVERNOR MIFFLIN 0
Matt Hand was brilliant in Wednesday’s state opener, allowing just three hits while striking out five and walking one in the complete game shutout performance.
“He was incredible on the mound today,” coach Matt Schram said. “That was a gem – he threw a gem.
“He was efficient, he had great command. He threw 80 or 82 pitches. It doesn’t matter who you face – everyone has really good hitters. The three hits they had – it was one hit one inning, one hit another inning. They didn’t do much damage at all. He was right on. His curveball was really on today. He did a good job.”
The key, according to Hand, was throwing first pitch strikes.
“I was able to get ahead of hitters most of the time,” he said. “I was able to get my fastball inside and outside, and that made it easier to establish my off-speed pitches – my curveball and my change-up. That was important for me to get ahead of hitters because then I was able to place the ball where I needed to in order for us to get weak groundouts to second base, weak groundouts to third base.
“Our pitching coach stresses trying to get ahead of batters. That’s what we focus on in practice. There’s no defense for walks. We just try and let them put the ball in play. We have one of the best defenses in the league, without a doubt in my mind, and we try and utilize that because it’s one of our main weapons.”
While Hand was working his magic on the mound, Governor Mifflin’s John Catchmark was matching him out for out through four innings.
“He’s a real good pitcher,” Schram said. “He kind of worked us backwards. He threw first pitch off-speed a lot to the top of our lineup.
“We didn’t chase him much, but if you have good command of your off-speed, it’s difficult. He was very crafty, and he threw with some velocity. He did a good job.”
The Indians finally got to Catchmark in the fifth inning. With two outs, Tyler Nowmos singled to left, and he scored a run that proved to be the game winner when Brandon McIlwain followed with a bad hop double.
“What happened was – Tyler was on first base, and I sent him on a steal,” Schram said. “It wasn’t a hit and run. It was a straight steal, and McIlwain hits a double to center field.
“It really was a single, to be honest, but the ball took a really funky hop and bends around the outfielder. It wasn’t an error, and Tyler, who was already rounding second, never slowed down and scored.”
After going down in order in the sixth, the Mustangs put their leadoff runner on board in the seventh, but Hand was unfazed, retiring the next three batters he faced to seal the win.
“You kind of had the feeling by the third or fourth inning that it was going to be a low-scoring, one-run game,” Schram said. “Both pitchers were really throwing gems.
“We had opportunities. We left runners on base, and that is something we have not been doing. That was something that was really concerning to me. We’ve been getting good clutch hitting up and down the lineup. That was a tribute to their pitcher.”
McIlwain and Cole German led the Indians at the plate – both were 2-for-3 with McIlwain delivering the game’s lone RBI.
Wednesday’s contest came on the heels of rainouts on Monday and Tuesday.
“I am the king of not making excuses – however, taking six days off this time of year stinks,” Schram said. “It’s not good for any team because you lose your rhythm.
“This game was dangerous because everyone had time off. Someone had called me from the Courier to ask me what I thought about it, and I said, ‘It’s survival of the fittest. Who is going to be able to withstand that break?’ Fortunately, we were able to live another day.
“I know we’re facing a (26-1) team tomorrow in Parkland, but I’m glad we were able to play today. Hopefully, we will be able to pick things up again.”
Wednesday’s win was the 10th in 11 games for the streaking Indians.
“It’s great,” Hand said. “We kind of started rolling right at the perfect time.
“We started out the season a little bit slow. The offense was a little slow, and the pitching – we weren’t where we wanted to be, but I think we had this in our sights the entire year.
“We’ve grown so much as a team. I can’t even think about what we would do without baseball, without every day after school meeting up with the guys and playing. We’ve grown so much as a team on and off the field.”
The Indians (16-7, 10-4 SOL) are one of three SOL teams in the Elite Eight.
“This is huge for our seniors, especially,” Hand said. “This is the last year for them, and they’ve been able to contribute more than anything. It feels good to be a junior and be able to contribute. It’s also great for our underclassmen too. We have a couple of sophomores, and we also brought some of the jayvee guys up. It’s great for them to be able to experience what we’ve been experiencing, and it helps our program out in the future too.
“I don’t think we’ve won a state game since 2006-07, so it was huge for Council Rock North. It feels great to represent the school in that way.”
Looking ahead – Things won’t get any easier for the Indians, who will face a Parkland squad that brings a 26-1 record into Thursday’s state quarterfinal game. The District 11 champions edged Owen J Roberts 4-3 in an opening round game.
