Pennridge 18U saw its season come to an end in the quarterfinals of the St. Luke’s Lehigh Valley Tournament with a 4-3 loss to Notre Dame Green Pond. (File photo provided courtesy of Kim Supko. To view the full gallery, click on the following link:https://solsports.zenfolio.com/p102280336)
NOTRE DAME GREEN POND 4, PENNRIDGE RAMS 18U 3
Sean Clayton got a bonus of sorts on Saturday.
The recent Pennridge graduate thought he’d played his final games with his high school teammates when he left for a week at the beach, but he got an unexpected opportunity to have one last go-round when four players for the Pennridge Rams 18U squad were unable to play in Saturday’s make-up game in the St. Luke’s Lehigh Valley Tournament.
“He’s like, ‘I’m coming back, do you think I’ll be able to play?’” coach Craig Whitten said. “I said, ‘Definitely show up because you can coach since you’re not rostered.’”
Whitten made a call to the tournament director and received permission for Clayton to play.
“I texted him last night and said, ‘You’re playing dude,’” the Rams’ coach said. “He was so psyched.”
“I drove home from this beach this morning and got home at 1:30 and left at 1:45 for the game,” Clayton said. “I didn’t think I’d be able to play in this tournament at all. When he said it was the first week of August, I said, ‘That sucks because I’ll be at the beach.’
“When I found out yesterday that their five o’clock game got suspended to this morning, I texted him right away and said, ‘Can you try and get me to play?’ He pulled some strings and got me on the roster. I was so ecstatic to play with all my best friends one more time.”
The Lehigh Valley Tournament was the second tournament for the Rams’ squad and came on the heels of the Bux-Mont Classic.
“When he told us we had an opportunity to play in these tournaments, not a single one of the seniors said no,” Clayton said. “Every single one of us wanted to see how it worked. Obviously, we did really well the past seven games that we played. It meant the world to be able to play.
“Even in last week’s Bux-Mont Classic Tournament, it was just so much fun with all the guys, being out there. I was so grateful I could play today.”
The outcome wasn’t what the Rams – one win away from the opportunity to play at Coca Cola Park – hoped for, although things looked promising when they scored three runs in the top of the first.
Kyle Moran ignited the Rams with a leadoff double to center, and one out later, back-to-back walks to Ray Knight and Clayton loaded the bases for Joey Calabretti, who roped a bases-clearing two-out double to right.
“We got the production that we wanted in the first inning,” Whitten said. “After we scored, I got on the bench and I was talking to my assistants. They’re all like, ‘That’s a good way to start.’ I said, ‘Absolutely, but we have to keep pounding it.’ If I knew those would be the only three we would score after having a great first inning, we probably would have approached the next offensive innings a little bit different.”
Notre Dame Green Pond scored a pair of the bottom of the first to make it a 3-2 game. In the third inning, Knight and Clayton singled, and the Rams had a pair on board with one out, but that’s where the rally ended.
In the bottom of the inning, Notre Dame Green Pond knotted the score. They took a 4-3 lead in the fifth, and that 4-3 score held the rest of the way. The Rams stranded nine base runners and had only one hit after the third inning.
“It was a tough one,” Whitten said. “It’s back to our – when we hit, we hit and when we don’t hit, we definitely don’t hit.
“We had two guys left on base the top of the seventh inning too. Except for the first, it was kind of the story of every inning – get guys on base and leave them.”
Whitten had high praise for his pitchers. Ryan DeHaven and Ryan McAloon. DeHaven absorbed the loss, allowing eight hits and four runs (three earned) while striking out five and walking none in five innings. McAloon threw a scoreless sixth.
“Mac came in the sixth inning, and he pitched exactly how I thought he would pitch based on what he did earlier this week,” Whitten said of McLoon. “We spoiled a really good game for Ryan DeHaven. We have so many rising juniors that are really good pitchers.
“He’s a tall lefty kid, kept us in the game the whole way, got us out of a bases-loaded no outs situation. A kid drove the ball to left field, and Kyle Moran just threw a dime to the catcher. They didn’t even test his arm.
“(Matt) Dubyk was at first, got a ground ball, got the guy out at home (for the second out), and DeHaven struck out the last guy with the bases loaded. This guy is the real deal, and I’m excited - I’ve got two more years with him. Just like (Aidan) Fretz – I’m so excited I got these guys.”
Although optimistic for the future, Whitten acknowledged it was hard to bid farewell to a special senior class.
“I took (the team) out to right field and I said, ‘Look, any game we had in the year 2020 after April 14 was just gravy,” the Rams’ coach said. “We got last week (the Bux-Mont Classic) - great. We got this week – even better. It’s more games than some of the teams in our league got. We're just happy to get it all together.
“We had seven games total. These (seniors) are just amazing. It was an unbelievable experience. I coached these guys before when they were freshmen. To actually have a varsity year with them and kind of see and know what we could have been had we had the spring season and how we can bounce back from a loss or how we can learn from a win – things like that. I was actually able to get that with the seven games I had with these guys.
“I had all the seniors stand up in front of the underclassmen and told them, ‘You guys want to play middle infield, look at Paul and Ray and what they do. You guys want to have a good approach at hitting – Sean Lerro is our DH. This is what you want to do. If you want to be a tough competitor, look at Sean Clayton. If you want to be a leadoff guy, look at what Kyle Moran did the last seven games. If you want to be a reliable relief pitcher, look at what McAloon did. Learn from these guys. If you want to be a college player, these are the guys you should be modeling yourself after.’”
The seniors were reluctant to leave the field, realizing it marked the end of an era.
“Me and the seniors sat in the dugout for about 20 minutes just talking about the old memories we had,” Clayton said. “I was more sad for them because a few of them don’t get to play anymore. This was truly their last game of competitive baseball they’re playing, and that’s what made me the most upset – seeing them upset.
“It sucks that I don’t get to play with all the guys I grew up with, but I know I have at least four more years of baseball.”
The Rams’ success in the two tournaments left the seniors wondering what might have been this spring.
“April 13 was the exact date they said we were done for good, and that broke all of our hearts because with the new coach and everything –we had a really good approach coming into the season,” Clayton said. “I thought we were going to do really well. I think that was one of the most heartbreaking parts to see that we could compete with all of these teams. We’ve been looked at as the joke of the league – we’ve had like seven wins in three years. It was nice and heartbreaking at the same time seeing that – wow, we could have made a serious playoff run, but that’s just how the cookie crumbles. It’s life.”
Pennridge Rams 18U 300 000 0. 3-5-1
Notre Dame Green Pond 210 010 x. 4-10-2
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