The Pennridge Rams 18U won their first game in bracket play of St. Luke’s Lehigh Valley Baseball Tournament on Friday, shutting out Pleasant Valley 5-0. File photos courtesy of Kim Supko. To view the entire gallery, please click on the following link: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/p102280336
PENNRIDGE RAMS 18U 5, PLEASANT VALLEY 0
Paul Croyle has a passion for baseball. The cancellation of spring sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic gave the recent Pennridge graduate – as well as every student-athlete who missed the season – a new perspective.
“Every game is a luxury to play in from now on,” Croyle said. “When we got the news in the beginning, it was really disappointing.
“When we found out we would be able to have these two tournaments, it was like, ‘Okay, we’re good, we will be able to have a little bit of a season,’ so we 
were lucky for that.”
Croyle, who will continue his baseball career at Moravian College, admits it took some time to find his stride when he joined many of his high school teammates on the Perkasie Baseball Club for last week’s Bux-Mont Classic.
If his performance in Friday’s 5-0 win over Pleasant Valley in bracket play of St. Luke’s Lehigh Valley Tournament is any indication, Croyle is definitely finding his rhythm. He finished a productive afternoon 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIS.
“I was really looking forward to playing the next game at five o’clock – to stay right with it,” Croyle said of his team’s scheduled game later in the day Friday that was rained out. “A couple games before I wasn’t doing that great – getting all the rust off. Getting back into it, it would have felt good to stay hot.”
The Rams – one of eight teams remaining in the 32-team tournament – will face Notre Dame-Green Pond on Saturday at Nazareth Borough Park at 4 p.m. A win would propel the team into the tournament semifinals at the home of the Iron Pigs, Coca Cola Park.
While Croyle was one of several players to steal spotlight at the plate – Kyle Moran, Carson Wells and Bobby Croyle also had two-hit games, the undeniable star on the mound was rising junior Aidan Fretz, who threw 5 2/3 shutout innings to earn the win, allowing two hits while fanning six – including the side in the first inning – and walking four. Only two balls left the infield, and those were harmless fly balls.
“Under the radar was how awesome Aidan Fretz pitched,” Whitten said. “It was a pitcher’s duel for the first three-and-a-half innings.
“He played at Faith (Christian Academy) his freshman year. He transferred in the summer of 2019. We were like, ‘Okay, what does this kid have?’ He has the coolness about him, and when he got on the mound, the ball just came alive off his hands inside the gym, and we knew we had something special with him.”
Entering his sophomore season, Fretz, according to Whitten, was the prototypical closer.
“He’s got the rubber arm, he comes in, he throws strikes, he stays ahead,” the Rams’ coach said. “He’s got a devastating curveball. This guy just gets outs. He’s been on the showcase circuit. He was up at the PBR state futures games In Dubois on Monday and threw two innings up there and threw really well.”
“When I knew we were in (bracket play) around five o’clock last night, I texted him first and said ‘How do you feel?’ And the best ever answer I got from any player – ‘I feel great, coach.’ I was like, ‘All right, you get the ball tomorrow.’ He did the job.”
“Aidan pitched one heck of a game today,” Croyle said. “He’s thrown in two games for us, and in both games, he’s thrown amazing. A young kid like him – he has a lot of potential. I wish I was able to play with him more throughout the high school year. He’s got a good future.”
Fretz reached his limit of 80 pitches with two outs in the sixth inning. He left with the bases loaded, and Harry Haeflein closed it out, earning the save and keeping the shutout.
“Harry Haeflein came in and picked up where he left off earlier this week,” Whitten said. “He came in threw a couple fly balls. Carson Wells made an awesome play in right field for him to end the (sixth) inning. It was an unbelievable play.”
Haeflein allowed one hit, struck out one and didn’t walk a batter in one-and-a-third shutout innings.
The Rams scored the only run they would need in the third inning. Bobby Croyle singled to lead off the inning and scored when Kyle Moran delivered a clutch two-out double to right center, spotting the team a 1-0 lead. They added a pair of insurance runs in the fourth. Sean Lerro reached first on a one-out error, and Nick Christ followed with a single that plated Croyle. Lerro raced home when Paul Coyle delivered a two-out single that put the Rams on top 3-0.
In the sixth, Wells and Bobby Croyle opened up the inning with back-to-back singles, and both scored when Paul Croyle doubled to left center.
“I’ve been toying with moving Paul in the lineup – he’s gradually getting his swing, his pace back up,” Whitten said. “I batted him eighth, and he hit the ball hard.”
“Today felt really good to really start getting back into it and getting to where we want to be to hit full (stride) going into the elimination games,” Croyle said. “The first couple of games it was weird, but it felt good back to get back into the swing of things again. Definitely some rust in the first couple of games.”
Bobby Croyle finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored, Wells was 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and run scored, and Moran was 2-for-4 with a double and RBI out of the leadoff spot.
“We got lucky with a couple of the bounces,” Whitten said. “Carson had a monster game at the plate again. Kyle Moran – it’s tough to get him out, he’s an aggressive swinger. He’s everything I could ever ask for in a leadoff hitter.
“We only had a few strikeouts. The issue is – everybody was looking for a pitch rather than being aggressive and letting the pitcher know where we’re at. The umpire’s zone was a little bigger. A couple guys were complaining, and I said, ‘You have to be ready to swing no matter what.’ I’d rather be big than tight. Bats came alive a little bit. Paul had a huge game, Bobby had a huge game. Carson had a huge game and Kyle just keeps rolling.”
Wells performance came after striking out in his only at-bat in the team’s loss to Southern Lehigh.
“He was cold on Wednesday against Southern Lehigh because I brought him in to pinch hit,” Whitten said. “He just missed it. The kid just threw a couple by him.
“He texted me last night, ‘Coach, do you think we can hit before we go up tomorrow.’ I said, ‘That’s a great idea, Carson.’ He set the wheels in motion, but unfortunately, we got rained out. Carson’s definitely a hard worker. If he knows what he’s going to do, he’s probably more prepared than any other person that I’ve ever coached. He just wants to get the job done, and he produced. He had really good at-bats.”
The Rams have won five of six games since falling to Souderton – the eventual tournament champion – in the opener of the Bux-Mont Classic.
“Me and a couple other seniors were always talking within ourselves about if we had a season what we could accomplish and stuff like that,” Paul Croyle said. “The Souderton game – I don’t want to say woke us up because it was our first game, but it really propelled us. It started us off on the wrong foot, but it also gave us a boost of energy to show us how well we have to play”
Lost in the shuffle of the impressive win was a play by catcher Derek Morgan for the second out of the fifth inning.
“The one thing that’s not in the box score – Derek Morgan, our catcher, got trucked,” Whitten said. “Bobby (Croyle) threw the ball in from left field. Derek’s coming up to make the play and this kid just lowers his shoulder and pops Derek really hard. Derek hangs onto the ball and gets him out. He was on the ground for a little bit. I check on him, and his eye started swelling immediately. He’s like – ‘You’re not taking me out of this game.’ He played tough back there – no pass balls. He was a true game manager today, helping out the up and coming Aidan Fretz.”
Pennridge Rams 18U 001 202 0. 5-9-1
Pleasant Valley 000 000 0. 0-3-2
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