North Penn edged Pennsbury in an all-SOL battle in Thursday’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal contest. To view photos of the contest please visit the Photo Gallery.
ROYERSFORD – “I want the ball.”
James Witner might not have used those exact words, but that’s the message he conveyed when coach Kevin Manero – with North Penn clinging to a 2-1 lead – made the trek to the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning of Thursday’s PIAA Class AAAA contest against Pennsbury.
“He kind of made sure that I wanted to be out there and I was confident to be out there,” the Knights’ mound ace said. “I want the ball.”
Witner was clearly unfazed that the Falcons – with one out – had a pair of runners on board after Brody McFadden singled and Logan Buell was hit by a pitch.’
“I was still feeling good,” the senior right hander said. “I was hyped up. My offense really stepped up to get a run over.
“I just had to go out there, pound the zone and trust my defense that they’ll make the plays. The times I got in trouble were the times I got the ball up in the zone. At the end, I let them hit it and left my defense do the rest.”
Witner coaxed ground balls out of the next two batters he faced. The first – to shortstop Mike Christy – resulted in a force out at second base. Third baseman Jared Melone fielded the second and fired to first for the game’s final out.
A 2-1 win was in the books, and the Knights, thanks in no small part to Witner’s gutsy performance, are in the state semifinals.
“You could have the bases loaded with nobody out in a one-run game, and the demeanor on his face and the composure he has from pitch to pitch is no different than if he’s up 10-0 in the seventh inning,” Manero said of Witner. “That’s what I like best about him.
“Any time you have a pitcher who you can just sit back and just watch him work and his delivery is consistent from pitch to pitch, his mechanics are the same, and you don’t have to worry about him squeezing or pressing – that’s just a great situation for a coach.”
The Falcons got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth when Billy Bethel collected a one-out single. Pinch runner Jon Palatine scored the game’s first run when Zach Szumigala lofted a sacrifice fly to left field.
The Knights knotted the score 1-1 in the top of the fifth. Jared Melone singled to left to open the inning, and Douglas Apple followed with a single off the shortstop. A perfectly placed bunt single down the third base line by designated hitter Jake Schuster plated pinch runner Jon Palatine, thanks to an errant throw to third. The Knights loaded the bases with one out but couldn’t push another run across.
In the sixth, the Knights used an infield single by Alex Peterson, a bunt single by Mason Nadeau, a balk and a sacrifice fly to center field by Melone on the first pitch he saw to plate the go-ahead run.
“With men in scoring positions, I’m taught – the first good one I see just try and put it in the outfield,” Melone said. “It’s not about getting a hit for myself – it’s just about helping the team.
“The first two at-bats I got fastballs down the middle and I took them. Then he came back with a curveball, so I figured the third one – he probably knew I was taking pitches. He came back with the same pitch, and I just tried to drive it.”
The Falcons had a two-out base runner in the sixth when Bethel drew Witner’s only walk of the game, and the senior right hander escaped a jam in the seventh to earn the big win.
“I just had to locate my fastball really,” Witner said. “My off-speed stuff wasn’t the best today. I just had to hit low spots.”
Witner allowed just four hits and fanned two. The Knights’ defense – which was flawless – did the rest.
“He threw a lot of low strikes, and he was able to locate,” Manero said. “I think a lot of high school hitters are going to have some kind of hole in their swing – heck, that’s true at any level.
“When you have a pitcher who can hit spots consistently and has the command, that’s the difference. There’s control and command. A lot of pitchers have control, but James has great command. That’s what enables him to get deep into these games without getting damaged too much against good hitting teams.”
For the Falcons, Zach Conley pitched well enough to win on most days, allowing eight hits while fanning seven and walking none.
“That pitcher did a great job,” Melone said of Conley. “He had a few pickoffs. We got men on base early, but we kept getting ourselves out.
“If we just kept getting men on base, we knew we would pull through eventually. That’s what we did in the fifth and sixth innings.”
If the Knights were getting frustrated, they didn’t let it show, benefitting from the presence of Michael Pulli.
“We all have each other’s backs,” Melone said. “Yesterday we were dead because one of our kids who has a lot of leadership on the bench – Michael Pulli – wasn’t here.
“He was back today, and he picks us up all the time. I know if I make a mistake I come back and he always has my back.”
The loss brought to an end a special season for the Falcons (20-6, 12-2 SOL).
“First league title in 19 seasons,” Pesci said. “First time we made states in 22 years. You win a state game, which is huge.
“You look at the games we lost – Owen J Roberts we had a couple of errors, today we had an error, but that’s a state championship game right there. It’s a shame we didn’t come out on the winning end, but these guys battled.
“You’ve got first and third at the end of the game with a chance to score and tie. It’s tough that one of us had to end our season today, but only one team can win the last one.
“You tell the kids – you’ve had a great year, you’ve done so much. You’re going to be upset about the loss but understand what they’ve done for the program. They set the bar extremely high for the juniors and sophomores coming up next year.”
The Knights (21-4, 12-2 SOL) will face Slater in a state semifinal game Monday. District 7’s third place team defeated District 6 champion State College 8-5.
“I knew coming in we had a very talented team, and we have amazing chemistry,” Melone said. “But we didn’t really reach our goals yet.
“We still have a few more games, but we have to focus on the first one.”
“It’s really nice to make it here,” Witner added. “Not too many teams make it this far through the state tournament or even get to a state tournament.
“We just have to play each game with our own brand of baseball.”
North Penn 000 011 0 2-8-0
Pennsbury 000 100 0 1-4-1
NORTH PENN (2) – Mike Christy ss 3-0-0-0, Alex Peterson lf 3-1-2-0, Mason Nadeau cf 3-0-1-0, Jared Melone 3b 2-1-2-1, Douglas Apple 1b 2-0-1-0, Travis Cook pr 0-0-0-0, Jake Schuster dh 3-0-1-0, Ryan Bealer rf 2-0-1-0, Zach Ziegler rf 1-0-0-0, Anthony Cameron 2b 2-0-0-0, Matt Marino c 3-0-0-0. TOTALS 24-2-8-1.
PENNSBURY (1) – Pat Lawrence 2b 3-0-1-0, Billy Bethel 3b 2-0-1-0, Jon Palatine pr 0-1-0-0, Zach Szumigala ss 2-0-0-1, DJ Endler 1b 3-0-0-0, Brody McFadden dh 3-0-2-0, Justin Ward pr 0-0-0-0, Logan Buell rf 1-0-0-0, Freddie Schrandt lf 3-0-0-0, Tom Augustin cf 3-0-0-0, Kyle Marshal c 2-0-0-0, Zach Conley p 0-0-0-0, TOTALS 22-1-4-1.
IP H R ER BB SO
Pennsbury
Zach Conley (L) 7 8 2 2 0 7
North Penn
James Witner (W) 7 4 1 1 1 2
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