North Penn won a nine-inning thriller, defeating Lower Dauphin 6-5 in Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA title game at Penn State University. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Mary Jane Souder
STATE COLLEGE – Sometimes magic happens when we least expect it.
That was certainly the case on Friday night when the North Penn Knights put their names in the history books by winning a state title that no one anywhere could have predicted.
It’s an ending even the players admit they could not have imagined.
“If someone had told me that, I probably would have shook my head and laughed,” senior Eddie Posavec said.
The Knights’ senior catcher scored the winning run in Friday night’s heartstopping 6-5 win over District 3 champion Lower Dauphin in the PIAA Class AAAA title game when – with two outs in the bottom of the ninth - junior Bobby Scott singled through the left side of the infield.
“Once I saw the ball go through, there was no way I was slowing down,” said the Knights’ senior catcher, who did not see coach Kevin Manero’s stop sign at third base. “I knew it was the winning run, and I knew I had to get in there.
“I didn’t really know where they were playing because there were two outs, and we were going on contact. I just tried my best to get in there. It just worked out in our favor.”
No sooner had Posavec been ruled safe as he slid across home plate than the celebration began.
The players bolted out of the dugout, leaping into each other’s arms and ultimately ending up in a dog pile to top all dog piles. They laughed and, yes, they even cried as Penn State University’s Medlar Field became a sea of emotion.
The North Penn Knights were the PIAA Class AAAA champions. Senior Brady West emerged from the dog pile with a hand that was scratched and bleeding, but the Knights’ standout leadoff batter was feeling no pain.
“There’s nothing better than this,” West said. “I ran, got in the dog pile. I got cut up. I got hit in the face. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. It was awesome.”
How improbable was the Knights’ journey to the top?
Consider only that four short weeks ago. they were licking their wounds after suffering an 18-8 beating at the hands of Pennridge in their final regular season game. It was a loss that threatened to keep them out of the playoffs, but when the district seedings were announced, the Knights were the 12th and final team from the North to receive a postseason invitation.
Three straight district wins for the suddenly rejuvenated Knights ensured the team a spot in states, but the Knights fell to Pennridge in the semifinals and then lost to Council Rock North in the fourth place game.
What became a magic carpet ride through the state tournament began with an impressive 1-0 win over District 11 champion Parkland that featured another stellar outing by senior mound ace Brian Maher. It culminated on Friday night with the Knights’ inspired win over the Falcons.
Dylan Borawski was one of many heroes in the win. The Knights’ senior relief pitcher, who had not gone more than six innings in any game this season, threw all nine innings, the maximum number of innings allowed in a four-day span.
“I knew I was going to give it my all and just go as far as I possibly could,” he said.
His work on the mound was finished after he retired the Falcons in the top of the ninth – an inning that ended with West turning a frozen rope off the bat of Marshall Kiessling to right field into an inning-ending double play with his strike to first base.
No one was happier to see Posavec slide into home with the game winner in the bottom of the inning than Borawski, whose stoic expression during the postgame medal ceremony changed dramatically when the gold medal was placed around his neck.
“My heart was beating at least a thousand miles per hour when he crossed the plate,” the Knights’ senior pitcher said, still smiling long after the presentation had ended. “I didn’t know who to jump on. I didn’t know if I should jump on Bobby or Eddie, so I ran to both of them and jumped on both of them.
“It’s the best feeling. If you had told me this a year ago this would happen, I would have thought you were crazy.”
Borawski, who threw 107 pitches, allowed 10 hits while walking three and striking out three in a gutsy performance.
“Dylan had some kind of fierce look in his eye when we got on the bus yesterday to come out here,” Manero said. “He came out in the beginning of the game doing what he does best, which is throws strikes, and he really did a good job of pounding the zone early on.
“Then he kind of hit a wall, but to watch him bear down the way he did at the end of the game, even though they hit the ball – put the ball in play and make them swing, that’s the difference maker right there. I’m so happy for Dylan. He showed so much heart, and I wouldn’t rather have any other pitcher out there on a day like today.”
Friday’s game didn’t start on an especially promising note for the Knights, who found themselves staring at a 3-0 deficit after three innings, but they stunned the Falcons with a five-run fifth that featured seven base hits - three of those doubles.
