North Penn earned a spot in Friday’s PIAA Class AAAA title game against Wyoming Valley West, thanks to its 3-1 win in eight innings over Shaler in Tuesday’s semifinal game at Greene Township Park. Photos are provided courtesy of Cindy Manero.
SCOTLAND – In the midst of a jubilant postgame celebration, Colin Healey fielded one question after another from reporters, the smile never leaving his face as he clutched the game ball he’d earned in his hand.
The 6-3 right hander had just tossed a complete game four-hit gem, leading North Penn to a dramatic 3-1 win in eight innings over Shaler in Tuesday’s PIAA Class AAAA semifinal game.
“I was just throwing a lot of fastballs,” Healey said. “That’s how I usually pitch. I was pitching to contact, knowing my fielders were right there behind me and were going to make every play. I was just trying to let them hit it into outs.”
The win vaulted the Knights (22-4, 12-2 SOL) into Friday’s state title game against District 2 champion Wyoming Valley West at Penn State University (5:30 p.m.)
“It’s still kind of setting in – it’s kind of unreal to be one of the two best teams in the state,” Healey said. “It’s something you dream of.”
Heading into the seventh, the Knights found themselves in unfamiliar territory.
Trailing 1-0 since the first inning, they were in dire need of some late-game heroics. Or a last-minute miracle. Or better yet, a little of both.
Just once this season – on April 15 when they used a three-run uprising in the seventh to earn a 3-2 win over Pennridge – had the Knights come from behind to win in the final inning.
“We were feeling a little weird,” senior Anthony Cameron said. “They scored the first run – we’re not usually down, but we deal with that. We had to deal with that until the seventh inning, but I think we have enough talent all the way through the order to be able to come back against a pitcher like that who – it’s getting late in the game, and he’s above 100 pitches, losing his velocity and losing some of his pitches.”
Shaler’s pitcher – West Virginia signee Jake Potock – may have been tiring, but it was hard to tell. Heading into the seventh, the hard-throwing right hander had retired eight straight, and the Knights had just one hit.
Still, Potock had thrown a ton of pitches, and when Alex Peterson – whose fourth inning double was the Knights’ only hit – drew a fullcount walk, there were signs that the tide could be turning.
Potock struck out the next batter he faced, but with one out, Jared Melone was hit by a pitch, and the bases were loaded after Douglas Apple was hit by Potock’s first delivery.
Designated hitter Jake Schuster’s sacrifice fly to center plated Peterson, and without the benefit of a hit, the Knights had knotted the score.
“We just wanted to get people on – we knew we could get people on, and we knew we could get them in,” Schuster said. “I had the sac fly to center, and from there, we knew we could do it.
“(Potock) was a very tough pitcher, one of the better pitchers we’ve seen all year. He could locate – he could throw for strikes. He threw a fastball, and I saw it, and I gave it a ride to center.”
Perhaps no one was happier to see the Knights knot the score than Healey, who had allowed only an unearned run in the first.
“I was hoping it would get over (the centerfielder’s) head,” he said. “It looked like it might, but we got a run, and that was huge.
“I knew just getting into extras would be some major momentum our way. I knew my job, and I went out and tried to do it.”
The Titans made things interesting in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs after a single and two walks – the first one intentional, but Healey retired Noah Hernandez on a fly ball to shallow right to close out the frame, setting the stage for extra innings.
“We didn’t get down,” Healey said. “We knew what we had to do to get some runs – long at-bats, make (Potock) work, see a lot of pitches, just do anything to get on base.
“Everybody in there – nobody was giving up until the game was over.”
The Knights – looking like a team on mission – won it in the eighth. It was senior Mike Christy who provided the heroics. The senior shortstop laid on the first pitch he saw – a curveball down the middle – and ripped a shot to deep left. Andrew Mueller gave chase, but to no avail as the ball easily cleared the fence for a two-run shot that proved to be the difference.
“The pitcher was starting off pretty much everyone with off-speed the whole game,” Christy said. “He did it to me my second and third at-bats. Honestly, I knew what was coming, and I just sat back and ripped.
“I knew I hit it hard. I just wanted it to get over his head, and obviously, it did, and it worked out for the best.”
Christy’s blast erased memories of a first inning that saw the Titans plate an unearned run when the senior shortstop made a rare miscue with two outs.
“I was just pumped up because in the first inning, I made that error to let a run in,” Christy said. “The seventh inning it was still 1-0, and it was just awesome to get it back.
“In the seventh inning, we put him in the stretch, and obviously, he wasn’t the same pitcher from the stretch. So we just tried to wear him down as much as we could. Honestly, I was surprised that he came back for the eighth because he had a long seventh. I knew that we were going to wear him down, and that’s what we did.”
Christy’s home run was set up by clutch at-bats by North Penn’s eight and nine hitters. The rally started when Cameron grounded a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a leadoff single.
“I had two at-bats before, and I had a bunt – not a very good one – and a pretty feeble strikeout, to say the least,” Cameron said. “We knew he could control three pitches very well.
“In my third at-bat, I took a strike and I over-swung on a curveball for the second strike. Then I got another curveball, a little lower – it was a good pitch, but I just managed to get the barrel out and sent it up the middle. I was trying to go left side or up the middle. I was trying to definitely get on base. A walk would have done fine or an error, but it was a hit.”