“Game planning is huge, however, you’d rather play,” Schram said. “I was dreading today. At one point, we were told today we weren’t going to play, and I thought, ‘Oh no, we can’t sit any longer.’
“The feel of the game before the game started – it felt like a non-league game back in March only because there was so much time between the last game and this game, You can’t hit the restart button at this time of year.
“Playing back-to-back is tough, but the best scenario happened for us. Matt threw a complete game, so we have the rest of our arms good to go. I feel like now – we didn’t play our best game offensively, yet we survived to play again tomorrow. We should be better off tomorrow than we were today, at least offensively. I don’t know if we’ll win or not, but we’ll have a better approach.”
Council Rock North will face Parkland at Immaculata College (4 p.m.).
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(1-2) NORTH PENN 5, (12-2) OLNEY CHARTER 0
The Knights led 5-0 after two innings and appeared to be well on their way to a cakewalk, and although the Trojans never threatened, the runs and hits stopped coming after the second. That 5-0 score stood the rest of the way in a seven-inning contest that featured just nine hits between the two teams combined.
For a North Penn squad that had scored 30 runs in four district games combined, it was not the kind of offensive showing most expected against District 12’s second place squad that had fallen to St. Joe’s Prep 11-1 in the district title game.
“We were not at our best today by any stretch,” coach Kevin Manero said. “Obviously, we didn’t walk people, and we made plays.
“If you get good defense and you throw strikes – that always has to be there. Hitting will go up and down, and I didn’t think our bats were that good today.”
Three Knights pitchers combined for the three-hit shutout. James Witner got the starting nod and needed just 13 pitches to throw two shutout innings. Kellan Williamson earned the win, allowing one hit in four scoreless innings. Paul Haynie threw a scoreless seventh.
The Knights scored all the runs they would need in a three-run first. Mike Christy was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, and he stole second. Alex Peterson followed with a single, and both runners scored on Mason Nadeau’s two-run single to right. Kadar Namey’s two-out single plated a run, and the Knights led 3-0.
The Trojans committed a pair of errors in the second, and senior Jared Melone had an RBI single that put the Knights on top 5-0. They had just two hits the rest of the way – a one-out single by Christy in the fourth and a one-out single by Anthony Cameron in the sixth.
The Knights, according to Melone, may have relaxed a bit after taking an early lead.
“(Manero) tells us not to, but I think today that was the case,” the Knights’ senior cleanup hitter said. “We’ve got to work on that because we have a tough game tomorrow and hopefully two more.”
With the win, the Knights (19-4, 12-2 SOL) advanced to Thursday’s quarterfinal round where they will face Pennsbury.
“We’ve seen a lot of very good teams this year,” Manero said. “We had very big games in the last two weeks of the regular season and in the playoffs with high stakes against very strong opponents.
“We’re ready for that, and I think every guy on our team is smart enough to know what the caliber of baseball is going to be like going forward. Hopefully, the fact that we have a veteran team and guys that have been in a state playoff game before – we hope that takes over.”
Looking ahead: The level of competition will step up considerably for the Knights when they take on SOL National Conference champion Pennsbury in an all-SOL battle.
“I really feel like at this point we’re prepared,” Manero said. “We’ve practiced a lot. We’ve worked very hard all season long. It’s nice to have a day to tweak a couple of things and work on a couple of things, but we’ve been doing that over and over again. We had bonus days of practice this week because of the rain. We’re ready.
“At this point, it’s just a matter of going out there, being aggressive and executing. The results should take care of themselves. We’re ready.”
North Penn and Pennsbury will meet at Spring-Ford High School Thursday at 3 p.m.
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(1-5) PENNSBURY 2, (3-1) HEMPFIELD 0
Logan Buell has been unbeatable in the postseason.
With district wins over Spring-Ford and Conestoga already under his belt, the Falcons’ ace was in complete command in Wednesday’s state opener, tossing a three-hit masterpiece. Buell struck out six, walked none and hit one batter while upping his postseason mark to 3-0.
The secret to yet another standout performance?
“Getting ahead in the count early, being able to throw fastballs for strikes when I needed to and being able to keep them off balance with the curveball, being able to throw that for strikes and strikeouts whenever I needed to,” Buell said. “When I go out there, I just try to give my team the best chance to win.
“How many runs the offense gives me – I just try to give one less, and hopefully, we can come out victorious.”
Behind the strong arm of Buell, the Falcons sent the District 3 and Lancaster-Lebanon Section 1 champion Black Knights home for the season with an impressive win after a long road trip to Wenger Field In Fredericksburg.
