North Penn and Hatboro-Horsham were winners in Wednesday’s District One Tournament that saw two games involving SOL teams postponed and three that were suspended and will resume on Thursday. North Penn/Abington photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a photo gallery.
#7 HATBORO-HORSHAM 4, #10 OWEN J ROBERTS 2
The Hatters – with the score deadlocked 1-1, no outs and an OJR runner on first – endured a lightening delay of over an hour in the top of the fifth inning. They returned to the diamond and scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a lead they would not lose.
“This group is just a different group in terms of their confidence and their mindset,” HH coach Pete Moore said. “Their leadoff batter got on in the top of the fifth inning, and then there was a bolt of lightening.
“The game was paused. We actually went into the locker room at the football stadium. The coaches were sitting in the coaches area, and we said, ‘What should we do here? Do we need give them a routine – make them get up and stretch to keep them ready?’
“We sat back after a while and just listened to them. They were so loose. They actually sat around in a circle and were doing karaoke together, and they were belting out songs and singing Journey, Neil Diamond. They were loving it, and they were so loose. As coaches, we looked at each other and said, ‘We are going to win this game. These kids are not worried at all.’
“Jimmy Tooley was our starter, and we had him stay loose during the delay, but the kids’ mindset is just – they’re such a loose group that just is so confident right now. It gave our coaches confidence.”
Tooley escaped a bit of a jam when play resumed. After retiring the first two batters he faced, he issued a walk, and the bases were loaded after the Hatters committed their lone error of the game. Tooley retired Sam Morris on a popup to second base for the inning’s final out.
“He did it against their best hitter, Sam Morris,” Moore said of Tooley’s escape act. “I’ve talked all year about how good Jimmy Tooley is. I’ve coached a ton of really good pitchers at Hatboro, but what he’s done this year has really been unbelievable, and it’s kind of flown under the radar.
“He’s a senior and he’s not committed. I think when a kid has a college attached to their name they get more attention, but he has just been absolutely unbelievable. His mound presence is incredible. He’s as good as they get right now, and he was our guy today. He just came out was unfazed by the situation and got their best hitter to pop out. We moved on to the next inning, and the team again keeps growing.”
When the Hatters came to the plate in the bottom of the inning, they found themselves facing Wildcats’ closer Dean Mihos.
“He’s been tremendous all year,” Moore said. “In 9 2/3 innings before today, he struck out 17 guys and only walked one, and we scored three runs off of him in an inning.”
Trey Porter greeted Mihos with a double to center field.
“Our leadoff guy, Trey Porter, is a sophomore, and he hit a bullet in the right center field gap to start that inning,” Moore said. “The outfielder hesitated for a second, and Trey, out of the box, expected two, and when he saw him hesitate for a second, he went for it, and he got in for a double.
“I think that kind of motivated us or lit a fire under us and gave us more confidence. We just rolled from there. Jack Elwell laid down an unbelievable bunt for a base hit, and then we had first and third. Cole (Fisher) followed up with a base hit, and it just snowballed in a really good direction for us.”
Fisher’s single plated a pair, and Christian Gear – the courtesy runner for Fisher – advanced to third on a wild pitch and eventually scored on a wild pith to put the Hatters on top 4-1.
Ethan Sabatino led off the sixth with a solo home run, but that would be the Wildcats’ last hurrah as Tooley retired the next three batters he faced and then threw a scoreless seventh.
Tooley’s line for the game showed that he allowed just two hits and two runs while striking out five and walking three.
Early on, the Hatters took a 1-0 lead in the second when Logan Fischer, who lined a one-out double to left, scored on Porter’s single.
Porter led the Hatters’ 10-hit attack with a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate that included a double, RBI and run scored. Cole Fisher was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and Ryan Toporowski also was 2-for-3.
Hatboro-Horsham (13-8, 11-5 SOL) will face the winner of the #2 Plymouth Whitemarsh/#18 Garnet Valley contest in a quarterfinal contest Friday. The game was halted with Garnet Valley runners at first and third with one out in the top of the fifth inning and the Jaguars leading 4-3. The contest will resume Thursday.
Owen J Roberts 000 101 0 2-2-0
Hatboro-Horsham 010 030 x 4-10-1
#9 NORTH PENN 6, #8 ABINGTON 1
A downpour halted play with the Knights rallying for a pair of runs in the top of the seventh. When the storm passed, the field was deemed unplayable, and the score reverted back to the end of the sixth inning with the Knights on top 6-1.
Mike Lennon notched the complete game win, scattering six hits and allowing one run while striking out four and walking none.
“Mike Lennon was fantastic,” NP coach Kevin Manero said. “One of the things we talk about a lot is the flow of the game, so if a team scores, you have to answer back and you have to score, and we did that.
“You have to extend the lead, and when you extend the lead you need to get a shutdown inning. We did both of those things. Once we were up 3-1, I felt we controlled the game with shutdown innings and by extending our lead. None of that can happen if you don’t have a pitcher out there who is working quickly, throwing a lot of strikes and not giving base runners back up, and that’s what Mike has been doing for us all year.”
Early on, the two teams exchanged runs with the Ghosts scoring in the bottom of the second and the Knights evening the score in the top of the third. The Knights scored two runs in the fourth to take a lead they would not lose.
Ryan Sullivan led off the frame with an infield single, and RJ Agriss smashed a two-run home run to left center that put the Knights on top 3-1.
“It was RJ’s home run that really kind of set things off,” Manero said. “He’s not been as productive at the plate as he would like to be. He has kind of had a little bit of a rough season offensively.
“I actually had him bunting in that at-bat and then took the bunt off, and he homered. That is the second time that has happened this year, and I do see a correlation. When you bunt, you have to stay on the ball a little bit longer, see it in the zone a little bit longer, and maybe that helped him get locked in.
“Regardless, he stayed on the ball, put a great swing on it, and that was the icebreaker we needed because we were locked into a low scoring game. We had left guys on base the first couple of innings. We needed somebody to come up with that big hit to change the tide of the game, and he did.”
The Knights added three runs in the fifth inning with Jeff Sabater’s two-out RBI single putting the Knights on top 4-1. Then it was Evin Sullivan ripping a two-run double to center, and the Knights had their final margin of victory.
Ryan Sullivan was 3-for-4 with a run scored and Justin Egner was also 3-for-4 to lead the Knights’ 13-hit attack. Sabater was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
North Penn (16-5, 11-5) will travel to #1 Spring-Ford for a district quarterfinal game on Thursday (4 p.m.). Abington closed out its season with an 11-8 record (11-5 SOL).
North Penn 001 230 6-13-1
Abington 010 000 1-6-0
#18 GARNET VALLEY at #2 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH (Suspended)
#19 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH at #3 BENSALEM (Suspended)
#11 NESHAMINY at #6 COATESVILLE – Ppd. (Rescheduled Thursday at 3:30 p.m.)
#12 QUAKERTOWN at #5 BOYERTOWN – Ppd. (Rescheduled Thursday at 4 p.m.)
Class 5A
#6 UPPER DUBLIN at #3 OXFORD (Suspended)
About the Author