Matt Marino followed with a sacrifice bunt, and the Knights had the go-ahead run at second base with one out, setting the stage for Christy’s big blow.
“Our offensive execution in the last couple of innings was beautiful,” coach Kevin Manero said. “We got early base runners, a sacrifice fly, a perfect sacrifice bunt, Anthony Cameron a great two-strike swing.
“That’s situational baseball. I think in the Council Rock (North) game (a 4-3 loss in the district title game) we came up and we tried to do too much in a very similar situation. This time we stayed within ourselves, we took one pitch at a time, and we executed.”
Healey retired the Titans in order in the eighth, coaxing ground balls out of Shaler’s two, three and four hitters to close it out. Christy’s throw to first for the game’s final out had barely found the glove of Douglas Apple when the celebration began in earnest.
“It’s a great feeling to represent your school going to the state championship game,” Schuster said. “This means everything. Right now we just want to get the job done. We have to focus on that game – getting there and getting another win.”
“It’s amazing,” Christy added. “It’s the best feeling ever.
“It’s honestly the best time in my life, and I don’t want it to end.”
EXTRA INNINGS: After a first inning error, the Knights played flawless defense – which included several highlight reel plays. Second baseman Anthony Cameron came up with a gold glove play on a ball up the middle in the fourth, robbing Noah Seelhorst of a one-out base hit. The play loomed large when the next batter singled to left. In the eighth, it was Christy making a dazzling stop on a ball up the middle, and then it was Douglas Apple digging his off-balance throw out of the dirt at first to retire the speedy Anthony Venizia. Friday’s trip to the state title game will be North Penn’s third in seven years. They won state titles in 2009 and 2013…the picturesque field at Greene Township Park will evoke fond memories for all the Knights, but for the Christy family, it will be especially significant since Scott Christy – Mike’s older brother – also hit a home run on that field in the Knights’ 12-1 state semifinal win over North Allegheny in 2009.
North Penn 000 000 12 3-4-1
Shaler 100 000 00 1-4-1
North Penn (3) – Mike Christy ss 4-1-1-2, Alex Peterson lf 3-1-2-0, Mason Nadeau cf 4-0-0-0, Jared Melone 3b 2-0-0-0, Douglas Apple 1b 2-0-0-0, Jake Schuster dh 2-0-0-1, Zach Ziegler rf 3-0-0-0, Anthony Cameron 2b 3-1-1-0, Matt Marino c 1-0-0-0, Greg Kerr ph 1-0-0-0, Colin Healey p 0-0-0-0, TOTALS 25-3-4-3.
Shaler (1) – Noah Hernandez rf 4-0-1-0, Anthony Venizia 2b 3-0-0-0, Alex Fiorelli ss 4-1-0-0, David Pietropalo cf 4-0-1-0, Noah Seelhorst 1b 3-0-0-0, Nick Fugh dh 3-0-2-0, Sam Ireland 3b 3-0-0-0, Andrew Mueller lf 2-0-0-0, Adam Zulka c 2-0-0-0, Jake Potock p 0-0-0-0, TOTALS 28-1-4-0
IP H R ER BB SO
Shaler
Jake Potock (L) 8 4 3 3 1 7
North Penn
Colin Healey (W) 8 4 1 0 3 2
Coach Kevin Manero comments on:
- The performance of pitcher Colin Healey, who allowed four hits and no earned runs in the complete game win.
“Just unbelievable, just unbelievable. We knew that if we wanted to win the whole thing – which we still do and we have work to do in order to do that, but we knew if we wanted to win the whole thing, (James) Witner and Healey were each going to start a game.
“We could go back and forth on who was going to pitch today, but (Healey) was the one who was fully rested. He’s done well all year, his numbers are great. He’s thrown strikes, so he was as good a guy as any. Now Witner can get his full rest. We don’t have to push him.” - The Knights allowing an unearned run in the first.
“It’s very difficult for a high school baseball team to play a perfect game, to make no mistakes. There’s a chance that at some point you’re going to give up a base runner and maybe give up a run, but the issue is you can’t compound it.
“When your pitcher throws strikes, it’s very difficult to get a lot of base runners. That’s where it all started today. We gave up a run early, but Colin (Healey) threw a ton of strikes. We settled in and played much better defense, and we gave ourselves a chance late.
“I always say – pitching and defense, it gives you a chance, and then if you have the right guys up in the right spot in the order late, anything can happen.” - Anthony Cameron’s single to lead off the eighth.
“He did a great job with two strikes. He let the ball travel, he kept his head down on the ball, he just hit the ball to the middle part of the field. When you hit a ground ball to the middle part of the field, a lot of good things can happen.
“It’s him making adjustments. His head was coming off on most of his other swings, and he was getting his hands away from his body, but on that one, he stayed on the ball, dropped the bat head and put a little pressure on the defense.” - Mike Christy’s two-run home run in the eighth inning.
“Baseball is very democratic. First of all, there’s no clock. People can make mistakes and they can get a chance to come back and redeem themselves.
“The right person has to come up in the right spot in the order. You can’t decide who goes up there in the big spot, and if it’s your time, you get a chance to have the light shine on you if you execute. That’s what (Christy) did. He put a great swing on that ball.
“He got in there, he had a man in scoring position, and he swung at the first good pitch that he saw, and that’s what we want with a guy in scoring position – get up there and swing, swing, swing.”
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