Freshman Mason Nadeau got things started with a leadoff double to right center. Sophomore Anthony Cameron followed with a bloop single to left center.
West’s double down the left field line plated a run, and Posavec’s one-out double to shallow right center made it a 3-2 game. Consecutive RBI singles by Chris Kersey, Jared Melone and Scott put the Knights on top 5-3.
The Falcons clawed their way back into the game, scoring single runs in the sixth and seventh to knot the score. They left the bases loaded in the seventh. Posavec killed a potential threat in the top of the eighth when – after a leadoff single by the Falcons – he picked the base runner off first base.
In the bottom of the ninth, Brad Bertucci drew a leadoff walk but was forced out on Posavec’s bunt to the mound. Posavec stole second, and with two outs, Scott delivered the hit that ensured the Knights their spot in the record books. It was the first hit off flame-throwing reliever Kaylor Kaluna, who entered the game with one out in the eighth.
“I was watching the game before us go back and forth, and I thought, ‘Boy, we really haven’t had a lot of back and forth tough games like that this year,” Manero said. “I knew we could have one tonight, and we did.
“They stuck with it. They weren’t down when we were down by three. They didn’t think it was over. They battled, they scraped it out. They showed so much this year, and they showed more in these innings than they have all season.
“This is a special group of players. They haven’t all played on the same team their whole lives, but when they come together, they do play as a team from top to bottom.
“It’s so great for them to go out like this, and it’s so great for the young guys on the team to have an opportunity to see what this is all about and hopefully be hungry to do it again. It takes a lot of magic to get this far, a lot of execution too, but it takes a lot of special things, a lot of intangibles, and this group brings a lot of those intangibles to the field every day, and I couldn’t be happier for them.”
According to Borawski, a key to the Knights’ postseason run was simply “boosting everyone’s confidence and keeping everyone’s spirits up.”
“We do a great job with that,” he said. “We all love each other. We all know we can come out on top in every game we play.”
The Knights proved as much Friday night when they capped a magical journey by winning the state crown.
“There’s no better way to go out,” Posavec said. “In the end, only one team is happy, and there’s no better feeling knowing it was us this year.”
EXTRA INNINGS: Kersey led the Knights with a 3-for-5 effort while Scott (2 RBIs), West (RBI) and Melone (RBI) each added two hits…the Knights closed out the year with a 17-10 record.
Lower Dauphin 003 001 100 5-10-0
North Penn 000 050 001 6-12-3
LOWER DAUPHIN (5) – Jake Shellenberger rf 4 1 2 0; Kaylor Kulina ss/p 5 1 2 2; Marshal Kiessling p/ss 5 0 0 0 0; Deaon Stafford c 3 1 2 2; Blair Lewis 3b 3 0 0 0; Jason Shellenberger 2b 0 0 0 0; Corey Atkins dh 4 0 0 0; Kyle Fails lf 4 0 2 1; Luke Lingle 1b 4 0 0 0; Jeff Light 4 2 2 0. TOTALS 36 5 10 5.
NORTH PENN (6) – Brady West rf 5 1 2 1; Brad Bertucci 3b 3 1 0 0; Eddie Posavec c 5 2 1 1; Chris Kersey ss 5 1 3 1; Jared Melone 1b 4 0 2 1; Dylan Borawski p 0 0 0 0; Bobby Scott dh 5 0 2 2; Zillur Rahim cf 4 0 0 0; Mason Nadeau lf 3 1 1 0; Kris Akins lf 1 0 0 0; Anthony Cameron 2b 2 0 1 0. TOTALS 37 6 12 6.
E-NP 3. DP-Lower Dauphin 1; North Penn 1. LOB-Lower Dauphin 7, North Penn 10. 2B-Brady West, Eddie Posavec, Mason Nadeau. HBP-Brad Bertucci. SB-Jake Shellenberger, Kaylor Kulina, Deaon Stafford, Eddie Posavec.
IP H R ER BB SO
LOWER DAUPHIN
Marshal Kiessling 6.1 11 5 5 2 1
Kaylor Kulina (L) 2.1 1 1 1 2 5
NORTH PENN
Dylan Borawski (W)9 10 5 5 3 3
HBP-Kiessling (Bertucci)
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