“This is huge for our program,” Buell said. “Pennsbury baseball hasn’t really been a big deal the past couple of years.
“Now I think everyone knows who we are and that we’re a force to be reckoned with moving forward in the tournament.”
The Falcons stranded three runners in the first two innings against Longwood University commit Jon Peterson, but they got on the scoreboard in the third. Pat Lawrence drew a leadoff walk and moved up to second on Billy Bethel’s sacrifice bunt.
With two outs, DJ Endler stepped to the plate and delivered a clutch RBI double.
“That was big time,” coach Joe Pesci said of Endler’s hit.
“Getting that run was really big,” Endler said. “It’s a great feeling to get that run and go ahead.
“Logan (Buell) did a phenomenal job. He’s really in a groove right now.”
The Falcons tacked on a run in the sixth. Endler got things started with a leadoff single, and Brody McFadden followed with a single. Buell’s sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third. Endler scored on Freddie Schrandt’s sacrifice fly, and the Falcons led 2-0.
Buell did the rest, retiring the Black Knights in order in the seventh. He fanned Tim Gailor – who had two of Hempfield’s three hits – for the game’s final out to put an exclamation mark of the win.
Buell – according to Pesci – had just four three-ball counts. One of those was to Hempfield’s first batter of the game, who was hit by a fullcount pitch but picked off first by Buell. One of Hempfield’s three hits was an infield single and another was a bloop single.
In the fifth inning, the Black Knights had a runner on second with none out. Buell struck out the next three batters he faced to escape unscathed.
“You know what – you get scouting reports and you stick to the plan,” Pesci said. “He did what we asked him to do.
“Honestly, he didn’t miss on many pitches. He was throwing his fastball by kids and he was spotting his curveball for strikes. They hit some solid balls to the outfield. They had 11 fly ball outs – we only had three ground ball outs.
“Logan pitched a great game. He’s been going up against all these Division One pitchers, and he’s outdueling these kids. It’s not flash – it’s spotting up his pitches. He’s doing a great job for us.”
Endler was 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored to lead the Falcons’ attack.
“He started out really hot during the year, but just like baseball – there was a little bit of a lull in the middle of the season, but he’s back in,” Pesci said of his cleanup hitter. “He’s been pretty locked in. You’re going to get him every once in a while, but he has made adjustments. After an at-bat, he’ll make an adjustment, and it’s made a huge difference. He’s doing well.”
Endler has had two hits in four of his team’s five postseason games.
“I have been getting up on the plate and trying to drive it the other way,” Endler said. “I’ve just been capitalizing on mistakes by pitchers.”
Lawrence was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored. McFadden was 1-for-3 and Buell was 1-for-2 to account for the remainder of Pennsbury’s hits.
“We only had five hits, but we were able to bunt guys over,” Pesci said. “DJ came up with a clutch hit. You manufacture a run with the bunt and sac fly.
“It was good, and it was a very clean game by both teams.”
The win vaulted the Falcons into Thursday’s semifinal round where they will face North Penn.
“Back-to-back is always tough this late in the season, but it’s going to be good because we’re coming off a win,” Endler said. “It will also be a challenge because we played today.
“Our goal this year was to win the SOL, and we did. From there we were just trying to win the game that was in front of us. It’s been a lot of fun, and the key is just keeping our heads in the game, keeping our heads up when we’re down.”
“It’s been a tremendous amount of fun,” Buell added. “All these close games and walk-offs – they’ve been a lot of fun and just taking this journey through states.
“Hopefully, we can continue with our success and win a couple more games.”
Looking ahead: With the win, the Falcons have earned a date with North Penn in Thursday’s semifinal round. The game will pit the SOL National Conference champion Falcons against the SOL Continental Conference champion Knights. Both teams were 12-2 in conference play.
“We played them in the fall, but it’s not the same team,” Pesci said. “The Continental Conference is a great conference. They had four teams that made playoffs, and we had four teams that made playoffs. It’s going to be two very good teams going against each other. They’ve got the history in their program with the state titles.
“Here’s the thing, coaches know this – you go in and you play your game. That’s all you can ask for. They’re a dangerous team, we’re a dangerous team. We’ll prepare the best we can for them. It’s a shame one of us District One teams has to bow out, but it will be a very good second round matchup between two solid teams.”
Pennsbury and North Penn will square off at Spring-Ford High School Thursday at 3 p.m.
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